When things don't go as planned, murmurs expand into chatter. Chatter becomes restless clamor. The collapse of the 2025 Kansas City Chiefs may cause some to believe that heads must roll, and while GM Brett Veach has shown a strong tendency to clean house within certain personnel departments, one has to wonder if the team would do the same with Andy Reid's coaching staff. The venerable combination of Reid's offensive mind and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has earned the right to try to repair what went wrong in 2025. So let's get this out in the open before we go any further: no one should expect Reid to be the major change in 2026 unless Reid himself decides to hang it up.
Reid's loyalty to his coaches is an honorable trait. Spagnuolo spent eight years as an assistant in Philadelphia before earning a promotion to defensive coordinator with the Giants. In 2009, as an assistant to Reid in Philadelphia, it was Veach who introduced his collegiate teammate, Matt Nagy, to Reid. Nagy has coached under Reid ever since, save for his four years in Chicago as a head coach. Pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier also played with Veach and Nagy back at Delaware; Bleymaier has coached under Reid for 10 years. Reid's connection to tight ends coach Tom Melvin dates all the way back to 1983, when Melvin was an offensive lineman at San Francisco University, and Reid was his positional coach. Remarkably, Melvin has coached under Reid for each of the last 26 seasons. Head trainer Rick Burkholder has also served under Reid for 26 seasons. The list goes on and on and speaks to the relationships that Big Red has formed in his time as a coach.
However, one major flaw of this coaching staff is the lack of an heir apparent at the top.
Now 67 years old, Reid is nearing the end of his historic career. The problem with winning a lot of games along the way is that other teams want to poach your assistant coaches, and Reid's staff has not been immune to that. Besides Spagnuolo and Nagy, who are both former head coaches who have returned to be coordinators under Big Red, the Andy Reid coaching tree lists former assistants such as Ron Rivera, Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott, Todd Bowles, Marty Mornhinweg, Dick Jauron, Leslie Frazier, John Harbaugh, Brad Childress, and Pat Shurmur.
There are two other familiar names whom Chiefs fans will easily remember: Eric Bieniemy and Mike Kafka. The two offensive assistants both spent years under Reid but have left for promotions with other franchises. Either could be a potential candidate to replace Reid someday in the event that he retires, but as it stands, no in-house candidate is being groomed for the position.
If changes must be made, what could we expect in 2026?
Neither Reid nor Spagnuolo are expected to be gone next year. 2025 should be considered a speed bump, not necessarily a changing of the guard in the AFC. That said, there are some moves that can (and probably should) be made.
Nagy is rumored to be a head coaching candidate for the Tennessee Titans, according to multiple sources. The Chiefs' Week 16 performance in Tennessee was, frankly, a pathetic showing for Nagy, although he gets a pass for the fact that the Chiefs prepared all week to play without quarterback Patrick Mahomes and then lost backup Gardner Minshew just a few snaps into the game. Nagy's offense was also down to third-string tackles on both sides of the offensive line. Nagy is atop a short list of coaches who could potentially be the next head coach for the Titans, and Chiefs fans are clamoring for new blood in the offensive scheme. The million-dollar question is this: does Andy Reid want to bring in a new face at this point in his career?
Wide receivers coach Connor Embree is one of the more maligned assistants on Reid's current staff, and there are multiple reasons stacked against him. Embree's résumé (as listed on the Chiefs' website) isn't very long, and the productivity of his units has left some meat on the bone. Embree was a linebackers coach for the 2019 staff, and that unit was one of the weakest links on the team. Embree moved to the wide receiver room in 2021, and one could make a strong argument that his wide receivers have largely underperformed while playing with one of the most talented quarterbacks of all time.
Running backs coach Todd Pinkston is a former NFL wide receiver who played for Reid in Philadelphia. It's not unheard of for former players to coach a different position than the one they played, but you can't help but wonder if he'd be a better fit at his original position. And it's not like the Chiefs couldn't use a shakeup in the running back room, either. A new hire at this position could allow Pinkston to move to the wide receiver room if the Chiefs decided to move on from Embree.
Dave Toub is the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator. Toub will turn 64 just before training camp and could be near the end of the road. The Chiefs' special teams unit finished with a positive EPA in just five of 16 games in 2025, and the coverage units were plagued by penalties. It's more likely that Toub returns for the 2026 campaign, but it wouldn't be shocking if there were a move here as well.
Defensive backs coach Dave Merritt is one of the team's biggest secrets, and the team would most certainly want to retain him in 2026. From the expiring contracts of Bryan Cook and Jaylen Watson to the myriad of possibilities that could befall Trent McDuffie, there are some changes likely to occur in the secondary, and Merritt has proven time and again that he can nurture productive NFL players. The Chiefs have benefited from strong play out of recent Day 3 picks, and much of that success should be attributed to Merritt. No one in Kansas City wants to see Merritt depart, but he has reached a point in his career where he would have to be considered a potential candidate for promotion.
If tight end Travis Kelce retires, it's possible that the aforementioned Melvin retires as well. The 64-year-old has had it very good for a very long time, and he might not be in a place where he wants to start over. Noah Gray and Jared Wiley notwithstanding, the tight end room is bound to be a completely different experience beginning the moment Kelce decides to hang 'em up. Melvin's tutelage has been a boon for Kelce and Reid through the years, and their professional relationship should be celebrated when Kelce chooses to retire.
A season as disappointing as this means it's time for change somewhere. The Chiefs could probably benefit from some new ideas and new voices in critical areas. Discuss in the comments: where are some areas in which you'd like to see the Chiefs make a change, and is there anyone in particular you think would be a good fit on Andy Reid's coaching staff in 2026?