INDIANAPOLIS — He’s not sure how this journey will end, but he’s ready for the ride.
Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday talked to the press Wednesday. The Q&A was mostly focused on Saturday’s strange position as interim head coach, seeing as how he does not have any coaching experience, and how that will affect the team heading into Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Look, you know, I gotta earn their trust, there’s no doubt about that,” Saturday explains, “I’m not trying to diminish how important that is. That’s gonna take time, it’s not gonna happen in one meeting.”
Saturday had an all too familiar follow up statement, saying this has been a solid week of practice. It was announced Wednesday that Saturday decided to put Parks Frazier in the role as the team’s offensive play caller for the remainder of the 2022 season.
“I made the decision based on where the coaches were and trying to move as few pieces and parts as I could,” explained Saturday.
Once he opened up the floor for questions, the topic of conversation quickly shifted to Saturday’s qualifications to be interim head coach. He was asked why he decided to say yes to Colts owner Jim Irsay’s offer, which apparently came during last Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.
“Because I care. I told the guys this morning, I care about the players, I care about their families. I’ve sat in their seats man, this sucks. I’ve talked to Frank. We’ve texted, I love Frank man. I was working with Frank, right, so I’m working with Frank every week, talking to him. I consider Frank a friend and I love him. I think he’s a heck of a football coach.”
Saturday took issue with the tone of some of the media coverage about his hiring, saying he’s not a stranger to the Indianapolis Colts organization.
“You guys act like this is, these are my people bro,” Saturday continued, “my adult life was forged here. My wife and I raised our kids here. These people matter to me, this organization matters to me.”
Saturday brought up the Rooney Rule, which is a hiring policy within the National Football League, requiring teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. That’s when Saturday addressed the long-term status of the interim head coach job.
“My role here is for eight games. When this is over, they [Colts organization] will do an exhaustive search and pick whoever their best candidate is to be the head coach of the Colts. If I would be considered, I’d be honored. I have no idea where this thing is going to go, not even a little bit. Here’s the deal man, none of us are promised a good job. I may be terrible at this, and after eight games, I’ll say God-bless you, I am no good. I may be really good, I got no idea, but I dang sure ain’t going to back down. I can tell you that.”
The Colts and Raiders kickoff Sunday at 4:05. Indianapolis is 3-5-1, currently on a three-game losing streak.
