Fans do not want Jeff Saturday to be the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and they are trying their best to make sure Jim Irsay knows that.
If you haven’t heard by now, Jeff Saturday is a serious candidate to become the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. So serious, in fact, that Saturday has advanced to the second round of interviews for Indy’s coaching vacancy. The news of Saturday’s candidacy has been pretty loud. However, the disapproval of Saturday’s candidacy has been even louder. Fans and members of the media have been very vocal about not wanting to see Jeff Saturday as the next head coach of the Colts.
Recently, Colts fans took things to another level. After it was reported that Saturday was advancing to the next round, fans took to a petition to make their voices heard. Started by Shawn Ward, the petition is titled, “Don’t hire Jeff Saturday as head coach.” It’s also accompanied by a picture of Saturday with the words “Not our head coach” stamped on the photo. Lastly, Ward pens a brief message to team owner Jim Irsay that reads:
"To Mr. Irsay,We as Colts fans will always love the memories of the SB XLI team; we love the former players and the people they’ve become, but we don’t want Jeff Saturday as the head coach of this team going forward.Please hire someone with experience and save your fan base from revolting and losing interest."
Ward started this petition during the second week of January but it has recently picked up steam with Saturday advancing through the coaching process and emerging as a likely candidate. The petition already has over 1500 signatures and fans are continuing to sign their name.
Colts fans start a petition to stop Jeff Saturday from becoming head coach
It’s unclear if Jim Irsay is even aware of this petition and if he cares at all about how many signatures it gets; it probably won’t convince him to do something that he doesn’t want to do. According to recent reports, people within the organization are even having a hard time convincing Irsay to not hire Saturday. NFL insider, Josina Anderson, reported on Wednesday that Saturday still remains Irsay’s choice but several people in the organization would like to choose a different candidate that isn’t Saturday.
We also know that Jeff Saturday is supported by Indy’s locker room leaders and that even Chris Ballard has defended his 1-7 stretch as interim head coach. Recently, Adam Vinatieri also supported Saturday, arguing that Jeff wasn’t really in a position to make many changes as interim head coach. So, Jeff Saturday isn’t entirely on an island alone with Jim Irsay, there are others who wouldn’t mind seeing him get the opportunity.
Time will tell which voices prevail. The Colts have put together an impressive list of candidates. Will Indy select one of the strong candidates with impressive coaching resumes, or will fans’ nightmares come true, and Jeff Saturday will be named the head coach?
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