Aside from head coach Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 2023 coaching staff might not get the credit it deserves. Sure, everything looks easy when the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones pepper your roster. But the Chiefs’ coaches have more than done their part, as five consecutive AFC title appearances wouldn’t have been possible without an excellent staff.
As Kansas City guns for its second Super Bowl in four seasons, let’s run through the club’s entire coaching staff.
Kansas City Chiefs Coaching Staff 2023
Head Coach Andy Reid
Reid secured his Hall of Fame jacket by winning his first Lombardi Trophy after the 2019 season, but he had arguably already done enough to be enshrined even before claiming a Super Bowl ring. The only head coach in NFL history to post 100 wins with two franchises, Reid remains highly influential and is still the best play-caller in the league.
The owner of a .640 career winning percentage, Reid doesn’t figure to retire anytime soon. Both he and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach are on contract extensions that run through 2025, and Reid has maintained he’ll coach in Kansas City for the life of Mahomes’ long-term deal, which takes him through 2031. With a $12.5 million annual salary, Reid is well-compensated and ranks inside the top-five highest-paid NFL head coaches.
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Reid’s on-field success is notable, but so too is his coaching tree. Eleven Reid assistants have gone on to claim head coaching positions elsewhere. New Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is the first former player under Reid to have earned a top job in the NFL.
Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy
Eric Bieniemy, a second-round pick in the 1991 draft, played running back in the NFL for eight seasons, with his final campaign coming with Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles in 1999. After serving as Colorado’s offensive coordinator from 2011-12, Bieniemy became the Chiefs’ running backs coach in 2013.
Promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018, Bieniemy leads a high-powered Kansas City offense that consistently ranks in the top five in nearly every metric. While he doesn’t call plays (Reid handles that), Bieniemy is heavily involved in game planning, preparation, and communication.
He’s interviewed for 15 head coaching vacancies over the past five offseasons but has yet to land a job. This year, Bieniemy is in the running to take over the Indianapolis Colts. If he doesn’t get that gig, Bieniemy could potentially take an OC position with another team and hope to attract more head coaching interest by calling plays.
Offensive Positional Coaches
Bieniemy leads the Chiefs’ offensive staff, and the following assistants support him:
- Senior assistant/QBs coach: Matt Nagy
- Pass game analyst/assistant QBs: David Girardi
- RBs coach: Greg Lewis
- WRs coach: Joe Bleymaier
- TEs coach: Tom Melvin
- OL coach: Andy Heck
- Assistant OL coach: Corey Matthaei
- Offensive quality control: Connor Embree
- Offensive quality control: Porter Ellett
Nagy, the Chicago Bears’ head coach from 2018-21, is the most high-profile assistant on the Chiefs’ staff. Along with Doug Pederson, Nagy is one of two Kansas City coordinators to land an HC role while working under Reid. After being fired by the Bears, Nagy rejoined the Chiefs, taking the place of former QBs coach Mike Kafka, who became the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator.
Lewis and Melvin are both long-time Reid disciples. Lewis played wide receiver for the Eagles from 2003-08 while Reid was the head coach before becoming Kansas City’s wide receivers coach in 2017. He moved to running backs before the 2021 campaign. Melvin has been with Reid — with both the Eagles and Chiefs — every step of the way since 1999.
Heck, the 15th overall selection in the 1989 draft, played tackle for 12 seasons before entering the coaching ranks. He worked for the Jaguars for nine years before joining Reid and the Chiefs in 2013. Heck leads a front five that consistently ranks among the best offensive lines in the NFL.
Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
Along with Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo is one of two former head coaches on the Chiefs’ staff. Spags has been at Reid’s side for much of his career. He was on the Eagles’ staff from 1999-2006 before becoming the Giants’ defensive coordinator. Success with Big Blue earned him the Los Angeles Rams’ head coaching job in 2009.
After his time in L.A., Spagnuolo worked as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens before taking a second stint as the Giants’ DC and, ultimately, interim head coach. The Chiefs’ firing of ex-coordinator Bob Sutton in 2019 opened the door for Spagnuolo to rejoin Reid.
Spagnuolo has admitted that he wants another chance at a head coaching job, but that opportunity hasn’t arisen recently.
Defensive Positional Coaches
Spagnuolo is Kansas City’s defensive boss, but he has plenty of assistants to rely on:
- DL coach: Joe Cullen
- Assistant DL coach: Terry Bradden
- Run game coordinator/LBs coach: Brendan Daly
- Outside LBs coach: Ken Flajole
- DBs coach: Dave Merritt
- Safeties coach: Donald D’Alesio
- Defensive quality control: Alex Whittingham
Cullen just joined the Chiefs’ staff in 2022, but he boasts a long résumé in the coaching ranks. He worked at seven colleges and with six NFL clubs before becoming KC’s defensive line coach last year. Cullen spent the 2021 campaign as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer.
Daly has been the Chiefs’ DL coach for the past three seasons, but he shifted to linebackers to accommodate Cullen. Before coming to Kansas City, Daly spent five years with the New England Patriots. He previously worked under Brad Childress — another member of the Reid coaching tree — on the Minnesota Vikings’ staff.
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Flajole is the most experienced member of Kansas City’s staff, as his coaching career dates back to 1977, when he spent two years as the defensive line and linebackers coach at Pacific Lutheran. He overlapped with Reid on the Green Bay Packers’ 1998 staff and eventually worked his way up to become the Rams’ DC under — who else — Spagnuolo.
Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub
- Assistant ST coach: Andy Hill
Toub coordinates a Chiefs special-teams unit that regularly ranks as one of the best in the league. In 10 seasons at the helm, Toub’s units have posted seven top-five finishes in Football Outsiders’ special-teams DVOA ratings.
This year, Tommy Townsend ranked first in net yards per punt and was the NFL’s most productive punter according to Puntalytics‘ metrics. Unsurprisingly, he was named a first-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.
Toub is incredibly well-respected in the NFL community, so much so that he’s been considered for head coaching jobs, a rarity for special teams coordinators. The 60-year-old Toub interviewed with the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and was considered a fallback candidate for the Colts in 2018 after their agreement with Josh McDaniels fell through.