Indianapolis Colts' Frank Reich’s Firing Nearly Mirrored Erik Spoelstra in First Years with Miami
Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich was fired this morning after a 3-5-1 start to the season.
The Colts took a brutal 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. They have the worst scoring offense in the league and will once again have to make changes at the quarterback position during the offseason. Veteran Matt Ryan was expected to be the answer at that position but has been underwhelming so far in Indianapolis.
Reich was hired by the Colts after serving as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in the year the team won the Super Bowl. Under Reich, the Colts have had four quarterback changes in four and a half seasons and only won one playoff game during this span.
The heat Reich took in his first seasons mirrored Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Spoelstra became the Heat’s head coach in 2008 after Pat Riley held the position for 11 seasons. Spoelstra previously served as the assistant coach in Miami when the team won the 2006 NBA Finals. Upon promotion, the expectations were very high for Spoelstra considering his precedent. However, it was a rough start for him, as the Heat were back-to-back first round exits in 2009 and 2010. The team had a disappointing 9-8 start to the 2010-11 season with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Players reportedly showed dislike toward Spoelstra, putting him in a tough position early in the year.
The Heat did bounce back to clinch a Finals appearance against the Dallas Mavericks, where they lost in six games. Miami went on to play in three straight NBA Finals, coming up victorious in two of them.
Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
