Colts fire head coach Frank Reich after third straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Frank Reich’s time as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts has come to a close.
The team announced on Monday that it has fired Reich after a 3-5-1 start to the 2022 season.
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Shortly after announcing that Reich was gone, Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted out that former center Jeff Saturday would be taking over as the team’s interim head coach.
The Colts are the second team to fire their head coach this season. The Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule on Oct. 10.
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Reich took over as Indianapolis’ head coach in 2018, taking the place of Chuck Pagano. He led the Colts to a 40-33-1 regular season record over the last four and a half seasons and reached the playoffs twice. During that time, the Colts cycled through seven starting quarterbacks.
The team opened the regular season with a tie against the Houston Texans and a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Indy proceeded to win three of its next four games, but things have since gone off the rails.
Matt Ryan, who the Colts traded for in the offseason, was sent to the bench following a Week 7 loss to the Tennessee Titans. The team proceeded to lose again in Sam Ehlinger’s first NFL start against the Washington Commanders in Week 8.
The Colts fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady after their defeat against the Commanders, but the unit posted another poor showing against the New England Patriots in what turned out to be Frank Reich’s final game. Ehlinger and the Colts’ offense mustered just 121 total yards and surrendered nine sacks in a blowout loss.
Through nine weeks, the Colts are now dead last in the NFL in points per game (14.7) offensive DVOA (29.4%).
Next up for the Colts is a matchup against the Raiders in Las Vegas. Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels initially accepted the Colts’ head coaching position in 2018 before deciding to return as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, opening the door for the Colts to hire Reich in the first place.
