The Bill Belichick not-making-the-Hall of Fame saga has been raging on ever since it came out that some of the voters reportedly did not want the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach to be voted in on his first year of eligibility as revenge for “Spygate“.
Current Hall of Fame head coach, Jimmy Johnson, has demonstrated his outrage at the decision, taking to social media to showcase his dismay at the decision.
However, in his latest post, responding directly to Rob Parker saying on Fox Sports radio that he has “mad respect” for not rewarding Belichick “for cheating”, Johnson also shed light on the history of the team-spying strategy, and its relation to a well-known former Kansas City Chiefs coach, Howard Mudd.
Jimmy Johnson Claims Former Chiefs Coach Did “Spygate”
“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 posted on X on Wednesday morning.
Mudd coached the offensive line of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1989 to 1992, during a similar time frame that Johnson was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys – with whom he won two Super Bowls with during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
Although the pair did not actually coach together at any point during their respective, highly-regarded careers, it seems that the pair were friends and contemporaries who were willing to share information. Since they both played in different conferences, it would have been plausible that Mudd would share some slightly off-the-record information with a coach perceived to be a non-rival.
Johnson Explains Details Behind Howard Mudd’s Spying
In an interview with Dave Hyde of the Miami Sun Sentinel, Johnson went into further detail about what Mudd did in the proto-spygate era in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
“You’d put a camera up in the press box and you film the opposing signal-caller.” Johnson relayed to Hyde. “You take the film and match it up to what they’re doing on defense. Then what Howard Mudd would do as the offensive line coach in Kansas City — you could see a guard looking at the sideline and not the quarterback when the play is called. Howard Mudd would signal if it was man (defense) or zone or whatever.”
The height of the irony regarding Polian allegedly tanking Belichick’s Hall of Fame chances is the fact that Mudd went on to coach the Indianapolis Colts‘ offensive line for over a decade, from 1998 -2009 – the entire duration of Polian’s stint as Colts GM.
Yet, when asked as to whether Mudd repeated his tricks in Indianapolis, Johnson was less definitive.
“I don’t know if they tried it there,” Johnson admitted to Hyde.
Former Chiefs Coach Called ‘Best’ at Spygate Amid Bill Belichick, HOF Drama