The Kansas City Chiefs are figuring their defensive staff out in real time

The Kansas City Chiefs were surprisingly telling the truth from the outset when they discussed offseason changes to the media.

There’s a plan. There is always a plan.

Just last week, Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach admitted the team was preparing to go to work around a rookie contract at quarterback back in 2017. There was never going to be a quarterback controversy no matter what Alex Smith did or did not do on the field that season. There was a plan.

While a few teams will show that they operate without a set long-term plan (best illustrated by the Cleveland Browns’ inept leadership for, well, the duration of the franchise’s existence), the Chiefs are among the NFL teams you can expect to operate with a long-term plan. Answers have been in place long before most fans or analysts are even asking the questions.

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Picture this: in an offseason where questions are being asked about the future in relation to Eric Berry, Justin Houston, and/or Dee Ford, the reality is that Veach has likely known exactly what the team will do for quite some time. Contingencies are assumedly in place in case things don’t go according to plan, but even then, the Chiefs simply know to move on to Plan B.

Yet in the case of replacing Bob Sutton, the Chiefs are clearly flying without a plan—or at least a long-term one. That doesn’t mean they didn’t have options on the board. It also doesn’t mean the team is inept or irresponsible. It simply means that they chose to work out this plan in real time.

Most hiring instances in the NFL feature ready-made staffs who simply need to sign on the dotted line. A team hires a head coach who has already put all of his choices for assistants on notice. Suddenly the team not only announces the new hire but subsequent announcements of positional coaches or coordinators are swiftly made.

The Chiefs, however, are operating in real time—or at least they seem to be—and they have been since the end of their season, a loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

Over the course of the past few days, the #Chiefs have talked with players and coaches about defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, whose lack of adjustments has been a non-stop frustration. They moved on today, and a prime job is open.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 22, 2019

That initial report from Rapoport points to an important yet unstated point: the Chiefs waited until the conclusion of their season to figure out how to handle Bob Sutton. The case for his termination goes back a full year. Embarrassing losses in primetime to the L.A. Rams and New England Patriots despite scoring 50 and 40 points respectively should have put Sutton on notice. Yet instead of working out a plan ahead of time to replace Sutton once the season was over, it’s clear that Andy Reid didn’t know how he would handle things until he was given considerable time to think about it.

Once the season was over, team owner Clark Hunt, head coach Andy Reid, general manager Brett Veach and whoever else began conducting the sort of interviews that you’d expect to have happened some time ago. It doesn’t make it right or wrong. It simply means that Reid and company really were willing to let Sutton keep his job if some parameters were met—perhaps a Super Bowl appearance would have done the trick.

Even after firing Sutton, the Chiefs are making things up as they go. Steve Spagnuolo, the team’s choice to replace Sutton as defensive coordinator, clearly failed to get a “yes” from a list of contacts coming into the job. Spags has a long list of coaching contacts from decades in the business, but the Chiefs haven’t made anything official and their own coaching page brings up some contradictions.

Reports have surfaced that Brendan Daly will coach the Cheifs defensive line after serving as the Patriots d-line coach for the last few years. But tell that to Andy Reid’s own son, Britt, who is still listed as the Chiefs defensive line coach. David Merritt is rumored to be the Chiefs new defensive backs coach, but that makes three, for now, given that Emmitt Thomas and Al Harris are both DB coaches on the Chiefs official site.

The Merritt and Daly rumors have leaked slowly over time, which means the Chiefs are clearly asking later than anyone expected and then giving these men the chance to consider their options. We are all waiting because the team itself is waiting. The announcements come in real time because the Chiefs are operating in real time.

If anyone had a heads-up, there is zero indication of it from the top down. The biggest pieces of evidence that the Chiefs are putting this together as we “speak” is found in the lack of a linebackers coach for the team. Mark Deleone and Mike Smith, the team’s inside and outside linebackers coaches from last season, have left for the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively. There is a clear absence to fill in K.C., yet so far, no one seems to want it.

The Chiefs have already been reportedly spurned by former New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, who played successfully in Spags’ system and would have been a nice young coaching addition to the team. Instead he wanted to remain in the same role at Arizona State under Herm Edwards‘ leadership.

The Chiefs have also been turned away by Matt House (or his employer). As the defensive coordinator for the University of Kentucky, House was approached to rejoin Spagnuolo’s staff and be his linebackers coach again (as he did back with the Rams in 2009-2011). House initially accepted but then reportedly changed his mind. Further rumors have surfaced that Kentucky actually blocked him from taking the job, but rules make it unclear if the school could even do it if it wanted. Did House change his mind?

These are the problems when operating in real time. Instead of allowing the staff to come together over time in the cover of silence, the media and fans and analysts and players are all waiting for the next announcement. Predictions are made. Questions are asked. Candidates are placed in awkward positions.

The Chiefs staff will eventually come together. Announcements will be made to make it official, and these details will be forgotten as the coaching staff comes together and makes their mark moving forward. But it’s been interesting to note that the Chiefs weren’t working behind the scenes to scheme for the future, that Sutton really did have a chance to save his job.

Whether or not you agree, the Chiefs were operating with full integrity here. That’s an admirable quality, even as we all wait for further news.

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