Through all the consternation over his hiring, former ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday is 1-0 as an interim head coach after the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday. Saturday told Pat McAfee he didn’t hear the media reaction to his hiring, and doesn’t care to ever hear it.
During a wide ranging discussion on The Pat McAfee Show Monday, Saturday said he has seen colleagues at ESPN ascend to head coaching roles and didn’t understand why he couldn’t do the same in the NFL.
“I was at a place at ESPN where I watched (Aaron) Boone go from talking about baseball on Sunday night to being the manager of the Yankees,” Saturday said. “I saw a ton of basketball guys come in and then all of the sudden they were head coaches at different organizations. I’ve watched it and the truth is I hadn’t seen it happen in the NFL. I’m sure it’s happened at some point, but I wasn’t familiar with it…I felt very strongly about it. It wasn’t like I was inconclusive about it — and you know me, man — it’s not just about the job, it’s the place. It’s the who. I love this organization. This group changed my life.”
He then said he appreciated McAfee’s defense of the move, but pointed out he wasn’t listening to the criticism.
“As far as people saying stuff, God’s my protector, man. He defends me. I don’t know ’em, I haven’t listened to ’em. To be honest, and I think I sent you this text, my wife sent me you, and A.J. (Hawk), and I so appreciate you. But my family told me ‘wait until you hear…’, I don’t care if I ever hear it. Listen, I didn’t call for advice. I wasn’t asking. So it’s not gonna change anything. I’m very convicted in what I’m doing, and excited for the opportunity.”
Later in the interview, Saturday said he was prepping for his work with ESPN when Colts owner Jim Irsay called and asked if he would be interested in being the team’s interim head coach late in the evening on the Sunday before Reich was fired.
