The Indianapolis Colts have fired head coach Frank Reich and just announced who will take over for the rest of the season. On Monday, the Colts revealed that ESPN NFL analyst and former Colts offensive lineman Jeff Saturday will be the team’s interim head coach. The 47-year-old has no coaching experience in the NFL but was the head coach at Hebron Christian Academy, a high school in Georgia, from 2017-2019.
Saturday began his ESPN career in 2013 and regularly appeared on Get Up, First Take, NFL Live and SportsCenter as an NFL analyst. He joined ESPN after being an NFL offensive lineman from 1999-2012, and the majority of that time was spent with the Colts.
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In 1998, Saturday joined the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent but was cut in the summer of that year. In January 1999, the Colts signed Saturday and would become one of the best centers in NFL history. He has been selected to the All-Pro Team four times, was named to the Pro Bowl six times and helped the Colts win the Super Bowl during the 2006 season. In 2012, Saturday signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers and had a strong year as he was named to his sixth Pro Bowl.
Saturday retired from the NFL in 2013 and talked about his relationship with Peyton Manning who was Saturday’s quarterback from 1999-2011. “The relationship between a center and a quarterback is special. We loved each other but we could fight each other as well. We could bump heads and there was always a mutual respect,” Saturday said at the time, per ESPN. “It never got any further than that. It was always on the field. Off the field, we were friends. He’s taken me to places and given me gifts and allowed me to do things that I would never have the opportunity to do.”
Saturday is hoping he can give the Colts the spark they need to get things going. The team is currently 3-5-1 on the year and have lost their last three games. Before Reich was fired, offensive coordinator Marcus Brady was let go, and the team benched quarterback Matt Ryan, a player they traded for during the offseason.
