Colts assistant coaches Mudd, Moore may retire

By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS May 06, 2009 10:57 pm

— The changes seem to just keeping coming for the Indianapolis Colts. According to various media and Internet reports, longtime offensive line Howard Mudd has decided to retire from his coaching position with the team. And veteran offensive coordinator Tom Moore may also decide to hang up his headphones as well.
Mudd, who has worked 11 seasons with the Colts and has been a National Football League assistant for 35 years, apparently made his decision after learning of planned changes in the NFL’s retirement benefits package. League owners approved a change in the pension program for non-playing personnel in meetings two months ago.
ESPN.com writer Chris Mortensen indicated Wednesday that the 67-year old native of Midland, Mich., feels as if he has to take his entire lump-sum pension payment now because if he does not exercise that right at 65 under the revised plan, he will be allowed only to accept annuity payments upon retirement that will be reduced to 50 percent value for his immediate survivors if he dies.
Mudd has already maximized his pension because he has surpassed the formula that requires a coach’s age and league tenure to equal 75. He has been an NFL assistant for 36 consecutive seasons. A league source told Mortensen that there were several factors that motivated owners to change the pension program, including a loophole that enabled a tenured assistant coach who hit the 75 formula to retire and take a lump sum only to return to a team as a high-paid consultant.
While the Colts have yet to make an official announcement concerning Mudd’s fate, the executive director of the NFL’s Coaches Association said Wednesday that the former San Francisco 49ers offensive guard has already filed the necessary paperwork that preceded a retirement.
“Howard gave me his permission to talk about this because he doesn’t want to and won’t,” Larry Kennan told the Indianapolis Star. “He doesn’t want to jeopardize what he already believes is a tenuous position. I know [team president] Bill Polian and [Colts owner] Jim Irsay are trying to work things out so he can continue coaching, but right now it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”
Keenan added that Moore, who is 70 and has been an NFL assistant coach for 32 years, is also contemplating walking away for the same reasons.
Should Mudd step away, assistant offensive line coach (and former Wabash College standout) Pete Metzelaars would most likely take over. Metzelaars, who played tight end with several NFL teams, was the Colts’ interim offensive line coach for several weeks last season while Mudd was recovering from knee replacement surgery.
A replacement for Moore, should he decide to retire, could come from within the current coaching staff with assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Clyde Christensen a possibility. Christensen previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001.
“We have the highest personal affection and professional regard for Howard and it would be inappropriate for us to speculate at this time about any decisions he might eventually reach,” Pollian said in a statement that was released by the team on Wednesday.
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• Johnson gets second chance — Former Penn State defensive tackle Ed Johnson, who had initially been signed as an undrafted free agent in 2007, has been re-signed. Early last season, the 6-foot-2, 296-pound Detroit native was released after he was arrested for speeding on I-465 and for possession of marijuana.
Johnson had a strong rookie year as he replaced injured veteran Anthony “Booger” McFarland in the Indianapolis defensive lineup, and coming up with 63 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in 16 games. His loss from the Colts’ defensive interior, coupled with the unexpected retirement of defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock during training camp, left a major void in the team’s run defense last season.
“We are giving Ed Johnson another opportunity to play for the Indianapolis Colts. We dismissed Ed last year because he knowingly violated a team rule in the area of personal conduct. We consider every violation of a team rule or NFL policy on an individual case-by-case basis, And we evaluate a possible return to the team on that same basis,” Caldwell said in a prepared statement.
“Ed understands our team rules and our mandate that players represent themselves as professionals at all times. We feel the lessons Ed has learned will allow him to be what we demand from our players.”
If Johnson winds up with a spot on Indianapolis’ regular season roster, he will probably be subject to a one-game suspension and be forced to miss the team’s Sept. 13 regular-season opening game against Jacksonville. The penalty would be for violating the National Football League’s substance abuse policy.
“I would like to thank the Colts, especially [owner] Jim Irsay, for this second privilege to join the team. I apologize to everyone for the situation I created last year. I have learned valuable lessons from my mistake, and I want to regain the trust of the organization, my teammates and our fans,” he said in statement released by team.
Johnson’s return, though, should make for quite an interesting battle at the defensive tackle position during the team’s upcoming organized team activities, mini-camps and training camp.
The Colts selected former Southern California defensive lineman Fili Moala in the second round and ex-Michigan nose tackle Terrance Taylor in the fourth round in the NFL draft two weeks ago and signed undrafted free agents Adrian Grady (Louisville) and Pat Kuntz (Notre Dame).
Indianapolis also returns 2008 starters Eric Foster and Keyunta Dawson along with backups Antonio Johnson and Daniel Muir. Indianapolis, which now has nine defensive tackles on its offseason roster, had five on its regular season roster a year ago.
• Preseason tickets on sale this morning — The Colts will release a limited number of preseason single game tickets beginning at 10:00 a.m. today.
Indianapolis kick off their second season in Lucas Oil Stadium playing the Minnesota Vikings on Friday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m. The Colts and Philadelphia Eagles wrap up the preseason with a Thursday night prime-time game on August 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $44-$129 and are available online through Ticketmaster.com, by phone at (317) 239-5151, in person at the Lucas Oil Stadium Box Office or any Indiana Ticketmaster outlets. All tickets for the regular season games are sold out.