Philadelphia Eagles hire Frank Reich as Offensive Coordinator
The Pat Shurmur era is finally over for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that the Eagles are going to name former San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich to the same position.
Older fans might remember Reich for his days as an actual quarterback, where at one time he held the fame of leading the largest comebacks in both college and the NFL. Down 31-0 against University of Miami, the University of Maryland quarterback led the Terrapins to an eventual 42-40 comeback win. Reich, the long-time backup for Jim Kelly in Buffalo, led what is still the longest comeback in NFL history in a playoff game against the Houston Oilers in the 1992 season. Down 35-3 in the third quarter, Reich led the Bills on an epic comeback to defeat the Oilers 41-38 in overtime.
But of course, his days as a backup quarterback don’t mean much now, as he has moved on to coaching. He began his coaching career with the Colts as an offensive assistant coach in 2008 before moving into the position of quarterbacks coach in 2009, replacing Jim Caldwell, who had been appointed to the head coach position. He stayed there for two years before switching to wide receivers coach in 2011, only to be released along with the rest of the staff when Jim Caldwell was fired.
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The Colts went 14-2 in 2009, and Reich had the luxury of having Peyton Manning as his quarterback. That year, Manning threw for 4,500 yards, 33 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The team finished with the second best passing offense in the league. The team went 10-6 the next year with Manning still at quarterback, in which he threw for 4,700 yards, 33 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, good for the league’s best passing offense. When Reich made the switch to coaching wide receivers, it was the team’s first year without Manning as the quarterback and they were a complete disaster, finishing 2-14 with Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and Kerry Collins as the quarterbacks. They finished 27th in the league in passing offense as Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon made up the 1-2 punch at wide receiver.
He then moved on to the Cardinals, where he was the wide receivers coach in 2012 under Ken Whisenhunt. The team went 5-11 behind the travesty of quarterbacks known as John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer. The team ranked 28th in passing offense and dead last in total offense, and at the time, it was Larry Fitzgerald‘s worst season of his career. Reich was fired along with the rest of the Cardinals’ offensive staff after the season.
Reich then landed in San Diego as the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach in 2013, following Whisenhunt, who became the team’s offensive coordinator. The team went 9-7 behind the league’s fourth best passing offense with Philip Rivers at the helm. Rivers started all 16 games, passing for 4,478 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Eagles
Reich was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2014 when Whisenhunt got hired as the Titans’ head coach, and he took over as the team’s play-caller. This was the first time in his career where he really had the reigns, and he continued to succeed in the passing department. The team had the 18th best offense and was 10th in passing, but was 30th in rushing and only 17th in points. In 2015, the team had a miserable 4-12 season, but the offense improved in the passing category, moving to fourth in the league and was the ninth best offense overall. However, they were 31st in rushing and 26th in points. That’s a big problem right there. He was fired along with many of the offensive coaches after the season.
The one thing to remember about most of Reich’s coaching career: he’s had a franchise quarterback. With Manning and Rivers, the offense, especially through the air, was always very good. However, in the other two seasons where he had a quarterback carousel, his teams struggled mightily to do anything. I’m not giving him the sole blame for having such a disastrous group of QBs, but it’s something to remember when considering whether or not to re-sign Sam Bradford.
Pederson has had a lot of success on the ground but very little through the air, and Reich is the complete opposite. If they can combine their strengths, this could be a very good offense in Philadelphia. However, Pederson is expected to be the one calling the plays, something he’s never really done before. But with Reich only boasting two years of play-calling on his resume, I’m not sure if it’d be a better idea to give him the reigns there.
As with every single coaching hire, it’s nearly impossible to guess exactly how a coach will turn out, but it’s important to at least let the guy show what he has for a little while before jumping to conclusions. That’s what we’ll need to do with Reich.