Jeff Saturday Shares Details of First Team Meeting

Indianapolis Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday shares the details of his first meeting with his team

The Indianapolis Colts surprised a lot of people when they tabbed their former All-Pro center to take over as interim coach on Monday.

With no previous NFL experience as a coach, Saturday has plenty of experience with the Colts in a leadership role, but this was his first time addressing players in an official role when he wasn't one himself.

"Had the first chance to meet with the team this morning. I thought it went well, great to see guys and meet people," said Saturday at his press conference on Wednesday.

"Try to let them know what I’m about, what my expectations are, what they can expect of me. I thought that went really well. Look, I’ve got to earn their trust. There’s no doubt about that. I’m not trying to diminish how important that is."

"That’s going to take time. That’s not going to happen in one meeting, but I felt like it went well."

Saturday had a short week to get his team ready to take on the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday. While limited, he was pleased with what he saw.

"Looking forward at my expectations for them, solid week of practice, let’s get after it," said Saturday. "I thought the walk-thru was really crisp on both sides, and that’s kind of where we sit."

With no experienced play-caller on offense, Saturday named Parks Frazier to the job on Tuesday.

"Parks Frazier will be the play-caller. I just put that out there. I think it was leaked about 10 minutes after I had the conversation, so you guys are good. I appreciate that," said Saturday as he learned how quickly agents work in this business.

Saturday went on to explain the rationale behind choosing Frazier as the play-caller.

"Listen, we have a number of really good coaches on this staff. I’m excited to work with each and every one of them. I made the decision based on where the coaches were and trying to move as few pieces and parts as I could. With Parks being the floater, he’s been here the longest. I think he’s been here since 2018. He knows the offense extremely well."

"We’ve had two guys on the staff who have called plays, being Scottie Montgomery and Scott Milanovich. Both of those guys are going to be heavily involved. We’re all going to be heavily involved in trying to help Parks put together the best game plan we can."

"I’ve got full confidence he’s going to do the right thing, put us in the right plays and ultimately players have to go execute them and go make it happen."

With just five days from hiring to kickoff, Saturday will need to count on the continuity of the staff to have a competent showing against the Las Vegas Raiders, who have their own problems.

Raiders' head coach Josh McDaniels is on a seat every bit as hot as Frank Reich's was last weekend. Should the Colts go to Vegas and upset the Raiders, don't put it past owner Mark Davis to make a mid-season change as well.