Jeff Saturday’s time as interim coach with the Indianapolis Colts was not very successful. The franchise is inviting candidates for the position of a new head coach, but fans of the Colts want to play it safe and started a campaign against the former centre.

As a player, Jeff Saturday was and still is highly regarded after 13 years with the Indianapolis Colts. His time as interim coach last season, however, provided the opposite.

A Colts fan started a petition on the online platform “change.org” called: “Do not hire Jeff Saturday as head coach”. So far, just over 3,000 people have signed it.

The fan also addressed his words directly to Colts owner Jim Irsay: “We love the former players and the people they have become, but we do not want Jeff Saturday as head coach of this team. Please hire someone with experience. “

Jeff Saturday probably head coach candidate

According to Rob Maadi of the Associated Press, Saturday is among a group of seven to eight candidates with whom the Colts plan to conduct a second interview for the head-coach position.

After Dan Quinn of the Dallas Cowboys recently turned down the job, the Colts are still hoping for DeMeco Ryans, defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, according to Maadi. However, he is still in the middle of the playoffs and wants to go to the Super Bowl next weekend

Colts legend as player

Saturday joined the Colts as a player in 1999, winning Super Bowl XLI and was inducted into Ring of Honor in 2015. In 2022, he surprisingly replaced Frank Reich as interim head coach despite having no NFL coaching experience.

After his surprising debut win (25-20 over the Las Vegas Raiders), the euphoria quickly faded and the Colts subsequently lost the remaining seven games, including a historic loss to the Minnesota Vikings.