Colts’ Jim Irsay Says He’s ‘Glad’ Jeff Saturday Has No NFL Coaching Experience

Saturday, who played for the Colts for 13 years, has never coached at the college or NFL level.

The Colts turned a lot of heads throughout the NFL Monday—not because they fired head coach Frank Reich, but because of who they chose to replace him with.

Team owner Jim Irsay opted to go with former Colts center and current ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday as the team’s interim head coach, despite Saturday having no coaching experience at the college or NFL level.

Hours after the decision was made public, Irsay and Saturday addressed the media, with Irsay touting Saturday’s inexperience as a positive.

“I’m glad he doesn’t have any NFL experience,” Irsay told reporters. “I’m glad he hasn’t learned the fear,” noting that coaches who are afraid of making mistakes often fall back on analytics in decision-making.

Irsay called the decision to hire Saturday an “intuitive” one, saying he was the only candidate that he considered. He also said that the team would embark on a full coaching search after the season, and that Saturday’s appointment was for eight games “and hopefully more.”

Saturday, whose sole coaching experience has come at the high school level, will make his NFL coaching debut on Sunday on the road against the Raiders.

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