NFL Coach Power Rankings: Where Jay Gruden fits in among the 32 coaches

The Colts ended up having a tough offseason in their attempts to hire a new head coach. Josh McDaniels was ready to take the job, but the New England Patriots then swooped in with an offer to stay on board that made him change his mind. As a result, the team was left scrambling following the broken promise, and they ended up tabbing Frank Reich as their new head coach.

There’s a lot to like about Reich. He has a wealth of experience in the NFL as a backup quarterback. He’s fresh off a Super Bowl win with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he helped develop Carson Wentz into the one of the league’s best quarterbacks and helped backup Nick Foles become the Super Bowl MVP. And in 2017, the Eagles offense ranked seventh in yardage and third in points, despite Wentz’s ACL tear late in the season. Reich deserves a lot of credit for what he was able to do with the Eagles.

It’s also worth noting that Reich got his coaching start as an intern with the Colts back in 2006 and was with the team from that time until 2011. So, he has experience working with this team and ownership group.

At the same time, there is a lot of risk in the hiring of Reich. To begin with, Reich has had an unbalanced career as a coordinator, only fielding the one above average, well-rounded offensive unit of the Eagles in 2017. He had previously been fired in San Diego after two seasons of working well with the pass offense but failing to find a run game combination that worked.

However, the minor concerns with Reich’s coaching abilities are secondary to other issues that the new head coach will face. For starters, Reich was not the top choice for this job, and everybody knows it. He was essentially the emergency hire. And while he still got the job, there may be comparisons made to McDaniels, depending on how Reich’s offense works in his first season.

Also, it’s worth noting that because of how the contracts were negotiated with McDaniels’ assistants, the Colts were obligated to keep them on staff. That includes defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. And while Eberflus is certainly a bright young mind, the fact is that he might not be Reich’s guy. So, that could be an issue if the two should butt heads.

I’m also not a huge fan of picking scheme over personnel, and the Colts did that on defense. They switched to a 4-3 defense, which could absolutely benefit them in the long run given how bad their 3-4 unit was, but they parted ways with Johnathan Hankins when they did that. It was deemed that he wouldn’t be a great fit for the 4-3. While that may not have been Reich’s call, that was the team’s best defensive lineman. And without him, the Colts front seven looks weaker than ever. So, that was definitely a questionable call.

In short, there is going to be a lot for Reich to deal with in Indianapolis that may compromise his abilities as a head coach in his first season. Perhaps he will do a great job on offense, but the uncertain nature of Andrew Luck‘s shoulder and the questions about the new defense could weigh him down. I think Reich could eventually climb up these rankings. But of the new head coaches, it seems that his hiring is the most disorganized and carries the most risk.