Colts’ Jeff Saturday decision speaks volumes about Jim Irsay’s acumen

Modified Jan 25, 2023 14:57 GMT

Pittsburgh Steelers v Indianapolis Colts — Jeff Saturday's hire was not a good one for the Colts

The Indianapolis Colts shocked the world when they decided to hire Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach. Saturday was not with the team at all prior to being hired.

He played his entire career with the team, save for his final year that was spent in Green Bay. Saturday was working as an ESPN analyst when he got the call from owner Jim Irsay.

Normally, interim head coaches come from within the organization. For example, the Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule and promoted Steve Wilks from within. The Denver Broncos also fired Nathaniel Hackett and promoted Jerry Rosburg from within.

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Irsay, however, decided to take a bold swing and it did not pan out. Saturday led the Colts to a win in his first game over the Las Vegas Raiders. They went on to lose seven in a row to finish 4-12-1.

The decision arguably could not have gone any worse for Irsay. Some owners like to take a hands-on approach with their teams, like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. Others are a little more hands-off, and Irsay falls into the former category.

It was a shocking decision that would have made Irsay look like a genius had it worked out. It didn't, which perhaps says a lot about his football acumen.

If owners aren't knowledgeable about football (and most owners do not have extensive experience in the NFL), then they should probably have a strong team of advisors and they shouldn't make unusual decisions.

Saturday did his best, but he'd never even been an assistant coach at that level. He hadn't played in a decade, either. Jumping straight into being a head coach after a decade away was a huge leap.

Irsay's faith in Jeff Saturday was misplaced, but the blame should not be placed on the Indianapolis Colts' interim head coach.

What we know about Colts' head coaching search so far

Despite it being a relatively disastrous move, Irsay and the Colts appear to be interested in keeping Saturday, according to ProFootballTalk.

"The Colts are moving on to a second round of interviews for their head coaching job and interim head coach Jeff Saturday reportedly remains in the mix."

This is a bit of a shock. With other teams, interim coaches get second interviews if they do well. Saturday did not, which means two possible things: One, it could mean they want to hire Saturday, which would probably be a mistake.