Colts to Lose Key Assistant Coach to Stanford

Getty Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday told the media what he'd like to be doing at the start of the 2023 season.

It’s been a rocky 2022 season for the Indianapolis Colts. Due to the turmoil the team has experienced since Week 1, there won’t be many members of the organization that are guaranteed to return in 2023.

That may have been on the mind of tight ends coach Klayton Adams recently. A report surfaced on December 12 that he was leaving Indianapolis to join the Stanford coaching staff for next season.

Colts head coach Jeff Saturday confirmed that report on December 13.

“He took a job at Stanford as O-line coach. Congratulations to him,” Saturday told the media. “Excited for that opportunity for he and his family, going back to close to him. Obviously, we will miss him here.”

In addition to that announcement, Saturday also addressed his own job status on Tuesday.

“I enjoy the heck out of this [coaching the Colts], and have had a lot of fun doing it,” Saturday said. “I’m not discouraged [by the losses] at all. I have a vision of what this could look like in the future.

“I plan on interviewing [for the Indianapolis head coach opening] as long as they give me the interview.”

Saturday’s Resume for Full-Time Head Coach

While Saturday was an outside appointment to fill the head coaching vacancy left from the firing of Frank Reich, the Colts must still go through a formal interview process before officially naming the team’s next full-time head coach. All NFL teams are required to do this even with interim head coaches in place in order to satisfy the Rooney Rule.

Despite little improvement since Saturday joined the Colts coaching staff, at this point, it would be surprising if Indianapolis didn’t include Saturday among its candidates to interview for head coach.

Saturday presumably has a leg up on the other potential candidates since he’s already familiar with the organization and has gained some experience as a NFL head coach. Saturday also has four more games left to prove to owner Jim Irsay that he’s the right man for the job.

The Saturday tenure with the Colts began on the right foot with a victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. But since then, the Colts have dropped three in a row to fall to 4-8-1 overall.

But there has been little wavering from Saturday, who announced on December 12 that Matt Ryan will remain the team’s starting quarterback in Week 15.

Colts Lose Another Offensive Assistant

The next four weeks, though, got even harder, with Adams deciding to leave. He will become the offensive line coach at Stanford.

Adams is the third offensive coach the Colts have departed with since the season began. Indianapolis fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady and Reich, who also called offensive plays, in early November.

Saturday told the media that Adams’ responsibilities will be divided among the offensive coaching staff that remains. But he mentioned assistant offensive line coach Kevin Mawae and wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne specifically by name when talking about the coaches who will hold the most responsibility for filling Adams’ vacancy.

Adams spent four seasons with the Colts, including the last two years as the team’s tight ends coach. Prior to joining Indianapolis, Adams was at Colorado for six years in various roles including co-offensive coordinator.

It’s a little curious to see Adams depart the NFL for what amounts to a lateral position at the college level. But that probably just speaks to the uncertainty that faces Indianapolis’ coaching staff this offseason.

As Saturday indicated himself on December 13, even the status of the interim head coach is unknown.