Colts Pushed to Target Ex-Super Bowl Coach: ‘This Team Needs a Leader’

Getty One NFL insider called for the Indianapolis Colts to target an ex-Super Bowl coach after the season.

After moderate success through the first couple weeks, the Jeff Saturday experiment for the Indianapolis Colts began to crash and burn towards the end of Week 13. With the 54-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Colts now sit at 4-8-1 entering their bye week.

Major changes appear to be coming for the Colts, as they should. The first of which will likely be at head coach.

One NFL Insider argued that owner Jim Irsay should not be shy about again making headlines with his next head coaching hire.

The Athletic’s Bob Kravitz wrote on December 5 that the Colts should target Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Has this franchise ever needed Captain Comeback more than it does now, its current fortunes circling the drain at 4-8-1 after Sunday night’s 54-19 demolition at the hands of the Cowboys?” Kravitz wrote. “After years of hiring nice guys who’ve finished second in the division or worse, isn’t it time to shake things up and look at someone who is said to be quirky, at times difficult and endlessly charismatic?

“And doesn’t it feel like Irsay wants to — needs to — make a splash hire?”

Why Harbaugh Could be a Fit For Colts

It’s fairly easy to argue why the Colts should be interested in Harbaugh. He’s won everywhere he’s been as a head coach back to his days at San Diego at the FCS level.

With Stanford, Harbaugh turned a bad program at a school that wasn’t a traditional power into a Top 10 team. Then with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, he led his squad to three straight NFC Championship Games.

At his most recent stop with Michigan, Harbaugh has brought back the glory days to his alma mater. Since the start of the 2021 season, the Wolverines are 25-2 and have beaten their arch rival Ohio State in two straight games for the first time in more than two decades.

Other than perhaps Sean Payton, there won’t be a more proven commodity available to be hired as a head coach during this upcoming coaching cycle.

Kravitz suggested that the Colts could have a leg up on other NFL teams in the Harbaugh sweepstakes because he played quarterback in Indianapolis during his career. He went 20-26 as a starter for the Colts from 1994-97.

Obstacles to Colts Hiring Harbaugh

Kravitz successfully argued that Indianapolis should pursue Harbaugh. The question, though, is if he has interest in returning to the NFL and whether he would be interested in Indianapolis.

It took Harbaugh eight years to turn Michigan into the premiere Big Ten program. Would he really leave his alma mater immediately after accomplishing that feat?

Or does he now look at his Michigan tenure as “a job well done” and perhaps want to accept the challenge of trying to win the Super Bowl again?

Obviously, only Harbaugh knows the answers to those questions. Kravitz pointed to his interview with the Minnesota Vikings last year as evidence that he is open to an NFL return.

But even if Harbaugh does want to return to the professional ranks, a return to Indianapolis would mean coaching a team with no clear answer at quarterback.

The fact the Colts have been a bit of a circus could be detrimental in head coach hiring process this offseason as well.

The point stands, though, that it makes sense for the Colts to be interested in Harbaugh. Indianapolis simply wouldn’t be doing its due diligence if it doesn’t at least find out if Harbaugh also wants a reunion.