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Once thing that’s worth noting, the Indianapolis Colts have tried multiple times to bring former franchise center great Jeff Saturday back into the organization in a leadership role—having finally landed the elusive catch as their new interim head coach on Monday.
It started with a proposed front office role ten years ago from team owner Jim Irsay to Saturday, but the longtime Colts center elected to continue his late playing career with the Green Bay Packers in 2012 instead:
“Saturday told NFL.com and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that Colts owner Jim Irsay offered him a front-office job before he signed with the Packers in the offseason, writes NFL.com’s Marc Sessler in an article from October of 2012. ‘The offer still stands.’”
“‘I know Jim has made it very clear that the opportunity would be there,’ Saturday said over a decade ago. ‘I’ll look at it. I strongly considered it this time. He made it an option before I even came back and played football.’”
However, the Colts tried again, even as recently as 2019—only in an assistant coaching role, in an attempt to have Saturday teach up the team’s offensive line:
Ballard says his conversation with Jim Irsay about the coaching change was "spirited." Notes they've tried to hire Jeff Saturday multiple times in the past. to a job on Frank Reich's staff, including in 2019 as offensive line coach.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 8, 2022
Since retiring in 2013, Saturday has served as an ESPN NFL analyst, which probably has a much better work-life balance and less road traveling than those other proposed Colts roles.
That being said, it’s fair to wonder if the Colts would look at least a little differently had Saturday either joined the front office or served as the team’s new offensive line coach years ago respectively—from imparting his football opinion, teaching, and evaluation.
Instead, the Colts hired current offensive line coach Chris Strausser, a fellow disciple of the late great Howard Mudd, but the returns since have been underwhelming at best—as the team’s entire unit has clearly regressed this season and arguably gotten worse every year since Dave DeGuglielmo was let go by former head coach Frank Reich following the 2018 campaign.
Still, Saturday’s shocking arrival as interim head coach on Monday should theoretically aid in fixing the Colts underperforming offensive line one would reasonably think—even if he’s not in a true offensive line coach capacity.
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