Jeff Saturday on situation Colts players are in: 'I've sat in their seat, man. This sucks'

INDIANAPOLIS —  Jeff Saturday stood in front of his Colts players Wednesday and faced the reality of who he is to them in this moment in time.

He's their head coach, but he's brand new, and it's midseason. He's never coached before in the NFL, or in college, but he's been in their shoes as a player for 14 seasons, including 13 with the Colts. He's gone from an undrafted player to a six-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion and a member of the Colts' Ring of Honor.

And now, he's a head coach without a road map.

"I told them this morning I don’t pretend to be the smartest guy in the room," he said. "My job here is to support that staff to make our players be the best. Whatever I can do, whatever I’m asked to do, I’m glad to help.

"I can take all the shots and hopefully they can do their jobs freely and (have) as few of distractions as possible and let them go play good football.”

Saturday spoke at his first solo press conference Wednesday ahead of his first practice, four days before his team will play on the road against the Raiders in his first game as an NFL coach. He was prepared for more questions about his lack of a coaching resume and his newness to all the players and coaches after working as an ESPN analyst up until two days ago.

He's dealing with players who are frustrated after a 3-5-1 start to a season that once held Super Bowl aspirations. Many of them expressed sadness at the firing of Frank Reich, their coach of the past four and a half seasons, the one who had experience as a player, an assistant, a coordinator and now as a head coach.

Saturday only has the player side of that. But he does have a passion for the franchise they play for and a memory for what took it to its greatest heights with the Super Bowl victory in 2006 and one of the winningest eras in NFL history from 2000-2009.

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"I told the guys this morning: I care about the players. I care about their families. I’ve sat in their seat, man. This sucks," Saturday said. "I like Frank. I’ve talked to Frank, we’ve texted. I love Frank, man. ... They love Frank. That’s their coach. They played for this dude. I don’t minimize that at all. I care about the staff and their families. These guys work hard. They sacrifice for their families, they sacrifice time, energy and effort. I know the equipment room, I know media relations, I know the training room.

"You guys act like this is – these are my people, bro. Like, my adult life was forged here. Like my wife and I, we raised our kids here. These people matter to me. This organization matters to me, right? The people in the community matter to me. I mean, everybody thinks this is flippant. This is not. I care."

Saturday won at least a few players over Wednesday.

"He was a great player here and a great leader: undrafted, grinded it out and had a great career," Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore said. "He seemed like a great leader."

Saturday faces an uphill battle, as the Colts have topped 20 points only once this season and are embracing a youth movement on offense with third-round rookie Bernhard Raimann at left tackle and second-year sixth-round pick Sam Ehlinger at quarterback. The offensive line, or the unit Saturday once led so that players like Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison could produce, has been a weak link this season and is coming off a game where it gave up a season-high nine sacks. They're now on their third offensive coordinator in three games.

But in the words of owner Jim Irsay: Saturday is not scared.

"I spent 14 years in the locker room. I went to the playoffs 12 times," Saturday said. "I’ve got five dudes in the Hall of Fame that I played with. You don’t think I’ve seen greatness? You don’t think I’ve seen how people prepare, how they coach, how they GM, how they work? I’ve won Super Bowls, been to two.

"Here’s the deal man, none of us are promised a good job. I may be terrible at this and after eight games, I’ll say, ‘God bless you. I am no good.’ I may be really good at it. I have no idea, but I dang sure ain’t going to back down."

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Interim coach Jeff Saturday addresses Colts players for first time