Reich steps down as Colts coach

A day after one of the Indianapolis Colts’ worst offensive performances in recent memory, fifth-year head coach Frank Reich was fired by the team on Monday.

The Colts named Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach. Saturday, 47, a former six-time Pro-Bowl center who played 13 seasons for the Colts has been a consultant to the team and is in their Ring of Honor. Saturday also served as head coach at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Georgia, for three seasons.

Although Jeff Saturday was hired to be the interim coach outside the organization, the move does not violate the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies, the NFL told ProFootballTalk.com.

“The rule does not apply to an interim head coach during the season,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy announced to the website in an email. “It applies after the conclusion of the team’s season. The club would have to comply with the rule before hiring a full-time head coach.”

The Colts’ 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday was their third straight defeat. It was the latest example of their mounting offensive challenges that are beginning to look insurmountable despite the recent quarterback change from Matt Ryan to Sam Ehlinger and the firing last week of offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.

Frank Reich, 60, was 40-33-1 (.547) in the regular season with 1-2 in the postseason. It was a streak defined by incessant quarterback turnover; the Colts had different starters at the beginning of each of Reich’s five seasons as the franchise struggled to find a quarterback to fill the shoes of Andrew Luck, who retired before the 2019 campaign. The trend in the last two-Carson Wentz and Ryan-ended badly (Wentz was traded after one season and Ryan benched after seven starts).

The Colts have been in trouble since the end of last season, when Indianapolis lost its final two games despite needing just one win to secure the postseason. The final loss of 2021, 26-11 to the losing Jacksonville Jaguars (3-14), was a particularly ugly performance that led to owner Jim Irsay’s anger and prompted him to commit to fixing the problems.

Ultimately, 2022 has not led to different results.

Offensively, the Colts (3-5-1) are in the worst shape since Reich’s tenure. After Sunday’s game, the veteran NFL quarterback and Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator with the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles alluded to frustration that the Colts were so inept on offense, his area of expertise.

“Offensive performance, that’s why they brought me here. That’s my responsibility. So, we have the players. We have the players that are good enough. I have to do a better job. It starts with me on offense.” I need to do a better job of getting guys ready to play, putting guys in a good position to win and have answers when we face problems,” he said.

The Colts failed to convert any of their 14 third-down attempts Sunday, matching the worst single-game mark in the NFL in the past 30 years. Indianapolis generated 121 yards of total offense, the team’s lowest output since 1997 and the lowest in Reich’s tenure.

Reich earned a reputation during his time in Indianapolis for being able to pull the team back from the brink. The Colts have been notoriously slow to start, but have consistently rebounded late in campaigns. The Colts started 1-5 in 2018 but finished 10-6 and made the playoffs. Last season, they started 1-4 before rebounding to 9-6, only to follow that up with those two fateful losses at the end of the season.

What is unclear is the fate of general manager Chris Ballard, the man who put the team together and hired Frank Reich.