The Indianapolis Colts entered the 2022 NFL season as the heavy favorite to win the AFC South with Frank Reich viewed as one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Amid another disappointing season for the franchise, it’s time to consider coaching candidates who should be targeted with Reich out the door.

Reich’s path to becoming the head coach in Indianapolis was unconventional. Viewed as a rising coaching candidate in 2018, he missed out on the hiring cycle until Josh McDaniels back out on the Colts. Shortly after, the franchise responded by hiring Reich in a reunion after he began his career with Indianapolis as a coaching intern (2006-’07) and then worked his way up as a positional coach.

It looked like Reich would help the Colts become one of the best teams in the NFL after 2018. Indianapolis finished with a 10-6 record, reaching the AFC Divisional Round. Andrew Luck started every game, finishing with 4,593 passing yards and a career-high 98.7 quarterback rating. The franchise seemed poised to make the leap into Super Bowl contention the following year, but that all changed when Luck suddenly retired.

• Frank Reich career record: 40-33-1 in the regular season, 1-2 in NFL playoffs

Reich tried to make things work offensively ever since. In 2019 with starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis went 7=9 and missed the playoffs. Things got better with the change to Philip Rivers, the Colts finished 11-5 and made the playoffs. But Reich could only get so much out of a quarterback who was ready to retire. Reich then hand-picked Carson Wentz in 2021 and overpaid to acquire him, only to have the entire organization sour on Wentz long before his late-season collapse.

Fast forward to 2022 and the Colts are even worse. Reich benched Matt Ryan and fired the offensive coordinator who doesn’t even call plays. None of it worked. The colts rank last in points per play (0.222), 30th in yards per play (4.8), 24th in third-down conversion rate (35.8%) and it keeps getting worse.

Let’s dive into five Indianapolis Colts coaching candidates following the firing of Frank Reich.

Brian Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach

It’s evident the Indianapolis Colts will be in the market for a quarterback once again this offseason. Fortunately, the annual search will be made a little easier with plenty of quality picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. Whether Indianapolis moves up for its next face of the franchise or one becomes available via trade, they need the right coach in the building to make everything work.

Brian Johnson should be among the hottest coaching candidates in 2023. Shortly after the former quarterback’s playing career ended in 2009, he returned to the Utah Utes as their quarterbacks coach (2010-’11). After two years in that position, the 24-year-old became the youngest offensive coordinator in FBS history. He then made stops at Mississippi State (2014-’16), Houston (2017) and the University of Florida (2018-’20) before the Philadelphia Eagles hired him as their quarterbacks’ coach in 2021.

• Florida Gators offense (2020): 378.6 pass ypg (1st in FBS), 26.3 first downs per game (8th), 7.3 yards per play (9th), 39.8 ppg (13th)
• Philadelphia Eagles passing offense (2022): 68.1% completion rate (4th in NFL), 8.6 yards per attempt (1st), 107.6 QB rating (1st)

Now 35, Johnson has been integral to the development of quarterback Jalen Hurts and he works one-on-one with him after each drive, in the film room and throughout practice each week. If owner Jim Irsay wants to bring in one of the best, young quarterback whispers in football and jump out ahead of the NFL curve, Johnson must be interviewed by Indianapolis.

Mike Kafka, offensive coordinator, New York Giants

Brian Daboll deserves to be the NFL Coach of the Year for turning around the New York Giants. He implemented a far better culture within the locker room and it’s resulted in a team that wins in a variety of ways. He is also one of the NFL’s best offensive play designers, but he’s not the one calling plays in New York this season.

Kafka is rapidly climbing the coaching ladder. A career backup quarterback in the NFL from 2010-’15, the Northwestern alum immediately became a graduate assistant for the Wildcats in 2016. He joined Andy Reid’s staff as an offensive quality control coach a year later and was then promoted to quarterbacks coach (2018-’21), the first season Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback. He played an important role in Mahomes’ development, earned more responsibilities as Kansas City’s pass-game coordinator and learned from a Super Bowl-winning coach about how to design sustainable NFL offenses.

“When I started coaching with Coach (Andy) Reid he was big on that: showing certain looks, showing formations, certain plays, then complementing those looks off of the action of a personnel grouping. That was important to learn that, and I think that’s probably where it started for me is how do you build that? How do you build off of those plays or things that you’ve shown in weeks before to then bring up in a game that the defense is kind of anticipating.”

Daboll picked Kafka as his offensive coordinator and play-caller because he knows how to communicate well with players and he believed strongly in his intellect when it came to in-game adjustments and knowing what to do in certain situations. Many had low expectations for the Giants’ offense in 2022, but it boasts a 40% third-down conversion rate and ranks fourth in second-half scoring (12.9 PPG).