Getty Indianapolis interim head coach Jeff Saturday explains the difference between coaching and playing in the NFL.
Jeff Saturday has now spent one game on the Indianapolis Colts sidelines as a head coach in the NFL.
He’ll need to coach 210 more games in the league to matchup the number of times he appeared in the NFL as a player, but Saturday already had a response when asked the difference between playing and coaching in the league on game days.
“Game wise, the speed of the game,” Saturday told the media on November 14. “From a player perspective, it’s much slower because you’re only really dealing with your portion.
“From the coaching perspective … Everything happens so fast, the way the clock and the speed of the game. I almost felt like, man, I want more. You want more shots at it but the communication from our staff was fantastic.”
Quarter Lengths in High School vs. NFL
There’s obviously a lot of differences between coaching at the high school level and in the NFL. Perhaps one of the bigger differences from a rules perspective is the length of the quarters.
In high school football, quarters are only 12 minutes long as opposed to the 15-minute quarters in NFL and college football.
But even with the extra 12 minutes, Saturday implied his first NFL game as a coach still flew by.
“What I’ve had [for coaching experience] – everybody makes fun, high school or whatever it is. Games were short because the time on the clock,” Saturday said. “But even this game, I looked up in the third quarter, and there’s two drives and the quarter is over and you’re like, man.
“Everything happens so fast, the way the clock and the speed of the game. I almost felt like, man, I want more. You want more shots at it, but the communication from our staff was fantastic.”
Saturday’s NFL coaching debut began slowly. The Colts started their third drive of the afternoon with more than 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
But as Saturday indicated, the second half featured longer drives, cutting down on those opportunities. Indianapolis didn’t start its second possession after halftime until the 1:51 mark of the third quarter.
Colts’ Players, Coaches Supporting Their First-Time Head Coach
Saturday’s arrival may have provided Indianapolis a boost against the Las Vegas Raiders, but there were several other big changes for the Colts in Week 10.
The obvious was Matt Ryan being back behind center. All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor also returned from injury and recorded a 66-yard rushing touchdown in the second half.
Furthermore, Parks Frazier served as Indianapolis’ play caller for the first time.
With Frazier in his play-calling debut, the Colts featured a very balanced attack of 30 runs and 28 pass attempts. Saturday said in his postgame press conference that Frazier “did an excellent job” of helping the offensive staff put together a plan and executing it.
Saturday also had plenty of complimentary words for Ryan, who recorded his league-leading fifth fourth-quarter comeback in Week 10.
“He is the guy,” Saturday said about Ryan. “When you think about offensively, you want your quarterback comfortable. When he’s comfortable in everything you’re doing, he brings that confidence to the other 10 in the huddle.”
Saturday will continue to count on his staff and players to help him capture an even more improbable win during Week 11 against the 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles.