Colts Director of Sports Performance Rusty Jones announces his retirement

Rusty Jones, the Colts director of sports performance for the last six seasons, has announced his retirement at the age of 70.

Legendary football coach Rusty Jones announced his retirement on Tuesday. Jones served as the director of sports performance for the Colts over the past 6 seasons. He spent 9 seasons as the strength and conditioning coordinator for the Chicago Bears after spending 20 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. In 2016, he received the NFL strength and conditioning Lifetime Achievement award.

Jones is an innovator in the strength and conditioning field. As early as the late 1980s, he was working on individualized workouts and diet regimens, as well as focused on hydration monitoring. These are all common practices today.

Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said in a statement regarding Jones:

“Rusty is one of the most well-respected conditioning and nutrition experts in our industry. His energy and passion for sports nutrition is unmatched and Rusty has helped numerous athletes in his career reach their full potential with his knowledge and guidance. Moreso, he is one of the most authentic people I have come across in my career and the Colts were fortunate to have Rusty for the last six years. I’m excited for him to start the next chapter of his life with his wife, Sharon, and son, Tyler.”

Jones leaves big shoes to fill. It is unsure whether the Colts will look outside or in-house for a replacement or whether or not they will even directly replace the role. If they look in house, you would have to imagine that Richard Howell, the current head strength and conditioning coordinator would be the favorite to replace Jones.

Jones finishes his career with 34 seasons in the NFL, reaching the Super Bowl five times. He worked with 7 NFL Hall of Famers and over 50 Pro Bowlers. Jones is one of the greatest to ever to do it.