Frank Reich had more wins than losses in his four-plus seasons as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, but with the team seemingly moving in the wrong direction, it apparently wasn't enough to save his job.
The Colts announced Reich's dismissal on Monday, eight games into what has been a largely disappointing fifth season under the former Bills backup quarterback and Eagles offensive coordinator.
The Colts lost each of their last three games under Reich, a stretch that included the demotion of veteran quarterback and offseason acquisition Matt Ryan in favor of second-year man Sam Ehlinger, and the firing of offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.
Indianapolis' most recent defeat came in a Week 9 beatdown at the hands of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Reich joined the Colts ahead of the 2018 season, coming off a Super Bowl title as offensive coordinator with the Eagles. He seemed to be a backup choice for the job after then-Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels reportedly accepted the gig but later reneged.
Reich got off to a strong start in Indy, going 10-6 and winning a playoff game in his first year in 2018, but that was the high-water mark. After slumping to 7-9 in '19, the Colts rallied to go 11-5 in 2020, but the strong season was marred by a loss to the Bills in the Wild Card Game.
The Colts had the unusual and somewhat dubious distinction of opening the season with a different starter in each of Reich's five seasons at the helm, and the apparent instability seemed to hurt the team with each passing year. To be fair, few saw the retirement of Andrew Luck coming.
But the last year or so seemed especially tumultuous after the ill-fated acquisition and later unloading of Carson Wentz, with whom Reich had worked in Philadelphia. Reich reportedly apologized to Colts owner Jim Irsay over the Wentz situation.
On social media, where many users had long been clamoring for a change in leadership, the news hardly came as a surprise. Some Colts fans seemed to rejoice at the development, while journalists tried to put it in perspective. Here's what some of them were saying:
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