Colts coach Jeff Saturday wants to drop interim tag. Does he deserve to?

By Ben Arthur
Published

The Colts' dreadful season hasn't discouraged Jeff Saturday. Not one bit. And entering just his fifth game as the team's interim coach — a matchup against the Vikings on Saturday — he has already decided that he wants to return next year.

Saturday announced on Tuesday that he'd welcome the opportunity to interview for the Colts' full-time job.

"I'm not wavering, man," he said. "This has been fantastic. It's crazy for me because I went from being in the media to not paying any attention purposely. I'm sure not everything written about us or me is positive. I'm good with that. I knew kind of what I was signing up for. I've loved this. I've had a great time. I love the unity in the locker room. I love the staff and working with guys and the strategy that goes in with this.

"I have a vision of what this could look like in the future [and] plan to work that way. … I plan on interviewing. As long as they give me the interview, I'm in."

But has Saturday, a Colts legend who was an ESPN NFL analyst less than two months ago, earned the chance to be the full-time coach? The reality is that any reasoning for "yes" is overshadowed by why that would be a bad idea.

After beating the Raiders in Saturday's first game as interim coach, the Colts have lost three straight, falling by a wider margin each week — by one point to the Eagles, then by seven to the Steelers and by 35 to the Cowboys. Against Pittsburgh, Saturday's lack of coaching experience surfaced in his clock mismanagement at the end of the game. 

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In Week 12, the Steelers benefited from Saturday letting the clock run with three timeouts left, wasting over a minute of game time and missing an opportunity for the Colts to score and take the lead. Greg Jennings and Craig Carton break down why Saturday doesn't deserve a pass for this loss.

Overall, the Colts haven't made any strides with their legendary center as coach. And if anything, one can argue that the team's prospects have looked even more bleak down the stretch, with the defense — the team's strength — playing defeated football in the blowout by Dallas. 

The flip side is that Saturday, despite his lack of coaching experience, has managed a chaotic experience well. He entered a tumultuous situation with Indianapolis, which has a disaster of an offense featuring shoddy offensive line play and a regressing 37-year-old Matt Ryan playing quarterback. It had to be really bad for both the offensive coordinator and head coach Frank Reich to be fired before Week 10. There's an argument that even the most experienced of coaches would have produced no better results under the same circumstances. 

Saturday also deserves credit for his public humility in a tough situation. He has shown leadership qualities. He hasn't acted like the smartest person in the room. He has empowered and leaned on Colts assistants, who have much more coaching experience than him. 

He took accountability for his timeout mishap in the Steelers game.   

"I talk about, I preach about accountability and execution, and I'm living by the same words," Saturday said Nov. 29, the day after the Pittsburgh matchup. "So, I've got to be accountable to it. When I see the guys tomorrow I'll make sure they know where I stand on that one."

But that lack of experience also makes him a tough sell as the Colts' coach long-term. And of course, Indianapolis will have to conduct a thorough search in compliance with the Rooney Rule, which requires clubs to interview at least two external minority candidates for head-coach vacancies. 

Indianapolis must also be conscious of what kind of message it would send if it were to give Saturday the full-time job. How would internal coaches and external candidates feel knowing that their years of commitment to the job could be passed over for someone with no previous experience? Or for someone with a stronger relationship with the owner? It could make the Colts an unattractive destination for coaching candidates of all levels, handcuffing the development of their players. 

Ultimately, owner Jim Irsay has the final say. It's his team. It was his "intuitive decision" that led the Colts to Saturday, and it could be the same thing that justifies a belief that he deserves to be the coach in 2023. Remember, during Saturday's introductory press conference, Irsay said Saturday had the job for eight games and "hopefully longer." Irsay wants it to work long-term. 

It doesn't seem so far-fetched that Irsay, knowing the difficulties of the situation Saturday stepped into, would want him to get a fresh slate in 2023 with a first-round quarterback (assuming the Colts finally go that route) and a chance to build his own coaching staff. 

That, though, would appear to be a slap in the face to all the coaches — white and those of color — who've paid their dues.

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Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.