Indianapolis Colts fire Frank Reich, name Jeff Saturday interim coach

The Colts have parted ways with head coach Frank Reich, team owner Jim Irsay announced Monday.

Indianapolis has lost its past three games and is 3-5-1 on the season, which is good for second in the AFC South but 10th in the AFC.

Then, in a somewhat shocking move, the franchise announced that former six-time Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday will become its interim head coach.

Reich, who won a Super Bowl in the 2017 season as Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator, had a 40-33-1 record in four-plus seasons as the Colts' head coach. His tenure was marked by constant turnover at the quarterback position. He led the Colts to a playoff berth with a resurgent Andrew Luck under center in 2018, only for Luck to shockingly retire just before the 2019 season. The Colts missed the playoffs that year with Jacoby Brissett as their starter, then returned to the postseason in 2020 after landing longtime Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers for one productive final season before he retired. 

That campaign earned Reich an extension through the 2026 season.

Expectations initially remained high last year after the club traded for Carson Wentz. The beleaguered QB's production improved from his final year in Philly, but the reunion with Reich also lasted just one year as the Colts narrowly missed the playoffs and promptly dealt Wentz to Washington. Indy acquired former MVP Matt Ryan within a week of exiling Wentz, only to bench the declining 37-year-old after seven weeks for Sam Ehlinger, a sixth-round pick in 2021 who'd yet to attempt a pass in an NFL game. Ehlinger has also struggled as QB1 the past two games, while offensive coordinator Marcus Brady was fired between his two starts.

The Colts haven't started the same QB in consecutive season openers since 2016. That streak will likely continue in 2023. Now, they're in the market for a new head coach, as well.

Saturday, meanwhile, was a two-time First-Team All-Pro player (2005, 2007) for Indy, and won Super Bowl XLI in 2007. He was inducted into the Colts' Ring of Honor in 2015, and played for the squad from 1999-2011.

His induction as interim coach is surprising to many due to his inexperience on the pro coaching circuit. He was named head coach of Decatur, Georgia's Hebron Christian Academy in 2017, but had a 3-7 record in his final season in 2020. 

Saturday becomes the first head coach in NFL history with no prior college or pro experience since Norm Van Brocklin in 1961, having earned the job over former head coaches Gus Bradley and John Fox, both of whom are currently on Indy's staff. The Rooney Rule, which specifies that a team must interview at least one minority candidate in its coaching search, does not apply to interim positions.

Saturday has long been a consultant for the team and was working as an NFL analyst for ESPN prior to the hiring.