Kansas City Chiefs: Who will be the next defensive coordinator?

CHRIS HEWITT

The determining factor here will be a new coach versus a veteran. Andy Reid has to decide whether he’s willing to allow a promising young candidate to grow in the role knowing the ceiling will be worth reaching or whether the Chiefs are in such a win-now mode that he has to go with someone experienced.

Yes, Rex Ryan’s name catches headlines but I have a hard time imagining that fit. The personalities are simply too strong or prominent to see Ryan settling comfortably into a coordinator role under Reid’s laconic leadership style. A hire like Ryan would be splashy and could be great when things go smoothly, but Ryan’s brash personality is bound to cause conflict in Kansas City. I don’t think Andy Reid wants the additional responsibility of trying to keep Rex’s ego in check, and his mouth shut.

If the Chiefs go with a fresh face my money would be on Baltimore’s secondary coach Chris Hewitt. Hewitt was an intern with Andy Reid’s Eagles and has worked with John Harbaugh and Leslie Frazier who are both Reid guys. Don’t mistake Hewitt as just another branch on the massive Andy Reid coaching tree. He has a versatile background and has learned under Dean Pees and Don Martindale, both respected defensive minds whose teams thrived last year. Hewitt played in the NFL as a defensive back for 3 seasons before beginning his coaching career. At the college level, he was a strength and conditioning coach, running back coach, and secondary coach at Rutgers under Greg Schiano. He then entered the NFL ranks as an intern before taking on roles as a special teams assistant, before finally settling into his current role. [Thomas Welte]