CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich doesn't want Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts to be about him.
He doesn't want it to be about how the Colts fired him nine games into the 2022 season with a 3-5-1 record after playoff appearances in two of the previous four years.
He doesn't want it to be about how being dismissed impacted his career and mindset.
He doesn't want it to be about his reported disagreements with Colts owner Jim Irsay, who involved himself with quarterback decisions and told ESPN's Michelle Beisner-Buck that he "reluctantly gave" Reich an extension in August 2021.
"I don't want to stand up here and make this a personal thing, because it's not,'' Reich said on Wednesday.
But in many ways this game is all about Reich, since he is with the Panthers instead of the Colts after Irsay gave up on him with four and a half years left on his contract.
Now he's trying to lead the Panthers to their second win in a row following last Sunday's 15-13 last-second victory over the Houston Texans that snapped a six-game losing streak to begin the season.
The Colts just happen to be next on the schedule -- though it's notable he led the Colts to a 10-6 record in 2018 after a 1-5 start.
"He's the same person he's always been, very grounded,'' said Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, who brought Reich to the Buffalo Bills and Panthers when he was a quarterback, and gave Reich his first coaching job in 2006 with the Colts. "If someone didn't ask [about the Colts this week], I don't think what happened there would even cross his mind.
"We talk a fair amount, and he's never mentioned the Colts.''
The only mention of Reich's past with his staff this week has been about relationships there he still cherishes, including new Colts head coach Shane Steichen, whom he got to know during their time with the Chargers.
"It hasn't been a conversation, more of an understanding both of us have, people there that we respect and appreciate,'' said Carolina passing game coordinator Parks Frazier, who joined the Colts with Reich in 2018 as the assistant to the head coach and was married by Reich, an ordained minister, three years later.
Reich says he harbors no bitterness for the Colts. As Polian noted, "that's not in his DNA.''
Reich took it one step further, saying he left Indianapolis with "positive emotions.''
So there will be no revenge speeches from Reich.
"There's always disappointment over moving on, just like anybody who moves on in a job,'' he said. "You love the people you just left, you respect them, then you move on and you're focused on the next chapter in your life and your career.''
Panthers owner David Tepper obviously didn't hold what happened at Indianapolis against Reich. He hired him in January over interim coach Steve Wilks, a popular choice to be the head coach after almost leading Carolina to the playoffs.
But there is no ignoring that a year ago Reich was wearing the Colts' blue, and he was dealing with an owner who, according to sources close to the situation, told Reich quarterback Carson Wentz had to go after the 2021 season and made him bench veteran quarterback Matt Ryan a few weeks before being fired as coach.
To Reich's credit, he never lost the Colts locker room, just like he didn't lose the locker room in Carolina during its 0-6 start.
"If you ask any player that was there, they loved playing for Frank,'' said Carolina outside linebacker Justin Houston, who was with the Colts in 2019 and 2020. "He didn't have a QB he wanted and it caused him to lose his job.''
ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday replaced Reich as the Colts' interim head coach last season. He was a Pro Bowl center for six of Reich's seasons as a Colts assistant (2006-11) and was a consultant in weekly contact with Reich at the time of his firing last season. Saturday acknowledged how Colts players felt about Reich immediately after being named Reich's replacement.
"My first meeting when I walked in, I was, 'I know he's a great man, I played under him, I worked with him, I think the world of him. I'm not asking you to ever look at him any differently. The respect you have for him, he's earned it and deserves it,''' said Saturday.
"Those guys loved him and thought the world of him.''
Many of those players can't wait to see Reich on Sunday.
"I mean, he is someone who would sit down with you, find out about your family and your background, what makes you go, what makes you tick,'' Colts running back Jonathan Taylor said. "And just to have a coach to kind of really dig in like that -- and I was able to see it over the course of my three years -- just to be able to have a coach like that, it was really nice.''
Saturday acknowledged Reich was in a nearly impossible situation to win last season, particularly with the instability at quarterback ever since Pro Bowler Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired before Reich's second season in 2019.
"It was a difficult situation,'' said Saturday, who went 1-7 as the interim coach.
But Reich's focus since the firing has been on looking forward and developing rookie Bryce Young -- his handpicked quarterback -- not changing his demeanor or philosophy. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation insisted Reich's firing from the Colts didn't influence him giving playcalling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown after this season's 0-6 start.
"He hasn't deviated one iota from the goal he shared with me last spring,'' Polian said. "It's just to build a championship level team. There's a lot of work to do in that area.''
The Colts just happen to be up next (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS).
"He is as steady as they come as far as being the same guy, win or lose," Frazier said, "always looking to get better, but at the same time having convictions about how you do things and sticking to that regardless of the results.''
ESPN Colts reporter Stephen Holder contributed to this story.