Frank Reich Hired as Head Coach of Indianapolis Colts

The offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles Frank Reich was hired to be the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Reich will sign a five-year contract, said a source familiar with the negotiations.

Reich replaces the fired Chuck Pagano following a search that included a twist or two. On February 6, the Colts announced that Josh McDaniels the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots had agreed to coach the team and an introductory news conference was scheduled for the following day.

However later that same night McDaniels called Chris Ballard the general manager of the Colts to back out of the deal, saying he wanted to remain with the Patriots. Ballard accepted the blame for the announcement that was made of McDaniels joining the team prior to him signing the contract.

Ballard moved quickly to hire someone else after the fiasco with McDaniels. He held interviews with Reich, Dan Campbell the assistant head coach with the Saints, and Leslie Frazier the defensive coordinator of the Bills over a span of just three days.

The hiring of Reich ends a coaching search of six weeks for the Colts in which the team went from being the first of six NFL teams to fire their coach to being the last of those six to hire a new one.

In a prepared statement, CEO and owner of the Colts Jim Irsay said the organization was extremely excited over the hiring of Reich as its new head coach. Irsay added that Reich has everything it takes to become a successful NFL head coach. Irsay praised Reich’s intelligence, character, innovation, leadership and organizational skills along with his commanding presence.

Indianapolis tweeted a photo of Reich signing the contract, then another of Reich and Irsay, with Reich holding an Indianapolis Star Sunday edition as proof he signed the contract that same day.

Nov 19, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Reich, who is 56, spent two seasons helping the Eagles with their offense. Doug Pederson the Eagles head coach said that Reich was very deserving of the opportunity he has been given and is a tremendous coach. Pederson praised Reich’s teaching and leadership skills, but said Reich was an even better person.

Reich began his NFL coaching career as an offensive assistant to former coach of the Colts Jim Caldwell during 2008. He was the quarterback’s coach for Peyton Manning in 2009 and 2010 and was the Arizona receivers coach and quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with San Diego.