INDIANAPOLIS — Not a bad end to the week for Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich and linebacker Najee Goode.
After wrapping up mandatory minicamp on Thursday, the pair will now travel to Philadelphia tonight to enjoy the ceremony in which the Eagles will receive their Super Bowl LII rings.
Reich was the Eagles' offensive coordinator from 2016-17, helping them rank as the NFL's third-highest scoring offense in 2017 before signing on as the Colts' head coach in February.
Goode, meanwhile, played for the Eagles from 2013-17, starting four of 19 games he appeared in last season, including the playoffs. After notching a special teams stop in Philadelphia's 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, Goode signed with the Colts this offseason as a free agent.
Reich talked about the ring ceremony on Thursday following the Colts' final minicamp practice:
"Yeah, I get to go down there tonight and I'm looking forward to that, to go down there for the ring ceremony. I know a lot of people in this building and this city knows what a championship parade feels like and what that ring ceremony feels like for the people here that were involved in it. So I finally get to experience that tonight. I just know that it's going to give me a taste of what we want here and getting the people here to accomplish that goal here multiple times."
While Reich got his coaching start as an intern with the Colts in 2006 — the season the Colts won Super Bowl XLI — he wasn't officially brought onto the staff as an assistant until 2008. The team would fall to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV the following season.
Reich also was a backup quarterback on four Buffalo Bills teams that advanced to — but never won — four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s.
So it's safe to say Reich has more than earned the right to relish in tonight's festivities.
The city of Indianapolis may remember what winning Super Bowl XLI was like, but that was 12 years ago, and Reich said that feeling needs rekindled. Since those days, only kicker Adam Vinatieri and pass rush consultant Robert Mathis — as well as volunteer wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne — are left from the roster or coaching staff.
When Reich says, "I just know that it's going to give me a taste of what we want here and getting the people here to accomplish that goal here multiple times," it echoes what owner Jim Irsay says when he speaks of the Colts winning multiple Lombardi Trophies in this era.
The good news for Reich is that between him, Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard, the Colts' leadership is all on the same page about bringing the championship feeling back to Indianapolis.
