Indianapolis Colts running backs coach Tom Rathman has retired from the NFL after 31 seasons, the team announced Thursday.
Rathman has been the running backs coach for the Colts since 2018 and while his name might not be known throughout all households, he had a major impact on the running game in Indy.
“It was an honor to represent the NFL for more than 30 years as a coach and player,” said Rathman in a statement. “I was proud to represent and coach some outstanding players and I’m thankful for my time in Indianapolis. I’ll always be a Colts fan.”
Rathman was a big reason why the Colts run game was so strong. He helped carve the way for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons from Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor, respectively.
But his biggest impact likely came in the toughness and fumbling department. Over the last two seasons, Rathman’s running backs have fumbled just twice.
“Tom Rathman’s three seasons with the Colts caps an unbelievable NFL career that spans 31 years as a player and coach,” said Frank Reich. “He made an immediate impact in our running back room upon his arrival and he deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the development of our backs into multifaceted players. We’ll miss hearing his infamous ‘squeeze it!’ from the sideline at practice and on gameday. Tom won Super Bowls with San Francisco, is a member of the 49ers Hall of Fame and coached some of the best players in the game. We congratulate him on a phenomenal career and wish him all the best.”
Rathman seemingly has been wanting to retire for the last two seasons now but the Colts begged him to stay on. It worked for a while but Rathman is officially leaving the league.
The Colts now have five assistants to replace under Frank Reich after Nick Sirianni took the head coach job in Phildelphia and brought with him Jonathan Gannon, Kevin Patullo and Jason Michael.
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