INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning. Reggie Wayne. Larry Fitzgerald. Philip Rivers. Carson Wentz.
Frank Reich has had a sizable impact on the careers of some of the best of the best the NFL has had to offer in the past decade.
Now, the Indianapolis Colts hope that trend continues.
On Sunday, the team announced it had hired Reich as its 20th head coach in franchise history, putting one of the best offensive minds in the game back on the Indy sidelines.
Reich started his coaching career in Indianapolis back in 2006 as a staff intern and has worked his way to the top, being promoted to an offensive assistant two years later and then working as a quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator before returning to the Colts on Sunday.
So what are the Colts getting in Frank Reich? Let's take a by-the-numbers look at his football career, both as a player and as a coach from over the years:
14: Reich had a 14-year NFL playing career as a quarterback with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and Detroit Lions from 1985-98. He was the backup to future Hall of Famer Jim Kelly for the Bills teams that advanced to four straight Super Bowls from 1990 through 1993.
32: In for the injured Kelly, Reich engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history in the Bills' 1992 Wild Card round matchup against the Houston Oilers. Down 32 points, 35-3, early in the third quarter, Reich and the Bills would go on a 38-3 run from there to earn a 41-38 overtime victory and advance to the next week's Divisional Round matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
0: The number of games Reich lost as the starter of record in two playoff games, coming back to defeat the Oilers and then topping the Steelers, 24-3, the next week to advance to the AFC Championship Game against the Miami Dolphins. Kelly would return for that game, which would result in a 29-10 victory, but the Bills would be blown out by the Dallas Cowboys, 52-17, in Super Bowl XXVII. In those 1992 playoffs, Reich completed 55-of-88 passes (62.5 percent) for 643 yards with seven touchdowns to three interceptions.
26: Number of years of NFL experience Reich boasts as both a player and a coach.
68.8: Peyton Manning threw for a career-best 68.8 completion percentage in 2009 in Reich's first season as the Colts' quarterbacks coach. Manning, who earned the NFL Most Valuable Player award that season, completed 393-of-571 passing attempts for 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns.
4,700: Manning threw for a then-career-best 4,700 passing yards the next season with Reich in his second and final season as his position coach.
2: In his only season as the Colts' wide receivers coach in 2011, Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garçon became one of just two wide receiver duos in the NFL to each record 70-plus receptions and 900-plus receiving yards.
7: Arizona Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald was selected to his seventh Pro Bowl in 2012 with Reich in his first and only season as the team's wide receivers coach. With the likes of John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer throwing him the ball, Fitzgerald was targeted 156 times and caught 71 passes for 798 yards and four touchdowns that year.
13,556: In Reich's three seasons in San Diego as the Chargers' quarterbacks coach (2013) and offensive coordinator (2014-15), quarterback Philip Rivers threw for a combined 13,556 yards, ranking third in the NFL over that span. He also had a completion percentage of 67.3 (second in NFL), 1,194 completions (third) and 92 touchdowns (fourth).
120: In Reich's first season as the Chargers' offensive coordinator in 2014, Rivers became the first quarterback since 1960 to record a QB rating of at least 120 in five consecutive games (all of which were San Diego victories).
379: In his first season as the Eagles' offensive coordinator in 2016, Reich tutored quarterback Carson Wentz, who set an NFL rookie record with 379 completions. His 3,782 passing yards were the fourth most by a rookie quarterback in league history.
38: Led by Wentz for most of the season before suffering a season-ending knee injury Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles would pass for a league-best 38 touchdowns in the 2017 season. Under Reich, the Eagles in 2017 ranked seventh in total offense, fourth in first downs, sixth in fewest interceptions, sixth in rushing attempts and third in rushing yards.
1: With Reich's help, the Eagles earned their first-ever Super Bowl title last Sunday with their 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. Quarterback Nick Foles won game MVP honors after completing 28-of-43 passes for 373 yards with three touchdowns to one interception, while also receiving a touchdown. Foles was not sacked once in the game.
——————————More Frank Reich Coverage:• Breaking: Frank Reich Hired As Colts' Head Coach
• By The Numbers: Frank Reich
• Video: Frank Reich To Become Next Colts Head Coach
• Press Release: Indianapolis Colts Name Frank Reich Team's New Head Coach• Peyton Manning On Frank Reich: ‘Tireless Worker,’ ‘Grinder’• Doug Pederson Says Frank Reich Is ‘Deserving Of This Opportunity’ With Colts
• Colts Announce New Head Coach And Twitter Responds
• Photos: Welcome Back Coach Reich
• Photos: Coach Reich Signs Contract
• NFL Network: What Frank Reich Brings To The Indianapolis Colts
• 2/12 Colts Daily Update - Frank Reich Thoughts With Bill Polian (Audio)
• Bill Polian Gives Colts’ Frank Reich Hiring His Thumbs Up
