A ton of people were taken aback and shocked to learn the news that Jeff Saturday had been picked for the interim head coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts.
Saturday, who spent 13 seasons with the Colts, was introduced in a press conference on Monday, just hours after the organization announced that they had fired Frank Reich. The Colts have received some backlash over Saturday’s hiring due to his lack of professional or collegiate level coaching experience. Owner Jim Isray defended the decision by stating how much he loved him not having any experience.
“I’m glad he doesn’t have any NFL experience. I’m glad he hasn’t learned the fear that’s in this league because it’s tough for all our coaches,” Irsay said. “They’re afraid, they go to analytics, and it gets difficult. … He doesn’t have that fear.”
Those words as well as the hire pissed Shannon Sharpe off.
The hall of fame NFL player took to his Undisputed show with Skip Bayless and laid into the team.
“You can experience it all. Skip. This is not a knock on Jeff said it but there’s a reason why he was available. You know you glad he was available. There’s a reason why skip what I’m about to say is not an indictment on the individual.
I never. I never upset because someone got a job. But this is what you and I both know. Ain’t no way in hell a black guy getting a job like this. They’re sitting around doing what we do on one of these daily shows. Ain’t going to get an interim now they got guys on Seth Rich way if I’m not mistaken.
…he number one thing about black coaches don’t get the job. He got no experience.
He never called plays. If your leader, everything that they told us that they lifted up, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. He has none of that. He’s the perfect guy for the job. He also says we’re not building a rocket to go to Mars. But that’s exactly what black coaches got to do, not only build a rocket to go to Mars, you got to find a way to have sustainable life once you get to Mars.”
“This is what I want them to do”, as he took a piece of paper and ripped it up as it was used to mock the Rooney rule.
“That bull jab in the trash. Because what this man did lets you know the Rooney rule has no teeth and it never had teeth.
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Still, what this showed you is that these men, these 32 powerful men and women are going to hire who they want. So stop trying to peddle, try to sell diversity, stop trying to sell, try to make it look good. But this is what we’re trying to do.
They’re gonna hire somebody that looks like who them. That talks like them. Yeah, that travel in the circle like they do. And still I got.
Men that look like me. I’m resigned to the fact you’re gonna have an awful hard time to break that glass ceiling. And that’s what it is. So kudos to Jeff Saturday. I hope he does an unbelievable job. I really do. Because I I like Jeff. I mean, I’ve traveled up to talk to him a lot of time. There’s not a knock on John Lynch. This knock on. I don’t like I said, I don’t begrudge the man for getting the job. It’s the process that I have a problem with. So anybody that tells me oh, he’s.”
Saturday, a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time First-Team All-Pro selection served as an analyst for ESPN after he retired from the NFL in 2013. He also briefly played for the Green Bay Packers.
The hope is Saturday can find a solution to Indy’s issue at the offensive line that has allowed a league-high 35 sacks in nine games.
