I was very critical of FOX when it re-hired Urban Meyer after what, at the time, was undeniably the worst tenure we have ever seen by an NFL head coach. I still believe that there is no coaching job that matched the ineptitude of Meyer’s time in Jacksonville but boy, has Jeff Saturday come close!
Saturday was hired as an interim head coach after the Indianapolis Colts fired Frank Reich. To me, that is a key difference. Meyer was supposed to be life-saving surgery for the Jaguars. Saturday was never supposed to be more than a band-aid. It doesn’t erase giving up 33 points to the Dallas Cowboys in the 4th quarter or going to halftime up 33-0 on the Vikings and then losing 39-36 in overtime, but it is a big difference
Jeff Saturday has said that he does have a plan to make changes if he is offered the Colts’ job on a full-time basis. I commend the optimism, but it seems laughable to think he will be on the sidelines again next season.
That means there is a good chance he will head back to Bristol. ESPN reportedly would very much like to have Peyton Manning’s center back on its ever-growing roster of NFL experts.
I like Jeff as an analyst. I like him as a dude. I talked to him several times when I was on air in North Carolina, where he played his college football, and he was always kind and ready to play along with jokes and bits. His colleagues seem to like him. I do want Jeff Saturday to succeed, but in the interest of fairness, if Urban Meyer has lost some credibility, shouldn’t ESPN take a breath before committing to bringing Saturday back? Meyer was at least returning to cover college football, where he had nothing but success. Saturday would be an NFL analyst and his opinions are going to hit differently than they did before.
No one can say this is an apples-to-apples comparison. Urban Meyer comes with some baggage. What happened in Jacksonville is a stain on his personal life. At Ohio State, Meyer was a failure as a leader. If baggage disqualified entertaining people from TV jobs, Charles Barkley would never have been given the chance to remake his image.
It is fair to say Jim Irsay and the Colts did not set Jeff Saturday up to succeed as the team’s head coach. His ESPN colleagues didn’t make him a particularly sympathetic figure. They agreed that the hire was strange, but so many defended it and after a win in his first game, some framed it as proof that they were right and the world was wrong.
None of that is Jeff Saturday’s fault, but it does shape the way we perceive him as a football expert. I already mentioned the blowout at the hands of the Cowboys and the embarrassing performance at Minnesota. Remember, this is a guy that found a way to lose to the Houston Texans. I don’t care what the records are, that is one of the very worst teams ever to play in the NFL.
As a center, Saturday was one of the very best in the history of the NFL. As a coach, he was one of the very worst. If he is telling me about linemen missing assignments or pulling to open a running lane, I cannot question his expertise. If he is questioning clock management or other parts of a coach’s job, it will be hard not to wonder why the suits didn’t call Rex Ryan instead.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating for Jeff Saturday’s analyst career to be over. I just think we need to be fair here. I questioned Urban Meyer’s credibility in returning to TV, and I know I am not the only one. FOX decided he was worth whatever blowback the network received. It makes sense that ESPN should have to ask itself if it is willing to do the same.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
