Ashton Gillotte came on strong toward the end of his rookie campaign with the Kansas City Chiefs. After the second day of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, Gillotte made it clear he's not interested in losing any of that momentum.
The Chiefs sent the second-year defensive end to the podium to answer questions from the media, and the theme of working toward excellence was consistently heard in every answer.
"Every year is a new year," he said. "You can have the greatest year the year before, but you have to come in and do the same thing this year or else you're just going to drop off. So for me it's, 'Okay, build, build, left it on an up note, but can I pour onto that and keep the trajectory up?' That's kinda my goal."
Gillotte's teammate, George Karlaftis, took notice of his growth last season, saying that he was "getting better every single week" and has been an influential figure in his life even before he was drafted. The two have trained together in the past, and share a coaching lineage with Mark Hagen, who was at Purdue before working at Louisville. Karlaftis' belief and endorsement is a strong motivator for Gillotte.
The second-year defensive end spoke to Chiefs reporters following the second day of mandatory minicamp.
"It gives me a lot [of confidence]," said Gillotte. "Obviously, talking to George more. I didn't talk to him too much last year. I wanted to respect the space. I didn't want to be like, 'Yeah, George, please help me.' Just being able to have a vet you know has done it before — him and Chris — and just being able to lean on those guys for knowledge and wisdom, just refocus yourself, and fix what you need to fix."
Gillotte admitted that he was "overthinking" a lot his rookie season, which is quite common for first-year players in Steve Spagnuolo's defense. When looking back at his year on film, Gillotte said he didn't necessarily like what he saw.
"I'll be honest: I didn't like how I looked on film, but I've always been my worst critic," he said. "I think there are some things I can learn from. I don't think I moved like myself or played exactly how I wanted to play. But those are all things I can learn from. It's a journey. Not everybody's journey's going to be the same."
The Chiefs' defensive end room also looks different for Gillotte this spring, with a new wave of fresh faces at Arrowhead. The Chiefs have gotten younger and faster on defense after undergoing wholesale changes up front and in the secondary, which has changed the culture and relational dynamic in his second year.
"We actually have a lot of new faces. It's good competition. It's less big brother-y. Now I can actually rough up with them rather than just being like, 'Yeah, man, how's it going? What do I need to do?' You can see it. It's gonna show up on the field. We're tight."
Even with an abundance of new players who haven't been a part of the sustained success of years past, Gillotte says the goal is still the same: to win Super Bowls. Even after a six-win season, Gillotte sounds ready to do whatever it takes to bring the Chiefs back to AFC West supremacy and beyond.
"For me, do what I can to contribute to this team," said Gillotte when asked about his goals. "Obviously, we have a goal of what we want to accomplish every year, and that's always a Lombardi. When you set that standard, you gotta live up to it."
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