An additional hit of the year: the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts just revealed some terrible news regarding his…
INDIANAPOLIS: The interim head coach leading the trainwreck that was the final two months of the Colts’ season made his case—strongly and repeatedly—for staying put on the day after a miserable year came to an awful end.
Jeff Saturday still feels he should have a chance to turn around this team, despite his 1-7 record, his team’s minus-87 point differential during his tenure, historic collapses, heartbreaking last-second losses, and the fact that this team regressed competitively in almost every imaginable way.
Saturday responded, “I have a very clear vision of how I can turn this football team around,” when asked if he was considering an interview to become the head coach of the Colts. He plans to hold one in the upcoming weeks. proceed more deeply GO FURTHER Keefer: The Colts’ stunning late-game loss to the Texans If the Colts hadn’t happened, Saturday promised that “there’s going to be significant change” if he was hired. It will follow a different path and have a different vision, one that is entirely mine.
The most notable aspect of Monday’s press conference, which took place a day after the Colts’ 32-31 defeat to the Texans solidified their worst season in six years, was this: Despite being one of the main reasons owner Jim Irsay hired the coach, who is known for preaching accountability all the time, Saturday’s performance revealed very little about his involvement in this eight-game experiment, which ended in complete disaster.
Those who keep up with this team witnessed it happen: By the end of the season, the Colts had deteriorated week by week, going from being a mediocre team in the middle of the season to among the worst in the league. Their final score was 4-12-1.
On Monday afternoon, Saturday appeared determined to discredit Frank Reich’s chaotic situation in order to further his own candidacy. Although there is some truth to that (no coach could save this season; it was doomed from the start), Saturday didn’t seem to bear much of the blame for how bad things ended.
Next season, Jeff Saturday wants a full offseason and his own team of hand-selected assistants. (USA Today/Jenna Watson) To some extent, it was his responsibility to stop the free fall. He was a complete failure in that regard. What Saturday demonstrated during his eight-game audition was questioned.
Saturday remarked, “Again, like when you say eight games, eight games with half an offensive staff, boundaries when you come in.” “I mean, depending on the hand you’re dealt, it’s an eight-game audition.”
This was the hand he signed up for, knowing full well that this was a struggling, directionless team with significant offensive shortcomings. The Colts were down two offensive coaches when he arrived: Reich and former offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, and tight ends coach Klayton Adams, who left with a month to play.
And it’s probably no coincidence that Saturday has been saying this more and more lately: “You’re not changing coaches in the middle of the season if it’s not bad,” as the season deteriorated and his memorable debut in Las Vegas slipped further from memory. It wasn’t good. However, things grew worse.
Without a doubt, there was always going to be a steep learning curve, but the Colts showed no real progress on the field before Saturday. Perhaps the offensive line got better, but even that will be difficult to sell given that they gave up 60 sacks this season—the second-highest total in the team’s history—many of which came after he arrived.
That attitude, that toughness, that Irsay wanted the group to adopt on Saturday? It was conspicuously absent during the Colts’ Week 17 loss to the Giants, when quarterback Nick Foles was left injured on the ground by quarterback Kayvon Thibodeaux, who celebrated for a full twelve seconds while the offensive line did nothing.
