Indianapolis Colts Head Coach: Jeff Saturday Replaces Fired Frank Reich In Confusing Hire

The Indianapolis Colts have stunned the NFL by replacing head coach Frank Reich with Jeff Saturday. Reich's firing doesn't come as much of a surprise, but few would have expected Saturday to be named as an interim coach.

Saturday, 47, has no coaching experience at either the college or the professional football level. A six-time Pro Bowl center who played in Indianapolis from 1999-2011, Saturday went 20-16 as the high school football coach of Hebron Christian Academy in Georgia. The former Colts great was working as an ESPN analyst before being hired as Indianapolis' new head coach.

The Colts extended their losing streak to three games Sunday in an embarrassing 26-3 loss against the New England Patriots. Indianapolis averaged just over 2.0 yards per play and finished with 121 total yards, the team's lowest total since 1997.

With a 3-5-1 record, the Colts are likely going to miss the playoffs for the second straight year.

Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and senior defensive assistant John Fox both have head coaching experience. Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone is viewed as a future head coach in the league. Owner Jim Irsay chose Saturday over all of those potential interim coach candidates.

There is frustration around the league among qualified assistants and coordinators, especially minority coaches, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Both Reich and general manager Chris Ballard signed contract extensions with the Colts through the 2026 season in August of last year. In his first three seasons in Indianapolis, Reich made two playoff appearances with a 28-20 record.

It was only a week ago that Irsay publicly supported Reich, who chose to name Sam Ehlinger as the starting quarterback over Matt Ryan for the rest of the season. Reich fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady after the team lost Ehlinger's first start. Indianapolis ranks dead last in scoring offense, averaging 14.7 points per game.

"It's not been pretty," Reich told reporters Sunday when asked what has gone wrong this season. "It's hard right when you're in the middle of it, not going to give any big self-evaluation, you're always critiquing yourself week-by-week, play-by-play. But, you know, ultimately the offense, I'm the head coach. And so, we had higher expectations than where we're at right now."

The Colts are two games behind the Tennessee Titans for first place in the AFC South.