The Kansas City Chiefs have become the NFL’s most dominant organization under head coach Andy Reid and his staff in recent seasons, and yet, opposing teams have very rarely targeted Reid’s coordinators for head coaching positions.
In fact, this peculiar NFL trend of passing on Chiefs coordinators and staff members has become so confusing that Reid even admitted that he was surprised he didn’t lose both DC Steve Spagnuolo and OC Matt Nagy ahead of the 2025 campaign.
“Yeah, that’s a real good question,” Reid told a reporter on February 4 after being asked how he manages to achieve so much stability on his coaching staff from year to year. “I thought [Spagnuolo] and Nagy might move on this year and be head coaches again. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out.”
“I don’t know the answer [to that],” the Chiefs HC added. “The owners know that and what they’re looking for, but I’m glad — selfishly — I’m glad that they’re with us right now and hopefully they stay [in Kansas City] for a long time.”
Chiefs Have Only Lost 1 Coordinator Since 2019
Spagnuolo and Nagy did both receive interviews during this hiring cycle, but only one team appeared close to giving either another opportunity — the division rival Las Vegas Raiders narrowed their list of candidates down to just Spagnuolo and eventual HC hire Pete Carroll, according to NFL insider Josina Anderson.
Both veteran coaches were also passed over in 2024, despite KC winning the Super Bowl once again, and former OC Eric Bieniemy was turned aside for years alongside Spagnuolo before Nagy returned.
From time to time, the Chiefs have lost positional coaches and front office members — including assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi this winter — but Bieniemy is the only coordinator they’ve lost since this magical run began in 2019. And Bieniemy only truly left as an attempt to prove himself away from Reid.
Let’s not forget that special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Dave Toub has also been a member of Reid’s staff since 2013.
Continuity has been a massive part of Kansas City’s historic run. Players change every year, but the process of constantly implementing new systems and playbooks typically has a much more noticeable effect on teams.
With Reid running the offense — with the help of Bieniemy and Nagy — and Spagnuolo and Toub running defense and special teams, the Chiefs haven’t really had to deal with major change in six full seasons. That’s almost unfathomable, considering their success.
Ex-NFL Coach of the Year Mike Smith Discusses How Important Steve Spagnuolo Has Been for the Chiefs
During an exclusive interview with Betway, ex-NFL Coach of the Year Mike Smith talked about how important Spagnuolo has been for the recent KC dynasty.
“You want coaches who know what to do on game day and Spagnuolo is a great game day coach,” Smith told Betway on January 30. “On the defensive side of the ball, you have to do things the offense doesn’t expect in order to get a free runner at the quarterback and Spagnuolo has done an outstanding job of this.”
“It hasn’t just been this year either, it’s been for this run the Chiefs have been on for years,” the former coach went on. “[Spagnuolo] is a great play caller and the number of times he can get a free runner at the quarterback is a big problem for opposition offenses. There’s nothing quarterbacks hate more than a free runner coming at them.”
One could argue that outside of Reid, general manager Brett Veach, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and maybe either superstar tight end Travis Kelce or superstar defensive lineman Chris Jones, no Kansas City figure has been more important to this team than Spagnuolo — and that’s because Reid totally trusts “Spags” to gameplan and execute on defense while he focuses on offensive play calling and game management.
Smith recognized that, even if other organizations have been overlooking Spagnuolo’s impact.
“As much as Andy Reid has done for the Kansas City Chiefs and their offense, Spagnuolo has done the same with that defense,” Smith noted, concluding: “The Super Bowl is going to be fun because you have two great defensive coordinators in Spagnuolo and [Vic] Fangio trying to stop two great offenses and two great quarterbacks.”
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