Adam Vinatieri shares his feelings about the possibility of his former teammate, Jeff Saturday, becoming head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
Like Jeff Saturday, Adam Vinatieri was a legendary player for the Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri played 24 seasons in the NFL, split between the New England Patriots and the Colts, and is currently the NFL’s all-time leading scorer. Additionally, Vinatieri has won four Super Bowls and has played with great teams pretty much his entire career, so he knows all about great coaches and what it takes to win. So what does Vinatieri think about his former teammate, Jeff Saturday, potentially becoming head coach of the Indianapolis Colts?
Vinatieri has the opinion that has become unpopular when talking about Saturday potentially being a head coach, and he shared that during a Monday appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’ Knowing that his thought process would get backlash, Adam expressed that he doesn’t know how much of a difference Saturday could’ve made by coming in mid-season as an interim. He argued that Saturday would like to have a “multi-year commitment and he could actually make some changes.”
These comments echoed what Jeff Saturday said in his exit interview, as well as things Chris Ballard touched on in his end-of-season press conference. For the most part, the public has just accused Saturday of making excuses and not taking accountability, but everyone familiar with the organization tends to agree that Saturday was limited in the impact he could’ve made.
What's going on with the Colts @adamvinatieri...#PMSOverreactionMonday pic.twitter.com/mVzZU4VUK9
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 23, 2023
Adam Vinatieri defends Jeff Saturday as potential coach of the Colts
Just because Saturday is being given a pass for his stint as interim head coach doesn’t mean he’s a shoo-in to be Indy’s next head coach. It just means he has a clean slate as he enters the interview process. However, Saturday is a part of a loaded pool of coaching candidates, so it may be tough for him to rise to the top and actually get the position.
While speaking on Saturday and the Colts, Vinatieri also criticized the team’s leadership from a player standpoint. Vinatieri expressed that he knows Indianapolis has plenty of talented players but he isn’t so sure about their leadership. He went on to tell a story about how when he was with the Patriots, Willie McGinest was a demanding leader and that he helped set a standard that led to a dynasty. Vinatieri isn’t sure if the Colts have that.
While players definitely have their own responsibility in being effective leaders, a lot of times, a team’s leaders can take on the leadership style of the head coach. It’s unclear if that was the case with Indianapolis but it has been reported that Jim Irsay wanted Frank Reich to be more commanding and do a better job of holding everyone accountable. That’s something that Irsay loves about Jeff Saturday, he’s direct and holds everyone accountable. Indy’s leaders also expressed that they appreciated that from Saturday and that’s a big reason why they would be in support of him having another season as head coach.
Maybe Saturday will get another chance to make a complete impact, enact all his changes, and create a better culture for the Colts. Or, like many fans and media members are hoping, maybe the Jeff Saturday experience will soon be over for the foreseeable future.
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