Rutgers hires away Chiefs defensive quality coach Jay Valai

Kansas City Chiefs defensive quality coach Jay Valai is heading to Rutgers to take on a new position as defensive backs coach.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to remake their coaching staff on the defensive side with the news that defensive quality control coach Jay Valai has left to take a position as cornerbacks coach with Rutgers, per ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Valai first came to the Chiefs just over one year ago and was specifically tasked with helping the linebackers and defensive backs as well. Before joining the Chiefs, Valai was a part of the University of Georgia’s coaching staff in a quality control role as well for the last two years under Kirby Smart.

For Valai, the move to Rutgers brings him back around to the Big Ten, where he played four years at the University of Wisconsin as a cornerback.

The Chiefs can now add Valai to the list of coaches who have departed in the wake of firing Bob Sutton and hiring Steve Spagnuolo in the role of defensive coordinator. Such turnover should be expected given changes at the very top, and Valai might not be the last of the bunch to leave. Mike Smith and Mark Deleone have left as linebackers coaches for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears respectively, and Emmitt Thomas retired after serving as defensive backs coach since 2010.

The Chiefs have imported some new faces, although many have not been made official. Brendan Daly came over to coach the defensive line from the New England Patriots. Matt House is the new linebackers coach after coming over from the University of Kentucky. David Merritt is the new defensive backs coach and the team could add former NFL player Sam Madison in an assistant role as well.