Reich fired!
 

Stroud may have saved his job, but nobody listened to any of us here on Colt Freaks. Most of us said, Young was just too damn small.

Seems ridiculous to fire a coach midway through his first season.

They also traded away their best talent. Don’t know how you expect to win with zero talent.

Over the last couple of weeks, I occasionally read a Panthers message board. From what I read, the majority didn't like Reich at all as coach, but they disliked their GM even more. Many thought the GM should have been the first to go.

Wow. That franchise is dysfunctional. I guess things could always be worse for us. For example, we could have an ownership group so impatient that they fire the coach they brought in for a long term rebuild after less than one season. I understand some of you don't like Reich, but you made him your coach when you moved up to select your team's franchise QB. Changing coaches this early seriously jeopardizes his development, and sets your franchise back overall. I'm glad Irsay operates more like the Rooneys than these impatient, impulsive ownership groups.

Retarded.

Weird move but probably the right one, their offense is so similarly inept to the way it was here last year. Entirely different personnel but a very similar looking team on the field, it's gotta be Reich.

He's just not a head coach. Back to OC for him.

o


Meanwhile, the General Manager who put together what is arguably the worst roster in the NFL is still sitting behind his desk, in Charlotte ...... this is the quintessential example of not seeing the forest for the trees.

o

Hey Frank - Next stop the Patricias when Bellylick gets kicked to the curb? hahahahaha... poor sucker.

I think Frank wanted out of there anyway

I mean, I kinda feel bad for him.

Though on the other hand, the hand wringing of "look how quick another team was to hire the head coach the Colts fired" from some looks pretty funny now.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...lts-right-away

The fact that Reich landed on his feet without sitting out a season becomes a potential referendum on the decision to fire him in the first place.

Yeah, quite the referendum there.

There's a lot to digest here, and a lot of people are saying it's Bryce Young, or it's the terrible OL, or a combination of both, some are saying the owner is a maniac and it's on him because he wanted Young over Stroud, some are even saying he was meddling in playing time...

Look at it from this vantage point though. Frank is the 1st coach since 1970= 53 years, to be fired mid season back to back. That's over 50 years of some real trash coaches, 50 years!

Look at the similarities to what we saw here last year. Everyone was complaining about how bad the QB play was and how the OL was atrocious. Remember this team just could not put any points on the board, the QB was holding the ball over and over and over and we were all frustrated as hell by it.

Man, it's the same exact thing in Carolina this year, watch the game and read the comments, it is a mirror image of the Colts last year.

Look back to last year, Carolina was a relatively solid team which battled for the playoffs even after losing their best player to trade.

Jump forward to this year, the Colts are a relatively solid team which is battling for the playoffs even after losing their best player (at least viewed as their most dynamic potential to shift games) to injury.

This year, without what looked like one of the scariest offensive weapons to ever hit the league, with a QB with a pea shooter arm, with backup linemen and seemingly no real development of a guy like Pierce, with no meaningful contribution from TE's that were supposed to be a bad ass group, with our all world RB missing the first 3 games and sort of babied in his first 2 back, through all of this- this team is putting up points. We rank 11th in scoring- just behind Kansas City!

There are certainly factors beyond Frank that contribute to the Panthers being shit. However if you objectively look at it, Frank Reich as a HC has been doing something magnificently wrong. His offensive system seems to have just completely collapsed. Not sure why, not sure how, but it is nearly impossible to dispute this to be the case. I am apt to believe it is overly reliant on perfection being necessary for success, overly coached, calling plays predicated on exact defensive schemes and when the scheme isn't what the play was called against the whole model breaks down- and Young is not good enough as a rookie to improvise (and may never be)- and I don't think Ryan was capable of doing so either at the late juncture of his career.

I don't see this as being a Bryce Young, OL, or Tepper issue, I see this as being a reflection on Frank just not being able to be a head coach in this league.

To be fair how many head coaches were fired mid season then got another coaching job right away?

I actually kinda feel for the guy. He obviously isn't a good coach, but there have been a lot worse that were never canned mid season (Clappy for example).

I definitely feel bad for him....I never hated the guy, just never felt he was a good head coach. They have too much invested in Young and he was not developing under Reich! Bet they bring in a guy with a history of developing young talent....

I heard a great breakdown on Frank's failures this afternoon, think it was on 1430.

