Jim Irsay's Decision to Hire Jeff Saturday Is Insane
The Indianapolis Colts fired head coach Frank Reich on Monday after a 3-5-1 start. The team's anemic offense ultimately sealed Reich's fate midway through his fifth season. Reich's firing was deserved, especially given the team's failures at quarterback. But the choice to replace him is absolutely nuts.
Rather than elevate an assistant on the staff to replace Reich, owner Jim Irsay went completely off the board. He hired ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday as the team's interim head coach. Saturday was the Colts' center for 13 seasons and earned All-Pro honors four times. He had been a consultant for the franchise, but has never coached in any capacity at the NFL level. This move is utterly insane by Irsay.
Saturday's only coaching experience seems to be three seasons as the head coach at Hebron Christian Academy in Georgia. And he wasn't even good:
Jeff Saturday retired from that high school football coaching job 2.5 years ago and finished 4 games above .500 over 3 seasons. https://t.co/mByjdgphRx
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) November 7, 2022
So what the hell is going on here? Apparently Colts players are just as confused as the rest of us.
Those inside the building and around the team are just as stunned by this move as the rest of us.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) November 7, 2022
Hiring Saturday makes absolutely no sense on any level. You can't even justify it with an argument about "thinking outside the box" because there are plenty of other outside the box ideas that would have been better. Just a stunning, stupid decision.
Irsay has long been known for his crazy decision-making. Look no further than the deals the Colts made for their last two quarterbacks: Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. In both cases they imported ridiculous contracts and surrendered assets to acquire subpar signal-callers.
This isn't a new thing from Irsay. Remember when he was the driving force behind Indianapolis' trade for Trent Richardson? The Colts traded a first-rounder for Richardson, who had been bust with the Cleveland Browns. As we all know, that one didn't work out either.
Additionally, Irsay's decision to fire Reich but hold on to general manager Chris Ballard is puzzling to say the least. Ballard is as responsible as Reich for the disaster the Colts face right now.
It appears hiring Saturday is just Irsay's latest crazy move.