One of the most underrated players in Buffalo Bills history is quarterback Frank Reich, who was not only Jim Kelly’s backup, but was also the quarterback under center for the greatest comeback in playoff history.
It was January 3rd, 1993 when the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) faced off against each other in the Wild Card round in Orchard Park. The Oilers came out swinging against the Bills, going up 35-3 in the third quarter. There was no way that the Bills could comeback against the Oilers, right? Well, the doubters were completely run after the Oilers’ first second-half touchdown.
The Bills locked in and it was all due to quarterback Frank Reich who threw four second-half touchdown passes and finished with 289 yards through the air to help lead a big time comeback against the Oilers. He would connect with Andre Reed three times and Don Beebe once that helped the Bills gain the lead in the fourth quarter.
After the Oilers managed to hit a game-tying field goal to force overtime, the Bills did what they needed to set up Steve Christie for a 32-yard game-winning field that officially put the exclamation point on the greatest comeback in playoff history.
After his playing career, Reich got into coaching in 2006, kicking his coaching career off with the Indianapolis Colts. Reich bounced around from Indianapolis to Arizona, and then landed in San Diego where he would earn his first coordinator job with the Chargers.
In 2016, Reich became the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles through the 2017 season and his production with both Carson Wentz and Nick Foles is what landed him his first head coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts. Reich would be the head coach of the Colts from 2018-2022 until he was fired halfway through the 2022 season. Reich led the Colts to two playoff appearances but failed to appear in an AFC championship game.
Reich would then agree to become the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers, who held the No. 1 overall pick going into the 2023 season. Reich would be set up to turn around the Panthers organization with a new rookie quarterback. The Panthers ultimately chose Bryce Young, but they were a huge dumpster fire in Young’s first season to the point where Reich was fired before he could even complete one year in Carolina.
Since then, Reich has been quiet in the news but not anymore. According to ESPN College Football Senior Writer Pete Thamel, Reich has agreed to become the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. However, there is a kicker to this deal: This is only for one year in which both sides are understanding of that. Stanford will then be looking for a new head coach after 2025.
Frank Reich somehow lands a perfect head coaching job
It’s not common to see an agreement between a coach and a program agree on terms, but only for it to be one year. This is quite an interesting setup, but this actually puts Reich in a great spot. Maybe he’s looking to come back into the NFL as a head coach, and this would be a perfect opportunity for him to show NFL teams that he can still lead a team.
In his defence, working for Jim Irsay and David Tepper is not an easy task given the fact that both of them are very impatient. Now, Reich will have the chance to get back into coaching at the college level. If he manages to lead the Cardinal to a successful 2025 season, he could be on team’s radars next offseason that are looking for a new head coach.