Reggie Wayne gives emphatic answer on if he would have accepted Colts' HC job

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver coach Reggie Wayne did not mince words on Thursday when asked if he would have accepted the team's interim head coaching job.

His answer, via the Athletic's Zak Keefer: "S*** yeah! Why wouldn't I?"

Instead of offering the job to Wayne, or any of the other assistant coaches on the staff, the Colts instead gave the job to former offensive lineman and ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday despite him having zero coaching experience of any kind above the high school level. It was a controversial decision that earned the Colts and owner Jim Irsay loud backlash from analysts, former coaches and former NFL players.

Saturday replaced Frank Reich who was fired after a 3-5-1 start and a 40-33-1 record in parts of five seasons. He led the Colts to a 25-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday in his debut. 

Wayne, who was a former teammate of Saturday during their playing days with the Colts, was named as a full-time wide receivers coach prior to the 2022 season. He was previously a volunteer receivers coach with the team back in 2018. 

Even though Wayne's coaching experience is also extremely limited, hiring him probably would not have received anywhere near as much backlash for the simple fact he was already on the staff, in the building and working with the team on a daily basis. 

It was passing over all of the in-house staff members for an outside hire that was so controversial and such a league-wide punchline. 

It is now Saturday's team for the rest of the season and he has seven more games to show what he can do. With games against Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Chargers, the New York Giants, Dallas, and Minnesota it is not going to be easy.