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The Indianapolis Colts shocked the NFL world on Tuesday, November 8 when the team fired head coach Frank Reich and on the same day hired former Colts center and Hall of Famer Jeff Saturday, 47, to be their interim head coach after a 3-5-1 start to the season.
Saturday, an ESPN NFL analyst until the day he became the interim head coach for Indy, has no coaching experience above the high school level. This sparked a range of reactions on social media. Yet, as owner Jim Irsay said during Saturday’s introductory press conference on November 7: The lack of coaching experience is the exact reason why the Colts wanted Saturday in the interim role.
Jim Irsay says of Jeff Saturday: “I’m glad he hasn’t had the NFL experience”.”
Because he hasn’t coached, Irsay says Saturday doesn’t have the fear that coaches often have and they often turn towards analytics for decision making.
Logistics aside, the rare move was discussed by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, on the November 8 episode of their podcast, “New Heights.”
Travis Kelce Reacts to Colts Hire
Travis Kelce discussed with his brother the Colts hiring Jeff Saturday to be their interim head coach, and couldn’t help but make a joke of it.
“It’s almost like the owner for the Colts just walked into the stadium and was like, ‘Man, what am I gonna do, man,’ And looked up at the Ring of Honor and said, ‘Jeff Saturday,'” Travis said.
Travis also made sure to give praise to Saturday, who does possess certain traits you want in an NFL head coach.
“You want to talk about charismatic, very relatable, he seems like he would be a great leader,” Kelce said of Saturday. “He seems like he puts his all into everything, even when he talks on TV or does any of the stuff for ESPN — absolutely love listening to him.”
However, Travis, like most other people, couldn’t look past how odd the hiring of Saturday was.
“I think (the hire) makes more sense the more I think about it,” he said. “But at the end of the day, how bogus is it to just hire a guy in the Ring of Honor and has no coaching experience outside of coaching high school in Georgia?”
Jeff Saturday is gonna call the plays? Cue the Peyton Manning impressions 🤣
New podcast with @tkelce and @JasonKelce dropped this morning! Video coming soon on YouTube 👀 t.co/gJc5Ln8cUZ
Twitter Reacts to Jeff Saturday Hiring
Twitter users reacted to the Colts hiring Saturday as their interim head coach.
“Reggie Wayne must be fuming,” Matt Verderame of FanSided wrote. “He’s on the Colts’ coaching staff, had an incredible career in Indy … and he’s been bypassed for Jeff Saturday and Parks Frazier as both an interim candidate and to call plays. Hell, Wayne PLAYED with Saturday for 11 years and couldn’t get the call.”
Reggie Wayne must be fuming. He’s on the Colts’ coaching staff, had an incredible career in Indy … and he’s been bypassed for Jeff Saturday and Parks Frazier as both an interim candidate and to call plays.
Hell, Wayne PLAYED with Saturday for 11 years and couldn’t get the call
“By all accounts, Jeff Saturday is a very nice, capable person, and I hope he does well in Indianapolis. This hiring is also a reminder that the arbitrary experience roadblocks put out in front of minority candidates are nonsense,” Bill Barnwell of ESPN wrote.
By all accounts, Jeff Saturday is a very nice, capable person, and I hope he does well in Indianapolis.
This hiring is also a reminder that the arbitrary experience roadblocks put out in front of minority candidates are nonsense.
“I say this as a fan of Jeff Saturday the player and person: it’s absolutely ridiculous that he’s the head coach of an NFL team,” Derek Schultz of the Indy Star wrote.
I say this as a fan of Jeff Saturday the player and person: it’s absolutely ridiculous that he’s the head coach of an NFL team.
“Count me as a fan of Jeff Saturday: Head coaching is about Leadership and Communication. Saturday has shown leadership (of 2000 players) as President of @NFLPA. And working with him @espn found him an easy communicator, very intellectually curious about area of Cap/contracts/biz,” former NFL front office executive Andrew Brandt wrote.
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Chiefs TE Travis Kelce Reacts to ‘Bogus’ NFL Coaching Hire