Report: Colts to Hire Pro Football HoF Center Kevin Mawae as New Assistant Offensive Line Coach

According to The Athletic’s Stephen Holder, former New York Jets and Tennessee Titans (and Seattle Seahawks) Pro Football Hall of Fame center Kevin Mawae is joining the Indianapolis Colts as their new assistant offensive line coach per Holder’s league sources:

The 50 year old Mawae previously served as Arizona State’s offensive analyst (2018-present) and the Chicago Bears assistant offensive line coach (2016).

Obviously, having played 16 years in the NFL at an incredibly high level, Mawae has a wealth of experience to draw upon, as well as impeccable technique and fudamentals. He was also a very tough, instinctive, and cerebral player at the league’s center position for a long time during his playing career.

He played in 241 career games (238 starts) and is one of the best centers to ever play his position being a 7x NFL First-Team All-Pro, 1x NFL 2nd Team All-Pro, 8x NFL Pro Bowler, and member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team—as he was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019 (and is a member of the New York Jets’ Ring of Honor).

While the Colts retained assistant offensive line coach Klayton Adams—who was coincidentally joining Arizona State’s coaching staff before having a change of heart, there’s been reports that Adams could be elevated to the Colts’ open tight ends coaching position.

That means that Mawae could fill Indy’s vacant assistant offensive line coach job, working directly under Colts offensive line coach Chris Strausser—and the two have a connected history with the late, great offensive line coaching guru Howard Mudd.

From my perspective, it always helps having a former NFL player coach a position—especially an all-time great, because they can pick up on nuances and pro tips that go beyond just general technique and common knowledge—having lived and breathed it out there on the field, seen what worked and didn’t work, and other small things they picked up on that can be the difference between winning and losing your one-on-one matchup on any individual play.

Mawae is a significant addition to the Colts coaching staff—particularly along the offensive line.

He’s the type of coach who should immediately command the respect of the players, having already earned it on the field by having a highly decorated and great playing career.

Welcome aboard, Coach Mawae!