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Longtime NFL player and coach Howard Mudd died on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering multiple life-threatening injuries in a motorcycle accident. He was 78.
Mudd played in the NFL from 1964 through 1970, making the Pro Bowl three times as right guard for the San Francisco 49ers. But he will be better remembered for his career as an offensive line coach for multiple NFL teams — including the Kansas City Chiefs from 1989 through 1992 under head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who brought him from his Cleveland Browns staff to coach rising offensive line stars like John Alt, Dave Szott and Tim Grunhard.
Today the NFL lost one of the great O-Line Coaches and my mentor ...Howard was my 1st OL coach and believed in me & was instrumental in me being drafted to the Chiefs. I loved this man as a father along with countless other OL who played around the league! My for his family! pic.twitter.com/yuxi9GeJRk
— Tim Grunhard (@swimdad61) August 12, 2020
Mudd also coached for the 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Philadelphia Eagles — where he served under Chiefs head coach Andy Reid from 2011 through 2012.
His longest tenure was with the Indianapolis Colts from 1998 through 2009. He returned to the team as a special offensive assistant in 2019’s offseason, but stepped down before the season began.
Peyton remembers the man who helped keep him on his feet. pic.twitter.com/woWHlMhqQu
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) August 12, 2020
“I have so much love and respect for Howard,” Colts coach Frank Reich told reporters Wednesday. “I got my coaching break here with the Colts.
“The one quick story that comes to mind is I was the offensive quality control (coach) and then I was the quarterback coach. So working with Peyton, I would have to go into Howard’s office all the time to talk about the run game and things relevant to the quarterback. I remember going into his office one time and he had pushed me around one too many times verbally. I just finally lashed back out on him. It was a good lashing for me... I let him have it. After I was finished, he just started laughing and he said, ‘I love that!’
“That’s what I love to see. He was just an old ball coach.”