Jeff Saturday isn’t sure how this coaching experiment is going to go, but he loves the Indianapolis Colts, so he’s giving the city his all.
Jeff Saturday doesn’t have any high-level coaching experience. That became the story when the Indianapolis Colts randomly hired Saturday to be the team’s interim head coach after firing Frank Reich. Saturday isn’t pretending to have experience either, instead, he’s leaning on something he does have: a deep and passionate love for the Colts and the entire city of Indianapolis.
Since Saturday was named coach on Monday, he’s had two press conferences: the introductory conference that was dominated by Jim Irsay and Jeff’s first Wednesday press conference as Coach Saturday. At both conferences, it quickly became clear how much this opportunity means to Saturday. Not because it’s a chance for him to take a shortcut and advance his coaching career for his own personal gain, but because he has the opportunity to right a franchise that is dear to his heart.
On Wednesday, Saturday was asked by a reporter why is he here in Indianapolis as interim coach. Jeff responded with an impassioned speech about how much he cares about the franchise and everyone involved from the top to the bottom. The nearly two-minute answer makes it hard to not want to root for Saturday in these next eight games.
Jeff Saturday on why he's here: pic.twitter.com/zPJEnaB5mm
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) November 9, 2022
Jeff Saturday clearly cares about the Colts
From talking about his relationship with Frank Reich to caring about everyone in the organization and their families as well as the community, it’s evident that Saturday is stepping up to this tall task because he has a love for this franchise, and in a sense, may feel indebted to Indianapolis and the Colts. After all, he was an undersized, undrafted offensive lineman that was working at an electrical supply store when Indy gave him a chance as a player in 1999.
Jeff Saturday took that opportunity and ran with it, carving out one of the best careers for a lineman of the 2000s. He was a six-time Pro Bowler, a four-time All-Pro player, and helped lead the Colts to a Super Bowl victory and another appearance. Now, with another challenging opportunity in front of him as a coach, Saturday will lean on the same passion and leadership skills that made him successful as a player in this league.
He understands that his love for the team doesn’t necessarily make him qualified, or that it will win Indy games, but it will help Saturday to win the locker room and the city of Indianapolis over, and also fuel him on this journey of helping the Colts figure things out over the next eight games.
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