The Indianapolis Colts benched a 15-year veteran quarterback two weeks ago to begin starting a signal caller that had never attempted a pass in the NFL previously.
Now this week, the Colts have fired a head coach with 17 years of NFL coaching experience to hire a coach who has never spent a down on the sidelines in professional or college football as a coach.
Within hours of the Colts announcing on November 7 that they had fired Frank Reich, the Colts also released their plans to hire ESPN football analyst Jeff Saturday as interim head coach.
The Indianapolis Colts have parted ways with head coach Frank Reich.
We have named Jeff Saturday interim head coach.
The Colts’ coaching change comes within the same two-week window of the team benching quarterback Matt Ryan and firing offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.
With all the turmoil in Indianapolis over the last couple weeks, lots of members of the media had quite the reaction to the coaching change on November 7.
Those inside the building and around the team are just as stunned by this move as the rest of us.
I’m… speechless.
Mondays and Tuesdays used to be the chill days at home on the Colts beat.
Monday 10/24: QB Matt Ryan benched
Tuesday 11/01: OC Marcus Brady fired
Monday 11/07: HC Frank Reich fired, Jeff Saturday named interim
Monday and Tuesday nights will be for drinking from here on out.
A Homecoming for Former Colts Center Jeff Saturday
Colts fans are obviously very familiar with the man tabbed to be Indianapolis interim head coach for the rest of the 2022 season. Saturday is arguably the greatest player who went undrafted in Colts history.
No NFL team selected Saturday in the 1998 NFL draft and then he didn’t even last long enough to be on the Baltimore Ravens roster for training camp. The following offseason, he signed a contract with the Colts.
He started just 2 games in 1999, but then beginning in 2000, Saturday would start 186 of the team’s next 192 regular season games at center. He made five Pro Bowls and first-team All Pro in 2005 and 2007.
Saturday’s playing career practically coincided with quarterback Peyton Manning. Saturday played his final season with the Colts in 2011 and remained in the league only one more year. He played his final NFL season with the Green Bay Packers in 2012.
The retired center spent much of the last decade on ESPN as an NFL analyst. He also served as head coach of the Hebron Christian Academy football team from 2017-20.
The Colts bypass two former NFL head coaches already on staff — Gus Bradley, John Fox — and a rising head-coaching candidate in Bubba Ventrone, to name former center Jeff Saturday the interim coach.
That is a real sentence.
Colts Make History With Saturday’s Promotion
Firing a head coach always leads to turmoil. To minimize the change during a midseason firing, NFL teams typically promote a coach already on the staff to head coach on an interim basis.
But the Colts are anything but typical at the moment.
Indianapolis not only went outside its current coaching staff to name an interim head coach, it awarded the head coaching vacancy to a man who has no coaching experience above high school.
As best as I can tell, Jeff Saturday becomes the first person in NFL history to be named a head coach without any coaching experience at either the NFL or college level.
He now takes over in Indy.
Jeff Saturday is the first NFL head coach with no college or pro coaching experience since Norm Van Brocklin went from 1960 NFL MVP with the Eagles to coach of the Vikings in 1961.
I’m making a list of Colts head coaching candidates for next season.
I’m *thisclose* to adding Condoleezza Rice.
This is gonna go down as one of the craziest days in my career. And I’ve seen some STUFF
Last season, the Colts had cameras in their building to record a season of Hard Knocks.
This year has me wondering if we’re on the set of Ballers and just don’t know it yet.
In the last few weeks, #Colts owner Jim Irsay has…
– Called out Dan Snyder when no other owner would.
– Benched Matt Ryan for Sam Ehlinger.
– Fired HC Frank Reich after saying he’s safe.
– Hired Jeff Saturday (!) to take over the team.
A wild stretch. Owner has had enough.
Hey, at the very least, maybe Jeff Saturday can fix the offensive line.
Just last week, Saturday was analyzing the league, sometimes being highly critical of certain players and coaches, on television and Twitter.
Now, he will have to face some of those teams he criticized on the field.
The first team the Colts will face in the Saturday era will be the Las Vegas Raiders.
@SaturdayJeff Coaching against your WR1 in fantasy has to be a first
With the coaching change coming this week, Sam Ehlinger is set to make his third career start with his third different offensive coordinator.
Sam Ehlinger as a starter (assuming he starts this week):
3 starts
3 offensive coordinators
Saturday will have his hands full. While the Colts have already played five of their six division games this season, they still have five matchups against teams currently in a playoff spot.
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Colts Media Reacts to ‘Stunning’ Move to Replace Frank Reich