Colts’ Jeff Saturday to make NFL coaching debut against Raiders

The reaction to the Colts hiring their former center, Jeff Saturday, as their interim coach has understandably been confounding.

But it has nothing on what was going through Saturday’s mind when Colts owner Jim Irsay broached the idea to Saturday after he fired Frank Reich this past week

Saturday, who makes his unlikely coaching debut Sunday against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, had to let the words sink in for a few seconds before comprehending the whole scope of things.

“Shock would be an understatement,” Saturday said at his introductory news conference.

And rightfully so. For all of Saturday’s accomplishments as a player, he is best known now as an analyst for ESPN. His only coaching experience is as a high school assistant and then the head coach at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Georgia, where his record is 20-16.

Yet here was Irsay suggesting to Saturday that he was the right person to take over a team with a 3-5 record.

After the initial talk, everyone agreed to think about it and talk it over.

“As the day progressed, we finally came to a conclusion,” Saturday said. “It was a 12-hour whirlwind.”

All of which led to Saturday becoming the first coach to take over an NFL team with zero NFL coaching experience since Norm Van Brocklin of the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.

The question is, will that half-day decision, as curious and confounding as it seems, lead to anything more permanent?

“This is for eight games, hopefully more,” Irsay said.

The “more” part is dependent on a few factors.

First, the Colts’ performance for the rest of the season will be taken into account.

But the Colts also must satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule after the season by interviewing at least two minority candidates for the permanent job. The rule was not in play for Saturday’s hiring because it’s on an interim basis.

“After the season, there will be a full process for interviewing,” Irsay said.

That said, it seems as if Irsay hopes that Saturday’s hiring works out long term.

“He is fully experienced enough,” Irsay said. “He is fully capable. He is extremely smart. He’s extremely competitive. He understands the game.”

Irsay also understands Saturday won’t master the job overnight.

“Yes, there’s a maturation curve,” he said. “No, the game is not different. We don’t build rockets to go to Mars. It’s a very simple job we do here. We cultivate winning cultures. We don’t expect anything more than we expect from ourselves. I’m not going to ask someone to do something I haven’t done. I know who we are. I know where we’re going.

“I don’t know what Chris (general manager Ballard) and I would have done if he wasn’t available and willing.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.