Willie Peete, who had a long career as an assistant coach and had two sons with long NFL careers of their own, has died at the age of 87.
Peete was on the coaching staff of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1983 to 1986, the Packers from 1987 to 1991, the Buccaneers from 1992 to 1994 and the Bears from 1995 to 1997. He also spent many years as an assistant coach of the university.
Peete played fullback at Arizona in the 1950s and was hired as a graduate assistant for the Wildcats in 1960. This began a decades-long coaching career at both the university and professional levels.
Peete’s oldest son Skip Peete is currently the Buccaneers’ running backs coach and has been an NFL assistant since 1998. His youngest son Rodney Peete finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting at USC in 1988 and had a 16-year career as an NFL quarterback. Peete was also the second cousin of Calvin Peete, who was the most successful black golfer on the PGA Tour before Tiger Woods.
