Was Colts’ Jeff Saturday hire the most random in NFL history? Ranking the 5 most uninspiring HC hires

The Indianapolis Colts gave up on their 2022 season the second they hired Jeff Saturday to take over from Frank Reich, but was it the most random hire in NFL history?

Having never been tested as a coach at the NFL level, Saturday got the job in Indianapolis simply because he was a former player for the team.

While this is a process that is usually restricted to European soccer, in the NFL, it just isn’t viable.

There is too much to learn in the NFL to do so on the job at the highest level.

Fans were dismayed by the hire and couldn’t understand just how far the team had fallen, especially when the offseason arrival of Matt Ryan was supposed to finally bring the team back to serious playoff contention.

The 2022 season was a disaster for the Colts, and Saturday’s arrival did little to rectify their slide. The 47-year-old will leave the Colts with a 1-7 record after taking charge of eight games.

With fans now at ease that the novice coach will not be their long-term leader, it begs the question as to just what the Colts thought they were doing.

It was one of the most bizarre coaching hires in NFL history, but does it rank among the five most uninspiring?

#5 Frank Reich – Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers Introduce Frank Reich as Head Coach

Initially, Frank Reich did some positive work in Indianapolis, reaching the playoffs in his debut season.

However, a lot of this success was down to having Andrew Luck at quarterback, even if the prodigious talent was playing nowhere near his optimum physical state.

Luck’s shock retirement somewhat took the wind out of Reich’s sails ahead of the 2019 season, and we should remember that when being critical of the coach.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that his time in charge of the Colts became stale by the end.

Despite that fact, history shows that coaches being hired after adversity can be a success. Just look at Doug Pederson in Jacksonville. It would be a lie to suggest Carolina’s hire of Reich is anything other than dull.

Fans are underwhelmed. They are seeing outstanding brands of offense being played in the NFL and wanted a slice of the action. Instead, they got a steady hand who was deemed no longer good enough for the Colts, a team that finished with a worse record than them in 2022.

#4 David Culley – Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts v Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson’s trade request and subsequent off-field scandal made the Houston Texans’ hire of David Culley seem rather unimportant in January of 2021.

The reality is, though, Culley was an uninspiring hire to begin with. He had been involved in the NFL since 1994, spending time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, but he had never even been a coordinator.

Now, he was being parachuted into one of the worst rosters in the NFL with a wantaway quarterback.

As harsh as this sounds, this was the sort of hire you’d come up with if you were trying to do things on the cheap and not invest any more money into a franchise.

Texans supporters weren’t excited, and Culley would be gone after one season.

#3 Dave Campo – Dallas Cowboys

Dave Campo wasn't an exciting appointment by Jerry Jones

Replacing a figure as successful and charismatic as Jimmy Johnson was always going to be a difficult task in Dallas. Jerry Jones was set to make his fourth head coaching hire as the team’s owner, and he failed to create a splash.

Dave Campo was promoted from within, with the move being largely criticized by Cowboys fans who had watch the team start to struggle after Johnson’s departure.

“I feel like I’m family in this organization,” were the words spoken by Campo at his introductory press conference, and they were rather poetic, in an ironic way.

The familiarity of the hire was what made it underwhelming. He had been part of the coaching staff since 1989, and this was now the year 2000.

Fans believed that, if he had the chops for a head coaching position, someone away from Dallas would have given him the chance in those 11 years. Expectations weren’t high. Cowboys fans felt they had another Jerry Jones yes-man, and he ended up performing as averagely as feared.

#2 Adam Gase – New York Jets

New York Jets v Miami Dolphins

Some coaches have an ability to mesmerize owners and general managers. Despite all evidence from previous roles showing them to be an incapable head coach in the NFL, time and time again, some can keep securing jobs for themselves.

Adam Gase is one such character, and his arrival in New York was greeted with sheer disbelief, such had been his disastrous impact on their divisional rivals, the Miami Dolphins.

Perhaps disastrous is too strong a word. He finished with a 23-25 record in Miami and never had a consistent quarterback.

He was, therefore, able to state his case to the Johnson family and secure the top job in New York.

Fans were miffed. It’s never a good sign when team management must come out and defend a coaching hire to their own fans… but that’s exactly what happened here.

“I get it, part of it is I have to earn their trust, we just had a couple of down years. I think they will see, if not right now, they’ll see it pretty soon that he’s a great hire.

“I’m not trying to win Twitter, I’m trying to win football games. I think we’re going to win some football games here," explained CEO Christopher Johnson.

Gase did win some games. His final record as New York Jets Head Coach was 9-23, including a 2-14 season, which ultimately proved fans correct.

#1 Al Groh – New York Jets

Al Groh was no Bill Belichick

There is a chance that the underwhelming nature of this particular hire has risen over time, but even back in 2000, there was dismay in the streets of New York when Al Groh was announced as the Jets’ new chief.

Now, for context, Groh was the second official hire since Bill Parcells’ departure. The first was Bill Belichick, and it lasted a few hours.

After resigning as head coach of the New York Jets in his introductory press conference as head coach of the New York Jets, Belichick left the franchise in an awful position.

Fans thought they were getting the genius defensive mind that honed Lawrence Taylor across the city. They thought they were getting the coach that had worked tirelessly under Parcells and almost got the Cleveland Browns into championship contention before Art Modell moved the team.

There was excitement in the Big Apple. Then there wasn’t. News didn’t travel as fast at the turn of the millennium, and with Belichick off the table, the Jets now had to turn to someone else.

Al Groh was hired after being part of the team’s defensive staff under Parcells, and it wasn’t a bad hire.

He was there one season and had a 9-7 record, but there is no doubt that his actual arrival was one of the most underwhelming moments in New York sports history.