The Mudd-Washburn connection
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The Mudd-Washburn connection
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Much of the discussion this week has focused on the Eagles' decision to promote Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
And rightfully so. It was an unconventional decision by Andy Reid that caught everyone off-guard.
But the other aspect of the coaching shake-up is the addition of Howard Mudd. Why would a guy who turns 69 next month and reportedly has grandchildren in Seattle want to set up in a different city and unretire after just one year off?
I touched on this right after the moves were made, and while money always plays a role somewhere, there are a couple other factors that were likely at play.
One would be that Mudd just has the itch to coach again. It sounds simple, but there's actually some evidence to this. Even last year, when he was retired, Mudd served as a special preseason consultant to the New Orleans Saints.
He coached in the league for 36 years but couldn't' even stay away from it completely for a single season. Last year, he told The Sporting News what he would miss about coaching.
"The part that makes it difficult is the feeling you have after victories," Mudd said. "I've been saying this for three or four years: How am I going to replace that? Victories are really, really hard to get, and we've had a lot of them."
Another aspect of his decision has to do with Mudd's relationship with new defensive line coach Jim Washburn. An NFL Films piece (linked below) described them as "best friends" chronicled their 17-day trip to Africa a couple years ago.
Mudd and Washburn faced off twice each season when the Titans faced the Colts. And check out what Washburn had to say about Mudd in an interview with ESPN.com last year.
"Name me one head coach in this league that’s as good a coach as Howard Mudd. You know what the answer is? Well, there are none of them. That’s it. There is not one coach in this league as good as Howard Mudd, not one head coach that’s near as good as Howard Mudd. Not close. …
"He thought outside the box before outside the box was a saying. He’s a creative guy. He could have gone to law school, he could have been a doctor. He thought about both of them coming out of college. He’s not your typical person."
The same words continue to come up when you hear people talk about Mudd and Washburn: discipline, toughness, fundamentals. In the NFL Films piece, Washburn admitted he kept score of wins and losses between him and Mudd.
Let's hope that there's a training camp because the battles upfront are going to be fun to watch. And the linemen on both sides of the ball better have thick skin. It doesn't sound like the old-school approaches of Washburn and Mudd take hurt feelings int account.
And finally, make sure you watch this video that does a tremendous job of capturing Mudd and Washburn's friendship.
In case you missed it from Friday, I did a What they're saying piece on Castillo.
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Great additions to the staff. I hope Washburn has a lot of input for Castillo.— phillyinsd- I think I read something on this at Bleeding Green Nation, but it seems that Mudd had retired partly because of pension issues. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4147407— micheleqj
It absolutely baffles me how the Eagles could make such brilliant decisions with Mudd and Washburn and then make such a stupid one with Castillo. Castillo coached one of the worst O Lines in the NFL last year.. SO THEY PROMOTE HIM???? Idiots! Let's hope Mud lives through the season.- I was thinking the exact same thing. — ericg610
- One bad year. How long has he been there? How many years was it not the worst? — OldWhiteandRich
- There are five positions on the offensive line. Three of them were occupied by guys who were basically backups. Center Mike McGlynn replaced Jamaal Jackson, Jean Gilles replaced Nick Cole, who'd replaced Stacey Andrews, and Justice replaced Shawn Andrews. None of that is Castillo's fault. You can only work with the players you have. — kingsolomonsmind
- Mudd for headcoach!— pokerplayersunite
- To be fair, Castillo also had a lot of injuries to that line - and I'm not sure how much we can blame him for the drafting they did. I figure give Castillo one year to prove himself. Of course, the problem with that though is that this offense sans a big power back, is ready to win now but our D isn't there yet.— Carcharios
- We should be pleased to have these two old school teachers working the lines.— Grazman
Comment removed.- Could someone please lure Andy away?— CrashTestCorzine
- Er, um, uh ... who cares?— mmds
- That Mudd/Washburn video is a must see for Eagle fans.— bleedmidnightgreensection236
Watched the video. Terrific. I have no doubt that these guys will be able to get the most out of what we have and will be great hires. Seems like the time lag to promote Castillo was because of Washburn trying to get Mudd to unretire. Also makes me think that if Reid has the good sense to hire these fine coaches that the Castillo move will turn out OK. Both must have known what Reid had in mind. Keep it up Reid...or else.— tpizza
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