Report: Colts to Conduct Second Round Interview with Jeff Saturday on Wednesday

Jan 25, 2023 - 4:01 PM

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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Indianapolis Colts will conduct a second round interview with interim head coach Jeff Saturday on Wednesday for the full-time job:

It confirms an earlier report from AP Lead NFL Writer Rob Maaddi, who first indicated that Saturday would receive a second round interview—as well that the Colts were narrowing down their list to seven or eight possible candidates:

This latest update should be met with much dismay from the majority of the Colts fan base.

While the 47 year old Saturday was beloved as an All-Pro center with some truly great Colts teams, he looked overmatched and inexperienced during his first stint as an NFL head coach. Under his recent interim tenure, the Colts went 1-7 and were outscored by an -87 total point differential.

The lowlights included:

-Outscored 33-0 by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter during a loss.

-Suffered a 33-0 blown lead to the Minnesota Vikings during a loss.

-Failed to beat the once lowlier Houston Texans (3-13-1) at home in the season finale.

It would be one thing if Saturday wants to come onto the coaching staff again as the offensive line coach or even in a front office or player development position. However, the converted ESPN analyst has no meaningful coaching experience outside of high school football.

While general manager Chris Ballard is leading the Colts early offseason coaching search and didn’t initially want Saturday this past midseason (and that hasn’t figured to change, with the poor early returns, and him casting such a wide net over potential candidates), team owner Jim Irsay ultimately calls the shots for the franchise.

He’s been a big proponent of Saturday’s coaching ability and potential. After all, he’s the one who brought him on in the first place despite his inner circle advising him otherwise.

It remains a scary proposition for the majority of Colts fans that Saturday hasn’t been completely ruled out yet because the longer he lingers in the process, the more likely Irsay is to retain him (who will be participating this time around, in the in-person second round interviews).

Right now, there’s simply more qualified candidates than Saturday for the full-time job.

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Update (11:11 AM EST): It appears with the inclement weather in Indianapolis, Indiana, today that Saturday’s scheduled in-person interview may get postponed per ESPN’s Dan Graziano.