Indianapolis Colts Have Succession Plan if Head Coach Frank Reich Tests Positive for COVID-19
INDIANAPOLIS — In a time of uncertainty, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich have always tried to have contingency plans for every scenario to ensure stability amid chaos.
That foresight also applies to if Reich were to test positive for COVID-19.
Reich said on a Wednesday Zoom video conference call that a plan has been formulated for each coaching position, including his.
“I’ve had long conversations with our staff about that,” the third-year head coach said. “In particular, a long meeting with each of the coordinators, and we’ve gone through and written down a plan for every position. Whether it’s the quality control coach or whether it’s a position coach or whether it’s a coordinator or whether it’s myself – what’s the plan?
“We mapped that out. We’ve written it down. I’ve talked it through with Chris, so all those scenarios are covered.”
The presumption is that one of his coordinators, Nick Sirianni on offense or Matt Eberflus on defense, would be interim head coach. Sirianni is in his sixth season working with Reich, three as San Diego Chargers assistants from 2013 to 2015 and this being their third together with the Colts. Eberflus started working with Reich when they were hired by the Colts in 2018. Both assistant coaches have been in the NFL since 2009.
Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni (left) is entering his sixth season working with head coach Frank Reich (right), including three as San Diego Chargers assistants.
Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports
Reich acknowledged that he didn’t want to share who would be his successor.
“That’s correct, but that’s a fair question,” he said. “I don’t mind sharing this with you guys because I told the staff, I said – this was about a month ago and maybe you guys will find this interesting, I think it’s interesting so I’ll share it with you — it was an interesting decision. About a month or six weeks ago when I was talking with the staff about this I said, ‘Hey, we’ll have a plan. We’re in the process of working through it. I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to tell everybody on the staff what that plan is because I don’t want it to be a distraction to anybody. I don’t want the person who is ‘next man up’ to be thinking about that and to be distracted by that at all.’
“I’ve realized it could be a distraction the other way as well, so after ruminating with that, wrestling that through and then I talked it through with Chris, (and) I just decided that I was going to tell the coordinators what the plan was. I’d map it out with the coordinators, but that was it. I’m not going to share it with anybody else. Let’s just go to work. It’s all written down. It’s all mapped out. Chris knows it, so we all know it and we’ll move forward with that.”
The idea of having a plan makes sense, especially when considering New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson have tested positive. Payton had his COVID-19 bout earlier in the offseason and emerged clean from quarantine and returned to work in late March. Pederson is currently interacting with the Eagles via Zoom calls. Because he’s asymptomatic, he can return 10 days after his positive test or in five days if he tests negative twice.
Reich was Pederson’s offensive coordinator for two seasons in 2016 and 2017. They won a Super Bowl ring together in the latter year.
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
