Indianapolis Colts fans launch petition to STOP Jeff Saturday landing head coach job

Colts owner Jim Irsay has been warned that fans will ‘lose interest’ and ‘revolt’ if Jeff Saturday is hired as the team’s new head coach. 

Saturday took over mid-season after Indianapolis fired Frank Reich – but the former ESPN analyst would go on to only win one game, his first one, against the Las Vegas Raiders.  

As reported by Associated Press Wednesday, Saturday is to get a second interview – but fans are taking matters into their own hands by launching a petition to stop him getting the gig.  

Some Colts fans have now banded together to launch a petition to stop him getting the job

Colts owner Jim Irsay has been warned that he risks the fans revolting if Saturday is hired

Colts fan Shawn Ward started the petition, which is titled ‘Don’t hire Jeff Saturday as head coach’ on Change.org.

Ward wrote: ‘To Mr. Irsay, We as Colts fans will always love the memories of the (Super Bowl) SB XLI team; we love the former players and the people they’ve become, but we don’t want Jeff Saturday as the head coach of this team going forward.

‘Please hire someone with experience and save your fan base from revolting and losing interest.’

The petition is fast closing in on 1,500 signatures. 

Saturday walked into the job with no previous head coach experience – and fans are eager to land an appointment with that experience. 

Saturday is a former Colt who went on to become a six-time Pro Bowl center and is believed to be a popular candidate for Irsay.

But Saturday went 1-7 in the interim role, with the Colts’ 4-12-1 overall record the worst in the franchise since 2017. 

As well as the petition, the hashtag #SaturdayLeave has gathered momentum on Twitter and a survey by the IndyStar saw 93 per cent vote against the idea of giving Saturday the top job. 

The Colts have so far interviewed more than a dozen candidates and are now narrowing it down with a series of second interviews. 

The Indianapolis Colts’ 4-12-1 overall record is the worst in the franchise since back in 2017

‘Ultimately, Mr. Irsay makes the final call. There’s 32 teams, 32 owners. They own the team,’ GM Chris Ballard said, as quoted by USA Today. 

‘We give him, here’s our thoughts, and Mr. Irsay is a good listener. Ultimately, he’ll make the final call but he will lean heavily on our work and what we do to get the coaching candidates in place.’ 

The Colts reportedly remain interested in speaking to 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans about the head coaching job. 

Ryans has carved out a stellar reputation for himself and the Colts are not the only team eager to speak to him.  

But given Ryans elected to postpone his scheduled first interview with the Colts last week, in order to fully focus on the 49ers’ divisional round playoff against Dallas, the Colts will now need to wait until San Francisco’s season ends.

The window for first interviews with teams has since closed and so NFL rules dictate the Colts must now wait until the 49ers season comes to a close.