Carl Peterson sets record straight about ex-Chiefs assistant accused of cheating
I’m not sure how many Chiefs fans realized it at the time, but while announcing his retirement, Jason Kelce mentioned a former Kansas City assistant coach.
“Few teams had interest in a lineman who weighed 288 pounds,” Kelce said. “Lucky for me, the Eagles had just hired Howard Mudd, a legendary coach who valued offensive linemen for their athleticism more than their size.”
Mudd played guard from 1964 to 1970, then became an offensive line coach for the University of California. From there, Mudd coached for the Seahawks and 49ers before being hired by Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer.
When Schottenheimer took over as Chiefs coach, he brought Mudd with him to Kansas City. Mudd coached the Chiefs’ offensive line from 1989 to 1992, then returned to the Seahawks before joining the Colts for 12 seasons (1998 to 2009).
Indianapolis’ offensive line had great success in protecting Peyton Manning. The Colts website noted the team was no worse than 10th in sacks allowed during Mudd’s tenure, including six seasons ranked first in that category.
After Mudd died in a motorcycle accident in 2020, Manning offered high praise of the coach charged with protecting him.
“I would put him on that pedestal any day of the week,” Manning said. “I know all the guys that played for him would feel the same way and a lot of the guys that coached with him would feel the same. He will be missed by many. I know so many like me are grateful to have played for him.”
Mudd’s name came up last week after former Patriots coach Bill Belichick was not chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Some blamed it on the Patriots’ Spygate scandal in which they were accused of videotaping an opponent’s coaching signals.
Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson mentioned that while in Kansas City, Mudd had done the same thing as the Patriots.
“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 on X.
Carl Peterson’s defense of Mudd
Former Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson said neither Mudd nor Schottenheimer recorded opposing teams.
“In the time that he worked with Marty and myself at the Chiefs, he never did anything wrong or illegal to my knowledge,” Peterson wrote in a message to The Star.
Peterson was the Chiefs’ general manager from 1988 to 2008, and he hired Schottenheimer as head coach, a moved that changed the franchise’s fortunes. The Chiefs made just one playoff appearance in the 1980s but were a regular postseason participant in the ‘90s.
The Chiefs had a strong offensive line under Schottenheimer and Mudd.
“Howard Mudd was an excellent OL coach, whom almost every offensive lineman that he coached at Cleveland, KC and Indy would attest to,” Peterson wrote. “Ask Peyton Manning how important Howard Mudd was ...
“As for ‘stealing defensive signals,’ Howard had an uncanny ability to do that legally by simply watching the opposing team’s defensive coordinator on the sidelines without the use of cameras or other technology! He was an excellent NFL player, and assistant coach for many years that we lost a few years ago in a bad motorcycle accident. May he now rest in peace.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM.
