Former Maryland quarterback made collegiate head coaching debut on Saturday

After a lengthy coaching stint in the NFL, including two head coaching gigs with the Indianapolis Colts (2018-2022) and Carolina Panthers (2023), former Maryland quarterback Frank Reich made his head coaching debut in College football yesterday evening for Stanford in their season opener at Hawaii.

Stanford ultimately fell to Hawaii 23-20 in the season opener and will play its next game on September 6th at BYU. Reich described the loss as one that hurts stating to the media after the game;

"Obviously, this is a tough loss, I give Hawaii credit," Reich said. "They played a tough game, and made the plays they needed to make to win the game. We came in off of what I thought was a very good week of practice, and a very good six months of preparation and hard work. And so this hurts, I'm not going to lie."

Reich was named Stanford's interim head coach back on March 31st by general manager Andrew Luck, who, funny enough, was coached by Reich in his final season playing in the NFL, where Reich helped guide the Colts to a 10-6 finish, clinching a playoff berth in what was also his first season coaching Indianapolis.

Before entering the NFL as a coach and a player, Reich played quarterback for the Maryland Terrapins from 1982 to 1984. He didn't play in many games, appearing in only 16 games through three years and playing nine in his final season.

Reich's most notable moment with the Terps was the 1984 Orange Bowl against Miami. Maryland trailed 31-0 at halftime, and the game looked over. However, head coach Bobby Ross decided to make a quarterback change, removing the starting quarterback, Stan Gelbaugh, for Reich. Reich had one of College Football's all-time historic performances, passing for six touchdowns in the second half, rushing for one score, and completing a 42-40 come-from-behind victory.

Reich had a lengthy NFL career, playing 13 seasons, nine with the Buffalo Bills, two with the Detroit Lions, and one with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. He also made the Super Bowl four times with Buffalo (in the 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons).