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Legendary o-line coach Howard Mudd even more impressed with New Orleans Saints now than when they won Super Bowl XLIV

Offensive line coach Howard Mudd, whose 11 years with the Indianapolis Colts made him the longest serving assistant coach in the NFL until he retired after Super Bowl XLIV, served as a consultant at the New Orleans Saints training camp and said the experience was an eye opener

Mudd's brief stint ended Wednesday, but he said he leaves in many ways more impressed with the Saints than he was when the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl.

"I really enjoy this atmosphere," he said following Wednesday afternoon's practice. "(Coach) Sean (Payton) has just been fabulous about this whole thing and he's made me feel really welcome so it's really cool.

Along with Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore, Mudd helped fashion Indianapolis into one of the most feared offenses in the NFL; one that racked up routine double-digit win seasons and two trips to the Super Bowl. Many of the elements critical to the Colts long-term success are also in abundance in New Orleans, he said.

"The culture they've created, the compatibility of the management with coaching staff, scouts with coaches, coaches with players, players with players - all of those interacting relationships seem to be compatible," Mudd said. "Dramatically compatible, there's not any opposition. Not because you won the championship, because I'll bet it was that way last year and the year before.

"That starts with (general manager) Mickey (Loomis) and Sean," he added. "It's not like they all sit around the campfire and sing 'Kumbaya,' they work really hard. Their expectations are very high and all that, but they have their reference points for work and how people are treated, and who they pick and who they will bring in here, what they will tolerate and what they won't tolerate. There's a reason it feels this way."

Saints offensive line coach Aaron Kromer met Mudd in the offseason when they spoke at a clinic in Cincinnati and asked Mudd if he would be interested in coming to Metairie briefly in a consulting role. He first visited the Saints in June, though most of his time then was spent brainstorming with Kromer and some of the other coaches.

The feel, he said ("and I hope I'm not insulting anyone here") is very similar to that Coach Tony Dungy fostered in Indianapolis when the Colts launched their current long run as one of the league's elite teams.
"You could take the black and white shirts you see here and switch them with the blue and white shirts up there and you kind of wouldn't know the difference," he said. "The way they work, all that stuff."

After practice, Mudd and quarterback Drew Brees spoke for several minutes at mid-field in what the smiles indicated was a very friendly conversation. Mudd said the two didn't speak of Brees' MVP performance that led the Saints over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

"Oh, we had a little conversation about Peyton, that was about it," Mudd said. "We were fooling around a little bit, but nothing, he's just a real friendly guy.

"And an incredible competitor," Mudd said, shaking his head. In his career Mudd has worked with Dan Fouts and Warren Moon, who have busts in Canton as well as Manning, who will. Brees is undoubtedly at that same point in his career where he is now playing for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Those two players," Mudd said of Manning and Brees. "That part of it, those two players are so much alike. How smart they are, what they're built like emotionally, their work ethic, what they expect from the people around them, what they expect from themselves. I'm telling you, it's an incredible level. There's a reason these guys are the focal point of the whole team but they're not the whole team themselves."