Now, Colts Hire OC from the Super Bowl Winners

It's hard to tell who had the more warped sense of humor, Indianapolis or their new coach's parents.

• The Colts spinning their new hire as a Eureka moment; while
• That dude's name is the German word for France.

The Middle Age tribes who inhabited that part of Europe called Gaul at the time were known as Franks. They were a tough crowd who, under King Clovis -- that's him in the upper left -- overthrew the Romans and set up their own nation.

 

Ultimately, the Frankish king Charlemagne expanded the empire -- Reich, in German -- of these Germanic tribes. There were three distinct regions:

• Österreich, the Eastern Empire, which is still how German speakers refer to Austria,
• Heiliges Römisches Deutsches Reich, which was the central empire, the northern part of which became Deutschland, or Germany, and
• Frankreich, the Frankish Empire, most of which became modern-day France.

To this day, the German-speaking world refers to France by that name.

 

What doesn't is a parent's surname being Reich and then christening the kid after a country in another country's name for it.

 

Obviously, since the family surname was Reich, the parents couldn't resist.

It's enough to make one wonder if Frank Reich has a brother or sister named Öster or if the joke stopped with him.

Ironically, it's now up to him to stop the Indianapolis Colts from being a joke.

 

Until doing his bit as OC to electrify the Philadelphia Eagles offense, Reich's claim to fame was being the slinger who came on in relief of an injured Jim Kelly and led the Buffalo Bills to the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history:

 

Reich's first assistant coaching job was with the Colts, so he's well aware that owner Jim Irsay can be and usually is a total jerk.

Indy brass is now citing how Reich's ability to work with all slingers -- starters and backups -- like he did with the Eagles is a perfect fit for them, as they're not certain when Andrew Luck will return from injury.

Why that didn't make Reich a perfect fit from the start begs the question.

 

That it took so long for any NFL club to give Reich a shot is particularly galling.

Or should that be Gauling?

Could be the Colts well and truly backed into the coach they really needed.