When Marty Schottenheimer took over as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989, he brought in a staff that would go on to have a lasting impact on the NFL. Among his assistants was Tony Dungy, who would later lead the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl XLI title.
On that Colts staff? Offensive line coach Howard Mudd-a name that’s resurfaced in a conversation that’s got the football world buzzing.
Mudd, who passed away in 2020, is now at the center of a renewed debate over Spygate and Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame candidacy. The controversy reignited Wednesday morning when former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson took to social media to defend Belichick, who was reportedly passed over for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
According to ESPN, Belichick-winner of six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots-didn’t receive the 80% of votes required from Hall committee members. One anonymous voter pointed to former NFL executive Bill Polian as someone who may have swayed opinions. Polian, a longtime supporter of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a former GM of the Bills and Colts (two of New England’s biggest rivals during their dynasty run), allegedly suggested Belichick should “wait a year” before induction as a form of penance for Spygate-the infamous 2007 scandal that cost the Patriots a first-round pick after they were caught videotaping the New York Jets’ sideline signals.
That’s where Johnson stepped in.
The two-time Super Bowl-winning coach didn’t hold back, calling out the idea that Spygate should be used to delay Belichick’s enshrinement. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Johnson claimed that many teams experimented with similar tactics-including his own Cowboys-and credited Mudd, then with the Chiefs, as the one who introduced the concept.
“If they are using the EXCUSE of spygate that’s ridiculous…many teams (including ourselves) tried it..Howard Mudd at Kansas City who later coached for Bill Polian and Tony Dungy gave us the idea..he was the best..we didn’t get anything and stopped but many teams gave it a try,” Johnson wrote.
That’s a bombshell of a statement from a Hall of Fame coach, especially considering the reverence many in the league still hold for Mudd, widely considered one of the best offensive line coaches the game has seen. Johnson’s comments don’t clarify whether Mudd was simply involved in traditional signal-stealing-something that’s long been a gray area in football-or if it extended to videotaping, which crosses a clear line in the NFL’s rulebook.
What’s clear is that Johnson’s remarks add a new layer to the ongoing conversation about Belichick’s legacy and the standards used to judge Hall of Fame candidates. If Spygate is being held against Belichick, Johnson’s argument is simple: don’t pretend it was an isolated incident. According to him, it was more widespread than many want to admit.
And while Howard Mudd can’t speak for himself, his name is now part of a broader discussion about gamesmanship, ethics, and how we remember the greats-not just for what they won, but how they won it.