The Indianapolis Colts made a big decision on Monday to fire head coach Frank Reich as the team continued to struggle on offense even despite making a change at quarterback and firing offensive coordinator Marcus Brady. The Colts’ decision to fire their head coach wasn’t really all that controversial, but the decision to bring in former Colts player Jeff Saturday as the team’s interim head coach certainly was.
Jeff Saturday is obviously a Colts legend on the field, but the six-time Pro Bowl center has almost no coaching experience outside of a brief stint as a high school head coach at a small Christian academy in suburban Georgia.
As a result of Saturday’s complete lack of coaching experience, many are questioning and blasting the Colts’ decision – especially considering the team passed up plenty of more qualified Black assistant NFL coaches in order to hire Saturday.
Imagine being a Black assistant NFL coach, working for years in the league, wondering if you'll ever get a chance to be a head coach, and then seeing this. https://t.co/LbCe24eRs6
— Michael Rosenberg (@Rosenberg_Mike) November 7, 2022
Black candidate gets a head coach interview: why hasn't he won 13 Super Bowls already, qualifications matter
white guy literally becomes head coach of an NFL team without ever having coached before: soOoOoOoO quirky 😜😜😜 couldn't happen to a better dude https://t.co/d1VDLu0kdt
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) November 7, 2022
Jeff Saturday just became the head coach of an NFL team, without any prior coaching experience in the NFL or college football.
There are Black coaches in the NFL that have been assistants for years that can’t even get serious interviews to be a head coach.
Amazing.
— Colb (@___Colb___) November 7, 2022
Jeff Saturday getting this opportunity over very qualified Black assistants is qwhite interesting
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) November 7, 2022
This is an especially bad look for the Indianapolis Colts after the Washington Post did a deep dive this offseason detailing the struggles of Black coaches in the NFL that saw football legends like Ladainian Tomlinson, Dennis Thurman, and Tony Dungy detailed their experiences with the league and gave their thoughts on topics like the Rooney Rule.
Saturday’s hiring might be comical or interesting for some. But for many Black coaches working hard for an opportunity in the NFL, it’s just disrespectful.
