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NFL Head Coaching Predictions: Sean Payton Heads to AFC, Texans Reunite with a Familiar Face

By A.J. Fagerlin

Nov 14, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jeff Saturday, 2023 NFL Draft
Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday talks during a press conference Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, after a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. /

Jeff Saturday. 4. 46. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Interim Head Coach. Indianapolis Colts. player

This hire would blow the minds of NFL fans around the globe, myself included, just like it did when Jeff Saturday was hired as the interim coach of the Indianapolis Colts after the firing of Frank Reich. But with Jim Irsay, anything is possible.

The Colts have interviewed a ton of different candidates with a wide variety of backgrounds. Once again, you would think that a team poised to select a quarterback early in the 2023 NFL Draft would want to find an offensive-minded coach to develop such a player, but again, you never know with Jim Irsay.

From special teams coordinators, Bubba Ventrone (IND) and Rich Bisaccia (GB) to defensive coordinators Aaron Glenn (DET), Ejiro Evero (DEN), DeMeco Ryans (SF), Raheem Morris (LAR) and Dan Quinn (DAL) to offensive coordinators with varying levels of experience like Eric Bieniemy (KC), Shane Steichen (PHI), Ken Dorsey (BUF), Brian Callahan (CIN) and Ben Johnson (DET), who already committed to going back to the Lions.

The Colts, just like every team searching for a head coach prior to the 2023 NFL Draft, have expressed interest in Sean Payton. Do we really think that after barking up so many different trees that the Colts will stick with what they’ve got? After missing out on Johnson (who I think was the frontrunner), failing to lure Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan, and potentially losing Sean Payton to another team, Irsay and the Colts could fall back on old reliable.

Saturday won his first game leading the Colts as the interim head coach, and everyone thought that maybe Irsay had struck gold by moving Saturday from the ESPN studio to the sideline. However, the seven straight losses that followed beg to differ. But if Saturday is able to sell Irsay on a vision and convince him that if he can pick out his own staff he can turn things around, he may just get another chance with the team that he was once a perennial Pro Bowler for at center.

My Colts Pick: Mike Kafka, Offensive Coordinator, New York Giants

I really think that no matter who the coach is, the Indianapolis Colts will make a move for a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. Mike Kafka seemed to have been influential in the development of Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and he has undoubtedly helped Daniel Jones turn a new leaf this season during the Giants impressive playoff run. He is the offensive mind that the Colts need to help turn around an offense that has struggled year after year since Andrew Luck’s retirement.

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