Colts' Jeff Saturday hire being probed by diversity group
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The Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization committed to furthering diversity in the NFL, has opened an investigation into the hiring of Jeff Saturday as interim head coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
“In light of the recent interim head coaching hire in Indianapolis, the FPA has initiated an inquiry with the NFL into whether this hiring process conformed with NFL Hiring Guidelines for naming an interim Head Coach,” they said in a statement Thursday.
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN that interim head coach hirings are not subject to the Rooney Rule, which is a rule that requires NFL teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coaching positions. Thus, the Colts will have to follow the Rooney Rule when they look for a full-time head coach at the conclusion of the season.
It is unclear what specific guidelines the FPA is questioning.
“At the end of the season, there will be a full process of reviewing permanent head coach, which we will have an interview process for and go from there,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said, per ESPN. “This is for eight games and hopefully more.”
In 2002, Irsay hired Tony Dungy, who went on to become the first black head coach to win the Super Bowl when the Colts beat the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in 2007.
Saturday won his first game as Colts head coach, beating the Las Vegas Raiders and first-year head coach Josh McDaniels 25-20 on a Parris Campbell go-ahead 35-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
He will look to make it two in a row Sunday in Indianapolis when the Colts play the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost their first game of the season, falling to the Washington Commanders on Monday night.
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