Image Credit: (Matt Kryger/IndyStar)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Twitter: @nicholasmullick
It has been a crazy week for the Indianapolis Colts. Especially as the Indianapolis Colts decided to make the stunning move by parting ways with former Head Coach Frank Reich. The Colts then made the questionable decision to hire Jeff Saturday to come and coach this team. I was stunned by it as Jeff Saturday has no coaching experience in either the NCAA or NFL. One of the major concerns I had though is regarding who is going to call the plays. Especially as the Colts fired Marcus Brady as the offensive coordinator a few weeks ago. Well we got that answer.
Now when news of Frazier being promoted to this role, there were so many people that were hating on this move. I got to be honest, I don’t understand the majority of the hate about the Colts making this move. Now does Frazier not have a ton of experience coaching in the NFL? Absolutely. He coached in college with Samford, Middle Tennessee State, and Arkansas State in multiple different roles which is a plus even though most of those roles were him as a defensive coach. He also worked on the offense in his time with Arkansas State.
However, he has an advantage that many candidates do not have and that is knowledge of the playbook. He has been a part of the Colts since 2018 the same year Frank Reich became a head coach for the Colts. In 2018-2019 he was the Assistant to the Head Coach for the Colts. In 2020 he was promoted to being the Offensive Quality Control. In 2021 he was the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Colts as well and now he is promoted to interim offensive coordinator. Frazier has known Frank Reich’s system for 5 years now and worked with the offense many times, thus knowing the playbook.
You can’t just randomly bring in somebody and restructure the entire playbook midseason. That is just a disaster waiting to happen and if you think the Colts are bad now, imagine if they decided to overhaul the playbook and had them learn a new one in a week. Here is something not a lot of people are talking about, as if the Colts believe Sam Ehlinger is the guy at QB long term, changing the playbook would hinder his development. Even the entire team could lose a footstep including the prospects they drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. The players on the team will be more comfortable finishing the season with the playbook they spent many months studying, then learning a new playbook just overnight.
Bringing in Frazier is brilliant as they can see if the 5 year investment on him is worth it. If this works out and the offense is run a lot better, I can see Frazier’s role being promoted as a permanent position. You can tell Jim Irsay is very high on him and wants to give the guy a shot. Say what you want about Irsay, but the man is a brilliant football mind. Has Irsay been the perfect football mind, absolutely not. But a majority of the time, Jim Irsay has been more right with his decisions than wrong.
Now to end this, I want to congratulate Mr. Frazier as this is a very big opportunity for anybody to get. Especially as it is not everyday that someone with as little experience as Frazier gets the opportunity of a lifetime to be an offensive coordinator of an NFL Team even if it is an interim role. I wish him luck this season and I hope that he succeeds with the Indianapolis Colts.