After the Eagles came from behind to beat the Colts on Sunday, Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni (a former Colts assistant) yelled into the crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium, “This shit is for Frank Reich.”
When talking to reporters after the game, Sirianni explained his reaction.
“You don’t want to know what I think, if he should be here or not, but you guys can probably imagine what I really think, and I love him,” Sirianni said. “So, I got a little emotional about that. It was sweet to come here, especially with what happened with this organization the last couple weeks, and get the win.”
Colts owner Jim Irsay felt compelled to respond, apparently. Via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com, Irsay said of the decision to fire Reich, “It’s not personal. It’s the very opposite from being personal. . . . Frank is a treasured friend of my family and all my daughters. We go back a long, long way. I’m very, very close to Frank, and I’ve known Frank for many decades. He’s like family.”
Irsay pointed to the personal relationship as the basis for the decision to give Reich a new contract earlier than usual.
“I’ve been doing this for over 50 years, and I’ve never, ever, ever, ever given a coach an extension when there’s two years left on the contract,” Irsay said. “But [I did it] because of the closeness with him and our family, and because I hoped that maybe it would be something that would help strengthen him in his position and his own belief.”
Irsay, in our view, misses the mark by thinking that Sirianni believes the decision was more personal than business. The more accurate assessment may be that Sirianni believes the Irsay gave Reich the business through a bad business decision.
Irsay wanted to minimize the risk of owing quarterback Matt Ryan another $17 million in fully-guaranteed pay for 2023. Irsay decided to bench Ryan for the rest of the season, for the unproven Sam Ehlinger. Then, when Elhinger didn’t immediately become John Elway, Reich was fired.
Enter Jeff Saturday, and he was allowed to immediately go back to the quarterback who gives the team a better chance of winning games.
That’s likely why Sirianni thinks the decision stinks. Reich was forced to coach with one hand tied behind his back, and then he was held responsible for the inability to win games that way. After Irsay decided to fire Reich and roll the dice on a former player with no college or pro coaching experience, the business decision was abandoned in order to give Saturday a better chance to vindicate Irsay’s unconventional hiring maneuver.
