Before Frank Reich was a coach, he played quarterback in the NFL for 13 seasons. He backed up NFL Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly for eight seasons, where he learned as much as he could before moving to the coaching side of things after his career was over. Earlier this month, the New York Jets hired Reich as their offensive coordinator, and Kelly went to bat for his former teammate.

“Frank [Reich] was class from start to finish,” Kelly said on the Jets’ podcast. “I can honestly say I wouldn’t be wearing a gold jacket if it wasn’t for [Frank Reich] helping me out. Not only in times during the games, but in the meeting rooms and in the film room. When things were looking a little shaky, he would help me out. From start to finish I owe so much to Frank Reich and I love him to death.”

After Reich retired from the NFL in 1998, it took him nearly a decade to get into coaching, but in 2006, he joined the Indianapolis Colts’ coaching staff as an intern, kicking off his decorated coaching career.

Reich’s Early Coaching History

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Reich’s spent the first two years of his coaching career as an intern with the Colts before he was promoted to an offensive assistant in 2008. He’d stay in that position for one year before he earned the title of quarterbacks coach from 2009 to 2010, where he worked hand-in-hand with future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who won the MVP award in 2009. In 2011, Reich took up the post of wide receivers coach, but that would be his final year in Indianapolis. At least for a little while.

After his time in Indy came to an end, Reich moved to the desert to coach the Arizona Cardinals’ wide receivers. He would spend just one season there before moving to San Diego as the Chargers’ QB coach in 2013. Just one year later, he got his first chance to call plays as the offensive coordinator for San Diego.

In his first year as play caller, Reich’s Chargers scored 21.8 PPG, down almost three whole points from 2013. In 2015, it was much of the same, with the team averaging 20 PPG before he was fired at the end of the year. The Philadelphia Eagles quickly called him up to call plays for them, and just two years later, he was a Super Bowl champion with the Eagles. The celebration was short lived though, because Indianapolis came calling.

Reich’s Years as Head Coach

After a 4-12 season, Reich immediately brought the Colts back to the playoffs in his first year as head coach. They knocked off the Texans in the Wild Card Round before falling to Kansas City in the Divisional.

Unfortunately, just weeks before the start of the next season, Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired, causing a last-minute scramble at quarterback. The Colts settled on Jacoby Brissett, who played fairly well, but they were unable to make the playoffs after a 9-8 finish.

The following season, Reich brought in Philip Rivers, who he worked with in San Diego. The two clicked instantly and made it to the playoffs after an 11-5 season, but lost in the Wild Card. Reich’s Colts would go 9-8 the following season, and after a 3-5-1 start in 2022, he was fired.

The Carolina Panthers would hire Reich the following offseason, but things quickly soured after a 1-10 start, and he didn’t even get to finish his first season before he was let go.

Before he was Philly’s offensive coordinator, Reich spent a year as Stanford’s interim head coach in 2025, where he led them to four wins, their most in a single season since 2020.

Reich’s head coaching career was off to a great start before Andrew Luck retired out of the blue. Who knows what would’ve happened if Luck stuck around. All that matters now is that he’s back in the league, and the Jets are praying he can fix their offensive struggles that have plagued them for years.