Colts Notebook: Coach Frank Reich Remembers John Teerlinck; Remote Routine Includes Daily Drills

Third-year Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich refers to his late friend and former colleague as “special.’ Also says team is proceeding remotely as if camp, preseason will start as planned.

INDIANAPOLIS — Since the last time Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich spoke to reporters two weeks ago, he lost a friend in retired defensive line coach John Teerlinck.

In his opening statement on a Monday Zoom video conference call, Reich spoke of Teerlinck, who passed away on May 10 at the age of 69.

“Since we’ve talked I haven’t had a chance, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the passing of my friend, John Teerlinck,” Reich said. “I know it has been a little bit (of time), but John – I worked with him before. All of the chatter of him being the best d-line coach of all time, I’m right on board with that. That guy was special.

“He was fun to be around and I learned a lot of football in my first coaching job to hang out with a guy like John. Not just professionally, but (I) really got to know John personally and I really enjoyed my time here with him.”

Teerlinck was a Colts coach from 2002 until his retirement after 2011. Reich started his NFL coaching career as a Colts intern in 2006 and 2007 before serving as an offensive coaching assistant (2008), quarterbacks coach (2009-10), and wide receivers coach (2011).

Sticking to Offseason Routine

While veterans enjoyed a week off from meetings, the Colts spent much of the past eight days working remotely with rookies to get the newcomers up to speed on the NFL routine. The team resumed its routine with the entire team on Tuesday.

“They are not quite there so they can hop right in,” Reich said of the rookies. “(I’m) looking forward to having all 90 people on that call and continuing to progress together as a team and find ways to bond even in this. I know some guys are doing some stuff together where it is appropriate with everything that has been instructed.”

The Colts were among the NFL teams allowed to reopen their facility on Tuesday in the initial phase of the league’s offseason plan for returning to normalcy. But coaches aren’t allowed back at the team headquarters and the only players permitted are those who have been visiting to rehabilitate injuries.

The team’s preseason schedule dates were announced on Monday. Reich said he hoped to play his starters in three of the four games — presuming restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic are eased to have a preseason.

Until hearing otherwise, the Colts proceed accordingly.

“We are continuing to prepare,” he said. “Really, since April 20 – since this whole thing started as far as virtual meetings – our mindset has been we are going to have a regular season. We don’t know what is going to happen. We are hopeful and optimistic that we will have a full season together.

“So our mindset is just to continue this preparation with the hopes that we can start training camp on time and that the season would start on time. We will adjust as needed and as told.”

Remote workouts make the task of evaluating players more difficult, the coach conceded.

“That part of it is not ideal,” he said. “One thing it does do though – to your point, you’ve got to make your bones on the field, you’ve got to prove it on the field and every time you are out on the field counts including OTAs.

“But always every year I have ever been in coaching the same thing happens. We get through OTAs and we do learn a lot, but we are still not in pads. So, we tend to get really hyped about some guys but then as coaches we all say, ‘Well, we have to wait until we get the pads on because that is when we really find out.’ I’m not discounting the fact that we don’t learn a lot during OTAs. You do get to, but we’re in the same position every other team is in and we are finding ways to do that.”

Players are expected to send in daily videos of their workouts.

“We give them the drill of the day and (say), ‘Tell your girlfriend, your wife or your friend to video you doing the drill, getting a few reps in and send it to your position coach,” Reich said. “We will critique it. ‘We will coach you.’ We’re doing little things. That is not near the same, but it is one little step we can do. But that is part of the process that we are missing for sure.”

While the start of preseason could be pushed back into August and some of that schedule reduced due to the pandemic, Reich is hopeful the team will get enough practice time with players wearing shoulder pads.

“When it was the lockout year, I don’t remember exactly how it was, but it wasn’t a whole lot of time beforehand,” he said of 2011. “So, I guess in an extreme case it could be a few weeks and we are rolling. I think that is an extreme case, but we are hopeful and optimistic that we can get some time in pads to get some evaluation done.”

(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.)