By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — Retired assistant coaches Tom Moore and Howard Mudd will be returning to the Indianapolis Colts for the 2009 season, but only on a part-time basis, according to a report on cbssports.com.
Colts owner Jim Irsay has agreed to bring both Moore and Mudd back as team consultants.
“I’ve talked to them and know they would like to come back and do it and be part of it. They’re going year to year [as far as their futures], but they want to be part of it, and I’m for that,” Irsay told Clark Judge, the web site’s National Football League writer, during a break at the league’s spring meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“If I really felt they didn’t want to coach or if I really didn’t think they were ready to get after it I wouldn’t have done this. But they are. They are passionate about coming back this year.”
Moore, 70, and Mudd, 67, had announced their retirements last week. They both cited a recent decision by NFL owners that allowed teams to opt out of the league’s pension plan as the reasons for their surprise announcements.
“This thing [the pension controversy] has thrown them for a loop, but I told them, ‘Look, guys, I don’t care about 2008 and 2010. This is all about [2009], and we’re really focused about getting after this thing. As an owner, you’re not going to have a chance like this — I mean, with this group of guys — every year. The gods of fate determine injuries, but going in with the draft we had — with [first-round draft pick] Donald Brown and the [defensive] tackles we got — and with the players we already have, I really like this football team,” Irsay told Judge.
“I like [first-year head coach] Jim Caldwell, too, and his leadership and what he’s bringing. Tony isn’t around, because it’s Jim’s team now, but Tony is around in the sense that his influence and his leadership are with all of us and with the players on the team. So it’s about as ideal as you can get.”
It’s been quite an off-season of change for a Colts franchise that has posted six straight 12-win seasons and seven consecutive 10-plus win seasons.
“We anticipated losing Tony and [Pro Bowl wide receiver] Marvin [Harrison], but in terms of a transitional year we know the big thing is Tony. You know your head coach, but history says there’s always that carry-over aspect when your head coach leaves. With how much we think of Jim Caldwell and how much he’s close to Tony and how much he’s prepared for this job and how he has Peyton there. We think we’ll be OK,” Irsay said.
“But it’s not just Peyton. We have [Dwight] Freeney and [Robert] Mathis and [Bob] Sanders … Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday, Joseph Addai, Anthony Gonzalez, Dallas Clark. We’ve got a lot of guys on this roster, and we have a lot of leaders, too. Our team is pretty close, but it comes down to: Do you have a quarterback and do you have those eight blue [chip] players? People feel you probably need eight, and I’m talking about Pro Bowlers in their primes who can contribute. If you have greatness at quarterback, you might not need eight, but we have the Mathises, the Freeneys, the Waynes and the Sanders.”
League rules mandate that a coach who retires isn’t allowed to become a consultant for six months from the day his papers were initially filed. That means that Moore and Mudd won’t be available until sometime in November.
“They’re longtime friends,” said Irsay. “I told them, ‘It’s business, but be rational. No one is trying to stick it to you. Don’t make it ‘us against the world’ and the big-bad owners. That’s not the case. There is uncertainty, but that’s life. I’m not going to let anything happen to you that’s unjust.’”
• Colts to sponsor IHSAA football tourney — The Indiana High School Athletics Association announced Wednesday that the Indianapolis Colts have agreed to a three-year presenting sponsorship for the organization’s football tournament.
That means that the IHSAA’s championship games will remain at Lucas Oil Stadium for at least the next three years. The NFL team will sponsor the entire tournament, from sectionals to the state finals.
