Would Jim Irsay Really Hire Jeff Saturday as Colts' Head Coach?
The Indianapolis Colts have been extensively and rigorously searching for their next lead as head coach.
To date, there have been a total of 14 interviews for the position. The updated list is as follows:
Bubba Ventrone (Indianapolis Colts STC)
- Interview completed Jan. 11
Ejiro Evero (Denver Broncos DC)
- Completed a second interview
Eric Bieniemy (Kansas City Cheifs OC)
- Interview completed Jan. 12
Raheem Morris (Los Angeles Rams DC)
- Completed a second interview
Ben Johnson (Detroit Lions OC)
- Committed to Lions
Aaron Glenn (Detroit Lions DC)
- Interview completed Jan. 14
Shane Steichen (Philadelphia Eagles OC)
- Interview completed Jan. 14
Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis Colts IHC)
- Completed a second interview
Rich Bisaccia (Green Bay Packers STC)
- Interview completed Jan. 20
Brian Callahan (Cincinnati Bengals OC)
- Interview completed Jan. 20
Dan Quinn (Dallas Cowboys DC)
- Committed to the Cowboys
Mike Kafka (New York Giants OC)
- Interview completed Jan. 22
Wink Martindale (New York Giants DC)
- Second interview scheduled Jan. 28
DeMeco Ryans (San Francisco 49ers DC)
- Interview TBD
This, even without Ben Johnson or Dan Quinn, is still a robust list of candidates. With that being said, the interim coach, Jeff Saturday, is still 100% in the running for the position.
While it doesn’t seem as if he could land the full-time gig with names like Raheem Morris, Wink Martindale, and Ejiro Evero getting or having their second interviews, Saturday is not out of the race, yet. This begs the question: “Will Jim Irsay hire Saturday as the head coach?”
If you ask Colts fans, it’s a quick “no.” As this has been displayed in the petition to not hire Saturday as the coach. This is real, people, and the signatures are also real. However, whatever amount of signatures the petition reaches means nothing. What means something is that this has been done at all.
Never in the NFL has there been more of a public outcry for an owner of a team to not hire a coach. To recap, Saturday was triumphant in his first game against Josh McDaniel and the Las Vegas Raiders. After that, it was a landslide into darkness, sliding seven straight losses down the pipe to finish the campaign. Cap that off with a horrific offense and a defense that mustered the largest letdown in NFL history against the Minnesota Vikings and you’ve got a case for why people are so upset.
Is the petition a bit much? Yes. But, it’s understandable why fans can’t handle this again.
Saturday is also trying his professional best to get the job however he can. There have been divisions in the national media portraying him as “qualified and good for the job,” while local media will tell you they’ve heard nothing of the sort.
Is this Saturday’s way of using his connections in the media like a guy such as Morris would use his staff connections to assemble a team? It’s likely, and it’s the only tool Saturday has if he wants to get the position. He doesn’t have connections within the NFL as he used to as a player, so this isn’t surprising that he’s asking for a better image in the eyes of fans.
When it comes down to it, the decision rests on Irsay. We’ve heard “there’s no way he can do it” and “look at all of the qualified candidates, he’d be silly.” Well, back-track to Week 10 when Saturday was hired over the likes of Colts special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, assistant John Fox (former veteran head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears), and defensive coordinator Gus Bradley (former head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars) and you’ll see that it made zero sense then, but it still happened nonetheless, and with multiple qualified men to interim coach right then and there.
Has Irsay learned his lesson from a 1-7 finish, a brutally bad offense, and an angry mob-like petition? Let’s hope so.
