Thousands Of Colts Fans Sign Petition Urging Jim Irsay To Not Hire Jeff Saturday As Head Coach

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A petition urging Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay to not hire Jeff Saturday as head coach is making the rounds and has already collected thousands of signatures.

The Colts are in the middle of their interviewing process for their head coaching vacancy. While over five candidates have reportedly made it to the second round of interviews, Saturday's name being among that group isn't sitting well with one fan in particular.

Shawn Ward is the Colts supporter who started an online petition on January 26. After quickly reaching his goal of obtaining 2,500 signatures, the petition will likely reach the new goal of 5,000 before the weekend rolls around.

Ward directly addressed Irsay in his description of the petition:

"Mr. Irsay,

"We as Colts fans will always love the memories of the 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," Ward writes.

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

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Jeff Saturday is still in the mix for the Colts' head coaching job. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

We see petitions like this pop up all the time during coaching searches or when things are going badly and fans want certain people gone. This petition shouldn't affect the actual coaching search at all, but thousands of fans voicing their frustrations with Saturday and Colts ownership isn't exactly nothing.

Saturday was named the team's interim head coach in November 2022 and went just 1-7 in his eight games on the sideline.

Irsay still seems to have plenty of confidence in Saturday's ability as a coach, however.

“Jeff, I believe, is an outstanding candidate,” Irsay said just after Christmas. “So obviously he’s competitive for that.”

The Colts went 4-12-1 a season ago, their third losing season since 2012.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.