INDIANAPOLIS -- Frank Reich will have an additional role to that of being head coach of the Colts next season. Reich, who was hired on Feb. 11, also will handle playcalling duties.
So, if there’s a questionable playcall made during the game, there will only be one person to blame: Reich.
Head coaches calling plays is nothing new around the NFL. Nearly half of the league's head coaches do it.
Reich previously was the offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was head coach Doug Pederson who called the plays for the Super Bowl champions last season. The same thing happens in Green Bay with Mike McCarthy, in New Orleans with Sean Payton, in Tampa Bay with Dirk Koetter, in Houston with Bill O’Brien, in Washington with Jay Gruden and in Miami with Adam Gase. In their first seasons as head coaches in 2017, the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan each called plays. Several new head coaches will be doing the same in 2018, including Jon Gruden in Oakland, Matt Nagy in Chicago and Pat Shurmur with the New York Giants.
“I’ll call the plays, but you can’t even imagine the collaboration that goes into preparing the call sheet, preparing the first 15 [plays], how we’re prioritizing our third-down calls, how we’re prioritizing our red zone calls, all the situational football," Reich said. "During the course of the game, how the communication goes between the playcaller and the rest of the offensive staff, what’s said, how we’re talking to the quarterback.
"Again, it comes down to there’s got to be one voice, and I’ll be that voice calling it on game day. But it’ll be a collaborative effort.”
Having Reich call plays might seem surprising when you take into account that he’s a first-time head coach and both of his coordinators -- Matt Eberflus on defense and Nick Sirianni on offense -- also are in their roles for the first time in the NFL. It would seem more understandable if Eberflus and Sirianni were both experienced coordinators. McVay, for instance, had longtime defensive coordinator Wade Phillips during his first season as head coach with the Rams.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard talked about Eberflus, who spent last season as linebackers coach and passing-game coordinator in Dallas, in high regard when he mentioned that Indianapolis planned to honor the contracts of the coaches that originally agreed to join Josh McDaniels’ staff, before McDaniels spurned the Colts at the last minute to return to New England as its offensive coordinator two weeks ago.
“I got to know Matt Eberflus a few years ago and was blown away by Matt,” Ballard said. “Matt was a coveted coach. He’s a very talented defensive coordinator. I feel very lucky to have Matt Eberflus in the building running a [4-3 defensive] scheme that I think fits our team that we can scout for and that fits our building. We’re playing on an indoor surface.
“We’re going to be playing in ideal weather eight to 12 games a year that’s going to be based on athletic ability and speed. That’s how this defense is built. It’s easy for young players to play, because it’s simple and it allows them to play fast and physical, and that’s what we want to be. So, I’m excited about our defensive coordinator.”
Sirianni, who was receivers coach of the Los Angeles Chargers last season, will play a significant role in putting together the game plan each week, which is similar to what Reich did the past two seasons with the Eagles.
“There’s nothing better than collaboration,” Reich said. “Collaboration doesn’t mean that there’s no leadership. It doesn’t mean that there’s no voice. It doesn’t mean that there’s not clear conviction on where we’re going. Collaboration means there’s respect in the room.
"There’s talent in the room, and our job as leaders is to get the best talent, the most talented staff and to draw all of that out of them, to draw the best ideas. That’s what I’ve always believed. That’s what we did in Philadelphia, and that’s what we’ll do here.”