Former Colts, Panthers coach Frank Reich hasn't ruled out return to NFL

FISHERS — Frank Reich still has work to do in Indiana.

The former Colts head coach was back in the Indianapolis area for Monday night’s kNot Today’s second annual fundraiser at Topgolf, celebrating the five-year anniversary of the foundation he started with his wife, Linda, to protect children from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking.

Reich has spent the 2024 calendar year trying to figure out what he will pursue next. Fired last November in Carolina after an 11-game stint as the Panthers head coach, Reich has spent his time with his wife, three daughters and four grandkids, while doing some consulting for an NFL team and keeping his options open for the next phase of his life.

Football may still be in his future.

“I have not ruled anything out,” Reich said. “I have made myself kind of not rule anything out, you know what I mean? Why make a decision before you have to? I knew I wanted to take this season off, besides the little bit of consulting that I’m doing, and we’ll make that decision at the end of this season.”

Reich’s final two seasons as an NFL coach were admittedly difficult, an abrupt detour from the way his head coaching tenure in Indianapolis began, with two playoff berths in his first three seasons, a near-miss in 2021 and a 37-28 start.

Frustrated by a 3-5-1 opening to Reich’s fifth season, Colts owner Jim Irsay fired Reich in November of 2022, and although his Panthers tenure was initially marked by the team’s whirlwind pursuit of the No. 1 pick, a 1-10 start ultimately led to Reich’s dismissal in Carolina last November.

Reich holds it all in perspective.

“Especially when you get to the head coaching spot, it’s not going to be a slow ride,” Reich said. “Either you’re going to get the right place and the right situation and things are going to head the right direction, or things can come to an abrupt stop. That’s just the way it is in the NFL now.”

If his time in the NFL has ended, Reich realizes he had a remarkable ride.

A critical part of Buffalo’s best teams in the 80’s and early 90’s as Jim Kelly’s backup at quarterback, Reich directed arguably the greatest comeback in NFL history as a player, had a full-time Christian ministry as a pastor and returned as a coach after nearly a decade, working his way up from an intern on Tony Dungy’s staff to a head coach who compiled a 41-43-1 overall record.

“I want to look it as a whole,” Reich said. “Not just the head coaching experience, but really, all my time in the NFL, for 30 years, was unbelievable. Felt like, in so many ways, everything that could go right went right in a lot of ways. And sure, there were a couple tough years, especially at the end, but it’s like Bill Polian always reminds me about the coaching profession: it’s a terminal profession. It usually doesn’t end well.”

Reich built strong relationships during his time in the NFL, relationships that were on display at the fundraiser Monday night.

The Colts had work to do on Monday after Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Texans, but as the night wore on, more and more players arrived in support of kNot Today: first Kenny Moore II and Marcel Dabo, then Grover Stewart, followed by Nick Cross and a handful of other players.

kNot Today itself is part of Reich’s coaching legacy.

When Reich was named head coach, he and Linda decided to leverage the enormous platform that comes with being an NFL head coach for good. The mission has changed and expanded over the years; Reich himself acknowledged on Monday that he thought the foundation’s primary goal would be restoration for victims of child abuse when they started it, only to find out that there was plenty of work to do preventing crimes, providing resources for police departments to combat child sexual abuse and educational materials in schools.

kNot Today has a strong presence in the state of Indiana, a growing presence in the state of North Carolina and influence throughout the country.

“Football was a really big deal, but this is an opportunity to give back,” Reich said. “I can do this the rest of my life, and will do this the rest of my life. We’re very committed to this mission and what we’re doing to protect children, and if I end up not coaching again, if things continue to go the way we have envisioned them going, we can continue to grow all across the country.”

A mission that was always meant to go beyond Reich’s time in the NFL.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former Colts, Panthers coach Frank Reich hasn't ruled out return to NFL