The bottom line in this analysts perspective, and I think it was a PFF guy who was talking, is Frank puts far too much emphasis on the Oline and the ability to win 1:1 battles. When it works, his offense is very good, but when it doesn't, things quickly go south, especially when there are injuries (every damn Oline has injuries!). He said Frank does not like to help, does not like zone blocking, and does not like to use pre-snap motion to diagnose alignment and adjust the scheme. Olinemen are on islands a lot and if they get beat, the QB is the victim. This all seems to check out thinking back to some of the things we saw here. What was it the Rivers year where we had effectively the same OL all season, and in turn a nice year out of our QB? Seems like recently we've had very little Oline continuity and we've had terrible QB play. So in his analysis very hard to say if Young is / is not the guy, because Frank's Oline model has given him no change to succeed (and implying neither Wentz or Ryan had a chance either).

BTW he praised Steichen, talked about how we do a lot of hand offs in the blocking game and as such we don't need to have individually great Olinemen and is one of the reasons we've been able to succeed (he was using points per game as the measure) vs being so inept last year.

Also, he said Steichen should be in coach of the year running for what he has been able to do with the lack of dynamic play makers on the team.

Chiefs fans would kill for the Colts WR and RB rooms.

It is striking that this is almost the exact same cast of charactors manning the offense as last year. They look like a professional team this year, not so much last year. Nobody is quitting on the team. It is a nice change.

In an interview not long after his dismissal, Reich indicated that this might be the end of his coaching career.

He didn't want to say he was "definitely" finished, but that's the direction he was headed for now. Perhaps with a little time away, he might get the coaching itch again.

Otherwise, he might be OK with devoting more time to his kNot today charity, or finding a new church to minister again or spending more time with his grandchildren, or some combination of those three.

His contract was guaranteed, so he should get the full amount of his 4 year contract with the Panthers.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sp...282370333.html

Personally I do not feel bad in the least for the man. He will pocket 38 million over the 4 years of his contract-more than set for life. He can use the money to fund his ministry as well as his family obligations. He failed as a head coach but has his reputation intact as a decent human being. Enjoy your life Frank. You may have lost in football but you are a winner in life.

o


Actually, Reich's football legacy will likely be more remembered for being the quarterback who engineered 2 of the greatest comebacks ever in BOTH professional AND college football than for his 2 stints as a head coach.


In 1984, his University of Maryland team was losing to Miami-Fla by a score of 31-0 at halftime ...... Reich engineered an unprecedented comeback for his Terrapins to win that game by a score of 42-40.

In 1992, his Buffalo Bills were trailing the Houston Oilers by a score of 35-3 in the 3rd quarter of an AFC Wildcard playoff game ..... amazingly, Reich engineered yet another historic comeback, leading his Bills to a 38-35 win in overtime in what turned out to be the team's 3rd of 4 consecutive runs to a Super Bowl appearance.

o

They actually took a 38-35 lead in regulation and the Oilers had to come back with a game-tying drive to force OT. Bills won 41-38.

o


I know.

The Oilers also had the first possession of OT as well, but Warren Moon threw an INT which sealed their fate.

o

Reich will not be remembered for one or two games.That isn’t his legacy. You are a good man C & O who looks for the positive in people. Have to admire that. Reich was an excellent back up QB but will more likely be remembered as a head coach, and not a very good one at that. As a player he had the distinction of being on a team that lost 4 Super Bowls in a row.

o


It's much better to make it to 4 Super Bowls in a row and lose them than it is to lose in the conference championship game, or lose in the divisional playoffs. Winning a Super Bowl is like winning a gold medal in the Olympics, and losing in the Super Bowl is like winning a silver medal in the Olympics. The further that a team goes in the post-season, the more impressive/accomplished it is ...... the notion that making it to a Super Bowl and not winning it makes one a "loser" is absurd, twisted logic. Jim Kelly was not more of a loser than was Dan Marino because of the fact that his teams lost 4 Super Bowls compared to Marino's teams losing 1 Super Bowl. And John Elway was not a loser prior to his team winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the final 2 years of his career because of the fact that his teams had gotten blown out in 3 previous Super Bowls.

Also, I'm not reaching for the good in Reich when citing his legacy. Football fans have, and will continue to think of Reich for those 2 historic games ...... "one or 2 games", as you dismissively describe them, don't begin to describe the weight of their significance.

Lastly, I don't always just look for the good in people. I believe that Chuck Pagano was, at best, a below-average coach, arguably even a bad head coach. The fact that he overcame cancer doesn't change that specific legacy in my eyes. Which is not to say that his battle with cancer won't have a legacy of its own ...... "Chuck-Strong" does, and will continue to have a lasting legacy of its own. But it doesn't necessarily change his legacy of how effective he was as a head coach.

o

Depends on where you live.

In Indy, he'll be remembered as a failed coach.

In Carolina, he'll be remembered both as the franchise's first ever starting QB, and as a failed coach.

In Buffalo and Maryland, he'll be remembered almost solely as the author of magical comebacks.

In the rest of the country, it's likely half and half.

o


Thank you ...... I was about to add that a player and/or coach's legacy is not necessarily confined to a bunch of pissed-off Colts fans.

