Getty Indianapolis Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger will play for interim head coach Jeff Saturday in Week 10.
Mostly, the Indianapolis Colts have been laughed at since hiring Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. While Saturday played 14 seasons in the NFL, 13 of which he spent in Indianapolis, he has no football coaching experience above high school.
But not everyone is laughing.
Before re-joining the Colts, Saturday was a football analyst at ESPN. Apparently some of his fellow employees have the same dream of one day receiving an opportunity to coach in the NFL.
Count ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky as one of those dreamers. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on November 8, Orlovsky shared that he’s had “in-depth conversations” with Saturday about coaching in the NFL and didn’t rule out the possibility of joining his former television co-worker in Indianapolis.
Orlovsky Discusses Possibility of Joining Colts Coaching Staff
Towards the end of Orlovsky’s interview with Patrick on November 8, the host asked the former NFL quarterback flat out if Saturday offered him the quarterbacks coaching job in Indianapolis.
Orlovsky smiled and then responded.
“Not directly, no.”
Of course, that led to a follow-up question from Patrick. Naturally, the host wanted clarification. Orlovsky offered that.
“We’ve had some really good, in-depth conversations of like what coaching looks like. Who are the good ones, who are the bad ones. My interest level in it. Where I am in the present moment,” Orlovsky said. “That’s when I look back and I’m like, ‘Aha.’ You know, like, I think he was gathering kind of a feel and information without revealing some of the stuff that was going on behind the scenes.
“I texted with him yesterday ‘Hey man, good luck. Go crush it,’ type of thing, and we decided to touch base later. So, no, he did not directly offer me anything, no.”
The “touching base” that Orlovsky is describing could very well just be two friends planning to “catch up” with each other about personal things in a few weeks.
But if one wants to read into what Orlovsky could be implying, Saturday and Orlovsky could also “stay in touch” about a possible job for the former quarterback down the road.
Orlovsky Takes a Joking Question Seriously
Maybe the craziest part about Orlovsky not ruling out the possibility of joining the Colts coaching staff is the discussion was supposed to be a joke.
“Ok, you’re giving me a real answer here,” Patrick said back to Orlovsky after his “touch base” response. “I was kind of joking, but you gave me a real answer. I appreciate that.”
In addition to Patrick admitting the original question was a joke, if one re-watches the replay of the interview, one can hear music playing in the background while Patrick asks Orlovsky about joining the Colts staff. That music is traditionally played as a transition for shows to break for commercial.
That’s just another cue that Patrick’s question was a joke. It was a light-hearted question to end with in the segment.
But as the Hulk said in Avengers: Endgame, sometimes it’s all a joke or none of it is.
Dan Orlovsky (@DanOrlovsky7) shares his thoughts on the #Colts hiring Jeff Saturday as their interim Head Coach and discusses the possibility of him coaching on Jeff’s staff