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Tony Sparano Jr Talks Offensive Line Mentors, Howard Mudd

Originally posted on FanNation All Colts | By Zach Hicks | Last updated 7/28/23

Indianapolis Colts' Offensive Line Coach Tony Sparano Jr spoke with Horseshoe Huddle's Jake Arthur on his philosophy in the trenches while also diving into a few mentors he has had in his time as an NFL coach.

Sparano Jr is in his first season as the head offensive line coach for a team, so it is hard to tell exactly what style he will bring to the Colts in 2023. He did enlighten us a little bit in a conversation the other day.

Jake asked Sparano Jr about former Colts' OL coach Howard Mudd and if Sparano Jr believes in the same style of play that Mudd taught for so many years:

"I never worked under Howard (Mudd) or learned under him." Sparano Jr said. "I will say this; the things that I know he believed in, are things that I believe in. It's not exact because every coach has their own style, but we believe in a lot of the same things."

Howard Mudd was famous for coining the term the "Mudd Method" which is a style of offensive line play that relies heavily on the aggressive set in pass protection. Historically speaking, coaches prefer lineman to vertical set and get depth in pass pro but Mudd believed in taking aggressive angle sets in order to make first contact on defenders in the pass game.

The Mudd method pic.twitter.com/1N9GYmQca1
— Cover 1 (@Cover1) August 12, 2020

"Pass pro isn't passive" is a phrase that Mudd loved to use when describing his style in the trenches. Former OL coach Chris Strausser also subscribed to this style of offensive line play and helped coach the Colts to strong years up front in both 2019 and 2020. If Sparano Jr is keeping this same style (but adding some new wrinkles) then this offensive line can hopefully get back to their roots and find dominance once again.

Sparano Jr also opened up about a few veteran offensive line coaches that he directly worked under in his coaching career. He credited these coaches as being instrumental in shaping his overall philosophy in the trenches. The coaches that he singled out were Bobby Johnson, George Warhop, Pat Meyer, and Doug Marrone.

Bobby Johnson is currently the offensive line coach of the New York Giants and worked with Sparano Jr this past season. Johnson has been coaching in football since 1996 and has spent the last 13 years at the NFL level. He has made notable stops in his career with the Buffalo Bills (2010-2011, 2019-2021), the Oakland Raiders (2015-2017), and the Indianapolis Colts (2018).

George Warhop is one of the more experienced coaches in the NFL, as he was the head OL coach for an NFL team every season from 1996-2022. Warhop overlapped with Sparano Jr for two seasons in Jacksonville (2019-2020) and clearly had an impact on the young coach.

Warhop was praised heavily by All-Pro offensive tackle Joe Staley in Howard Mudd's book The View from the Offensive Line for his diverse style of coaching:

(Warhop) wanted variance in what you did. He didn't want just one thing. So we drilled a lot of different sets for me, which was great. I hadn't been exposed to a lot of different ones up to that point.

Pat Meyer is currently the offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been around the NFL in multiple roles since 2011. He overlapped with Sparano Jr quite a few times over the years, as both were on staff with the Buffalo Bills from 2015-2016 and were on the Carolina Panthers' staff in 2021. Meyer is described by many as a sturdy force of an offensive line coach that is as technical as it gets in his teaching.

Doug Marrone is the rare example of an offensive line coach climbing the ladder up to head coach in the NFL. He spent four seasons in that role with the Jacksonville Jaguars (with Sparano Jr working under him for most of that time) on top of being an offensive line coach at multiple other destinations.

While Marrone never quite found success as a head coach at the NFL, there is no denying his ability at teaching the offensive line. He certainly had a major impact on Sparano Jr in the four years the two worked together.

Tony Sparano Jr is a young, energetic coach that has learned under some of the best OL coaches in the NFL. If he can infuse some much needed energy into this once-dominant group in Indy, maybe he can help finally right the ship in the trenches for the Colts.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and myself hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!