Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher ripped the Colts’ stunning decision to hire Jeff Saturday as the team’s interim head coach, calling the move “a disgrace to the coaching profession.”
Speaking Sunday on CBS’ “NFL Today,” Cowher — who served as Pittsburgh’s head coach for 15 years — opined on the recent series of events unfolding in Indianapolis, which saw Saturday replace former head coach Frank Reich, despite having only coached at the high school level.
“I know for a fact that Jeff Saturday was offered an opportunity to become an assistant coach with the Indianapolis Colts multiple times in the last four years. He declined, citing he had a TV job and wanted to spend more time with his family,” Cowher said. “I get it. Coaching is about commitment and it’s about sacrifice. It’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle.”
Cowher then elaborated on Saturday’s sudden change of course from team consultant — when he contacted the team weekly from his Atlanta home — to head coach, leap-frogging qualified assistants in the process.
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“Jeff Saturday talked about in his first press conference that he’s going to use the second half as an opportunity to build his résumé to see whether or not he can coach in the future. I say to that, what about the assistants on the staff right now?” Cowher said. “The guys that were there in training camp. The guys that were there early in the morning and late at night. The guys that have gone through the first six weeks in that building… Don’t they deserve the opportunity?”
Cowher then tore into Colts owner Jim Irsay for selecting Saturday over the likes of John Fox and Gus Bradley, former NFL head coaches who are currently on the staff.
“For an owner to hire a coach, who has never been an assistant at the college level or the pro level, and overseeing, very much a lot of candidates that are qualified for that job as we see in [Panthers interim head coach] Steve Wilks, an opportunity to build a résumé, it’s a disgrace to the coaching profession,” Cowher said. “Regardless of how this thing plays out, what happened in Indianapolis is a travesty.”
Saturday will make his head coaching debut on Sunday against the Raiders.