Also, Reich's legacy in Charlotte, North Carolina could very well wind up being attached to the GM that put together what is arguably the worst roster in the NFL for Reich to work with ...... I don't think that Bill Parcells or the late Vince Lombardi could have coached this 2023 Panthers team to a relatively respectable 7 or 8 wins, and it's possible that many Panthers fans understand that.

o

The Panthers roster isn't that bad. Why can't you admit that Reich is a bad coach?

Mannings comeback over the Buc's, to me at least, was much more historic than any of Reichs.

The word "historic" is probably always going in favor of the '92 Bills and '16 Patriots due to the playoffs/Super Bowl. We've had several games in a vacuum that you could argue were more improbable...

'03 game against TB is possibly the most improbable comeback ever. 21 points in less than 4 minutes against the SB champs who won specifically because of that defense... insane.

Another one that doesn't get talked about as much was '08 vs. HOU, down 27-10 with like 4:05 left. Our D-line destroyed Sage Rosenfels twice and the O capitalized.

'09 game vs. NE, down 17 at one point... NE just added a FG to make their lead 13 with just over 4 minutes left. The 4th-and-2 game.

The '13 playoffs vs. KC, still IND's biggest comeback, still 2nd biggest in playoff history.

And while it wasn't a huge comeback... the '09 game against MIA is one of the most improbable wins ever. 27 points with less than 14:53 TOP. Worth sprinkling in here.

Disagree C & O. People don’t remember single games unless they saw it. Even if it had huge historical importance, people hardly remember Alan Ameche/Unitas and the greatest game ever played (it still is the greatest game considering that it was what sold america on TV and football). You are an historian so you will remember those two games. No casual fan, like most people are, will.

o


Reich is a bad coach ........ and the Panthers' roster is horrible. Those 2 concepts are not mutually exclusive of one another.


o

o


On many occasions, I have done major turnarounds in my opinion(s) on a player, a coach, and a team ...... in January of 2013, I asserted that ) Case Keenum ) would have a longer and more distinguished career than ) Andrew Luck. ) :o


But I am not alone in my reversals of my feelings ...... these are some posts following the 2018 season, a season in which Frank Reich was named the AFC Coach of the Year.


http://www.coltfreaks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65773





o

Have said without hesitation that I was DELIGHTED when Mcturd bailed and they went with Frank. And for a while there was promise. Something went wrong and when it did, wow the rotting was rapid and pervasive.

Coaching is weird. Frank started out great, I thought we had a long term answer, just like I do know. While it is tough to do it for a year, it is much harder to repeat your success year after year. It takes players who not only are good but buy into what you are trying to do. For whatever reason, Frank couldn’t pull that off. He is set for life monetarily so he did it well enough to get that. Man has other things in his life (being a minister and all), maybe that is the issue, having options. Steichen seems to be all football, if it doesn’t work out for him he looks hosed.

So I am with you C&O, my opinions change all the time. It is good to remember that lest I get too cocky.

o


The Ghosts of Football Past.




https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/i...1029213111.jpg

o

Hey, we're probably a dropped MAC pass away from "too much analytics."

I've had the inkling for a while... and I'm surely getting ahead of myself by mentioning at this point in the season... but I was thinking this season could have a similar (not same) vibe to '21.

Bit of a liability at QB, but sneaky good defense and OL/ run game that made for a scrappy, overlooked team... took a while to settle in after a rough early season, got on a roll, and became everyone's favorite dark horse. It was fun while it happened. Got ugly after.

Again, it's too early, but it feels like we're a scrappy team that'll be in the discussion til the end, which was not the feel a few weeks ago. We lack the opportunity for statement wins like BUF, NE, ARZ that '21 had.

But on the flip side, that means an easier schedule to punch your ticket. Then go '95 mode and upset some teams' Januaries. Like I said, too early... but fun to think about.

o


The 2022 Colts were 3-5-1 under Reich, and then 1-7 under Saturday ...... it was the first time since 2011 that the season couldn't end soon enough.

o

He’ll be remembered longest in Philly for helping bring their first superbowl, developing a great gameplan that beat the top dynasty of the time and Philly special or whatever it’s called.

I think he’s an ok coach, he got a bit of a raw deal. Different QB every year. If he had Luck the entire time I think the system would have been good, better than the Pagano era. Now it seems he wanted Stroud. Which makes sense to me because at Strouds pro day Reich was talking like they were going to take him. Then after that the tone changed, makes sense now that the owner made the decision. Owner has been labeled a “fan” and that’s a bad combo in an owner who is new to football. Irsay is a fan, but he grew up around the team and was its GM at one point. He was a bad GM, but he can appreciate what the job requires.