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The Indianapolis Colts have fired head coach Frank Reich and replaced him with inexperienced team legend Jeff Saturday. While Saturday comes back to the Colts with little in the way of coaching experience, he obviously has a wealth of football knowledge and connections in the industry.
Before Reich was fired, he let go of several coaches, resulting in an undermanned staff for Saturday. As a result, none of the offensive coaches had any experience as a play-caller at any level, much less at the NFL level. As a result, Colts assistant quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier will be calling the plays for the quarterback.
That’s another piece to which we don’t have answers. QB Matt Ryan was injured, so Sam Ehlinger has been the starter, and Reich had said that was going to remain the case for the rest of the season regardless of Ryan’s injury status. Ryan was a full participant in practice Thursday, so Saturday will have to make that call this week on who the starter will be. Owner Jim Irsay has said it’s not the case that Ehlinger would be the starter, so Ryan could be inserted as early as this week.
As we get further into the season, you could see more changes to the lineup as Irsay, Saturday, and general manager Chris Ballard decide which parts of the roster need to be blown up and which can stay, along with the remaining members of the coaching staff.
All of our coverage is linked below and will be constantly updated through the remainder of the schedule and the early part of the offseason when Saturday’s ultimate fate as head coach of the Colts will be decided. There is also news on Ballard’s future, so read up and stay tuned!