Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay stunned pretty much everybody with his decision to name Jeff Saturday the team’s interim head coach on Monday.
Saturday, a longtime standout center for the Colts and member of the franchise’s Ring of Honor, wasn’t on the team’s staff. He’s been working for ESPN, and has never coached beyond the high school level since retiring from playing a decade ago.
Yet, after Irsay fired head coach Frank Reich earlier today, he tabbed the 47-year-old Saturday to take his place for the rest of the season. It’s a bold (absurd?) move, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport attempted to shed light on the thought process behind it this afternoon.
Saturday, Rapoport said, is very close with Irsay, so by hiring him, the owner can potentially get a better sense of what is going on behind the scenes.
“The fact that he’s very close with Jeff Saturday, the fact that Saturday clearly does not mind speaking his mind and telling Irsay what is going on inside his building,” Rapoport said. “He’s going to have that added advantage right now of having an outsider like Saturday come in, take a look at his building, deal with the players, deal with the coaches, deal with the personnel staff and take a hard look at things and report back to Irsay and say ‘Here’s what’s really going on.'”
Saturday played for the Colts from 1999-2011, appearing 197 games and making 188 starts. He has a wealth of football knowledge, but very little coaching experience.
Perhaps that’s a good thing though, if Irsay is truly hiring him for the purpose Rapoport laid out above.