Winning Saturday pushes criticism aside
INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts coach Jeff Saturday sits down to meet with reporters on a Zoom call, looks into the camera and says the following: “All right, just crank it up.” No kidding, those are the first words out of his mouth. He’s just different, this guy. Some people don’t like different. Different isn’t comfortable, you know? It’s not predictable.
Jeff Saturday is different, and not just as an NFL coach, going from ESPN’s studio to the head coach’s office. He’s just different, period. He’s confident, but humble; exciting without being excitable. He’s unusual, an explosion of good and goodwill on a Colts season that was nearing the intersection of Bad and Worse.
Folks outside of Indianapolis, they’re not loving this hire. That’s ground already covered, but you might be curious, now, to know how Saturday processed the avalanche of ugliness that landed on this hire – from the cold dismissal of his former coach with the Colts, Tony Dungy, to the lampooning from his former colleagues at ESPN, to the primordial fury oozing from Bill Cowher.
Saturday knows it’s out there, to an extent.
“I felt conviction about the opportunity,” he said Monday, shortly after saying he was just going to crank it up. “I have no qualms about what anybody says about their opinion. Great. If they disagree with it, still love them. Not really worried about it. I’ve got other things I’ve got to take care of.”
Like beating the Las Vegas Raiders. That happened. And you know who’s loving this hire, right now? You are. I am. The city of Indianapolis. This fan base. The Colts locker room.
Circle the wagons, Indianapolis, because they’re still coming for the Colts, for Saturday, for us. Rooney Rule implications, respect for more experienced coaches, whatever. As I was saying earlier, some people don’t like different. It’s not comfortable, not predictable.
Different, when done right, is cool.
Lighting a fire
We’re galvanized, right? All of us have been since this Jeff Saturday hire. The initial news was energizing and exciting, on the surface, but we had to see it in action. Show us a game. Let’s see a score.
How’s 10-0, Colts? Under their fiery new coach, they started fast for the first time all season.
How’s 25-20, Colts? Under their calm new coach, they closed strong.
This could all fall apart soon, you know. And by that I mean: I know. The Philadelphia Eagles come to town on Sunday and, despite suffering their first loss of the season on Monday night, the Eagles are nasty. They won their first eight games by an average of nearly 12 points per game. They have a top-three offense. They have a top-three defense. Jalen Hurts can throw it, A.J. Brown can catch it, and Miles Sanders can run it. C.J. Gardner-Johnson has more interceptions, by himself (six), than the entire Colts defense (four).
This game could be ugly. The Eagles are nearly a 4-1 favorite, and they are favored by more than a touchdown. In the NFL those are big numbers. In the NFL, on the road? Almost doesn’t happen. But the Eagles are that good and the Colts are … well, who knows what the Colts are?
The Raiders aren’t very good. We know that. They’re coached by Josh McDaniels, which is about all you need to know. Beating the Raiders doesn’t exactly put the Colts in the running for the AFC crown, and oddsmakers aren’t impressed. Just as Saturday knows there is skepticism about his hire, he knows – now – the level of skepticism about this game, this week.
How? Because a reporter told him Monday, asking him if he’ll address the point spread – being underdogs, all that – to his players. Saturday answered the question with a question.
“Is it bad?” he said of the betting line. “I haven’t looked at it. I’m sure it’s not pretty.”
He’s laughing, because that’s what you do when the world says you can’t, and you’re pretty sure you can.
“It’s 9.5 (points),” the reporter responded.
“So, that’s a bad one,” Saturday said, and now he’s laughing some more. “Listen, I’m not sweating that. I’m not sure who was favored the last one (against the Raiders), but it probably wasn’t our way.”
There is no guarantee Jeff Saturday will be the Colts coach in 2023.
Colts fans should not buy 2023 season tickets with certainty they’ll watch Jeff Saturday. Well, not unless they have cable. Because he could be back at ESPN.
I hope Saturday’s not back at ESPN next year. I want that sucker here for the rest of my writing career, however long that lasts. He’s a bolt of charm and energy, and while most coaches have some level of both to reach the pinnacle of their profession – Bill Belichick got there with serpentine smarts – I’ve rarely seen it at the Jeff Saturday level.
The only thing that compares, in my experience – and I’ve been doing this since 1989 – is Thad Matta early in his Ohio State tenure, and Roy Williams when he arrived at North Carolina in 2003. I was there for both, and it just felt different. So much energy, so much charm, so much likability. Players loved playing for those guys, fans loved supporting them, reporters enjoyed talking to them.
Saturday has that vibe. Now, you can’t win games with vibes. You win with competence, and with players. Pretty sure Saturday has the competence. Not sure he has the players. Not yet.
Maybe next year he will, when free agents around the NFL decide what we’ve known around here for years:
Jeff Saturday’s a winner. Let’s crank it up.