Mike Florio ,
Facebook
Bill Belichick isn’t the only former NFL coach making his head-coaching debut at the college level this year. Former Colts and Panthers coach Frank Reich is serving as the full-year interim coach at Stanford. On Saturday, they meet for the fourth time as opposing head coaches.
The game also marks Reich’s return to Carolina, two years to the month after he was abruptly fired by an owner who applied an unprecedented and illogical mispronunciation — twice — of Reich’s last name in the press conference explaining the decision to part ways with Reich during his first season on the job.
Belichick’s team is favored for the first time against a Power Four opponent, by 7.5 points. Which says less about the 3-5 Tar Heels than it does about the 3-6 Cardinal.
The game, which begins at 4:30 p.m. ET, will be televised by the CW. Which is good news for YouTube TV customers, since the network isn’t owned by Disney.
At the pro level, Belichick leads the series, 2-1. All three games happened during Reich’s time with the Colts. Their last meeting was also Reich’s last game in Indianapolis. He was fired three years ago yesterday and replaced by Jeff Saturday.
Belichick and Reich had another fairly important meeting during Reich’s last game as offensive coordinator with the Eagles. In Super Bowl LII, Philadelphia upset Belichick’s Patriots. And when New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels decided not to follow through on a verbal agreement to take the Colts’ head-coaching job, Indy pivoted to Reich.
There’s another interesting piece of connective tissue in this one. Stanford’s G.M. is Andrew Luck. He was the quarterback of the Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship, a blowout win for the Patriots that sparked the #Deflategate scandal.
Both Belichick and Reich have had the air taken out of their first seasons at the college level. The stakes this time around are much more modest than they were in February 2018; both coaches need a win to keep alive their slim hopes to become bowl eligible.
Big Shield combines gambling, pro football, and the mob into a cautionary tale regarding inside information, and the dangers that come from selling it.
Football is back and so are Mike Florio and Chris Simms! Watch PFT Live for the latest news coming out of the regular season, postseason and offseason every Monday to Friday at 7 a.m. ET on Peacock and the NBC Sports NOW channel.
