Frank Reich officially hired by Colts as head coach

It looks like the Philadelphia Eagles are about to lose another member of their coaching staff. Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich has emerged as the favorite to be the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, per ESPN.

Reich recently interviewed with the Colts following Josh McDaniels’ decision to bail on Indianapolis at the last minute. Thanks for nothing, Patriots.

Reich makes a lot of sense for Indianapolis. The Colts weren’t in a great position after losing out on McDaniels. Why not hire the offensive coordinator from the team that put up 41 points in a Super Bowl win? Not to mention Reich has play-calling experience from previous NFL stops.

For the Eagles, losing Reich is a bummer, especially after already seeing quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo go to the Minnesota Vikings. Reich assisted Eagles head coach Doug Pederson in game-planning for Philadelphia’s opponents.

With the Eagles now expected to have vacancies at offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, we could see some internal promotions take place. Keep an eye on running backs coach Duce Staley to replace Reich. Early word is that wide receivers coach Mike Groh could replace Flip while assistant quarterbacks coach Press Taylor could then take Groh’s current job.

Retaining their entire Super Bowl winning coaching staff would have been ideal for the Eagles. But in today’s NFL, it’s just not realistic. Teams are always looking to poach assistants from successful teams.

The hope is that the Eagles can choose the correct replacements. The fact that they were able to identify good assistants (such as Reich and Flip) in the first place is an encouraging sign.

UPDATE: Sounds like a done deal.

SECOND UPDATE: It’s official.