The NFL has developed a coaching accelerator program intended to help promote further diversity in the league’s coaching circles.
The National Football League is set to host its second-ever coaching accelerator program this spring as part of its much-needed efforts to further diversify the league’s coaching circles. One member of the Kansas City Chiefs coaching staff will be taking part as the team will send Dave Merritt to participate.
Merritt has been an exemplary teacher in the Chiefs’ secondary for the last few seasons, especially in 2022 after watching so many rookies earn considerable playing time for a team that won the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs added Merritt to the defensive coaching staff when they brought on Steve Spagnuolo to be their defensive coordinator back in 2019. Merritt joined the team from the Arizona Cardinals after serving as their defensive backs coach. Before that, Merritt had worked under Spags during a long tenure with the New York Giants which spanned from 2004-2017.
The coaching accelerator will take place this coming weekend—from May 21-23—in Minneapolis with 40 total coaches taking part. The initial accelerator was last spring and several of those candidates are back again for another round of further networking, leadership sessions, and more.
This is Merritt’s first time in the program but his inclusion is a good sign for his head coaching trajectory as a bright positional coach who will likely vie for a coordinator role soon enough.