Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle praises new head coaches of Indiana Fever and Indianapolis Colts
It's been a busy week in Indianapolis as two professional sports franchises hired new coaches. The Indiana Fever brought in Christie Sides to guide the team through their rebuild while the Indianapolis Colts hired Jeff Saturday to reignite the roster after a 3-5-1 start.
Pacers assistant general manager Kelly Krauskopf was the President and GM of the Fever for nearly twenty years. She was in charge of the WNBA franchise when Sides was an assistant earlier this decade, and she was happy with the hire.
"I got a first hand look at her knowledge and her communication skills. She had great leadership presence as an assistant coach. I was a big fan from the beginning," Krauskopf saif of Sides.
Now, Sides is the head coach of the Indiana Fever. She comes to the Fever from the Atlanta Dream, where she served as an assistant last season. Sides attended the Pacers game against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle discussed the Fever hiring Sides on Saturday before that game. "[I want to] congratulate coach Christie Sides for becoming the new Fever head coach. Pretty exciting time for her and in the franchise," he said. He also applauded the Fever for winning the WNBA Draft Lottery on Friday night.
Sides replaces former Pacers player Carlos Knox as the head coach of the Fever.
Meanwhile, over in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts just moved on from head coach Frank Reich and brought in former player Jeff Saturday to coach on an interim basis. Saturday had little experience coaching at the pro level, so many found the hiring surprising.
The Colts take on the Las Vegas Raiders today in their first game under Saturday. Carlisle shared that he and Saturday shared messages this week.
"I was able to briefly exchange messages with Jeff Saturday today. I got his number and wished him well. It's a very unique situation, what he's done, what he's taking on," Carlisle said. "[I've] followed the whole thing this week pretty closely because, you know, how can you not follow it? It's such a fascinating situation."
Saturday spent 13 seasons under center for the Colts and won a Super Bowl in 2006. He coached at the high school level before being hired by Indianapolis.
"What he's doing takes a tremendous amount of courage to step into that situation. But I've seen it work before," Rick Carlisle said. "I came here with Larry Bird in 1997 and there were a lot of doubters and a lot of detractors. And all he did was become the coach of the year, his first year," he added. Carlisle and Bird came to Indiana's coaching staff in the same year in 1997 and led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Saturday commented on his conversation with Carlisle earlier this weekend. "It was surreal. I told him, I've loved what he's done for so many years... when he reached out, it meant the world to me," Saturday said, per Larra Overton of the Colts.
Carlisle is in the second season of his second stint coaching the Pacers. Sides will get her first chance to coach the Fever next May while Saturday gets his first chance today.
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