After years of unheard-of continuity on the sidelines among their coaching staff, the Kansas City Chiefs might be losing some significant pieces heading into the 2025 season. While the team has only lost one defensive assistant so far, rumors are flying that Matt Nagy might have an opportunity to stretch his wings again soon.
The NFL's head coaching carousel is firing up just shy of Black Monday and it's possible that 8 or even 9 teams will have openings—approximately one quarter of the league.
For their part, the New Orleans Saints are going to be searching for a new head coach after firing Dennis Allen earlier this year. And while the team has an interim who will also merit consideration in Darren Rizzi, the team's front office will also invite a number of outsiders to apply—and that list is expected to include Nagy.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini is reporting that the team is expected to have interest in Nagy at season's end.
It's possible that Matt Nagy gets a second chance to be an NFL head coach soon.
Nagy has been the Chiefs' offensive coordinator for the last two seasons after returning to Arrowhead following a four-year stint as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Since his return, the Chiefs have won the last two Super Bowls and are on track to chase a third—and any team interested in Nagy will undoubtedly be excited to potentially add that sort of experience and perspective from a team like the Chiefs.
Allen was ousted in New Orleans after nine games in the 2024 campaign as the Saints fell from a 2-0 start to 2-7. After two-and-a-half seasons, Allen had an 18-25 record and his background with the Raiders didn't help his cause overall as a head coach with a combined mark of 26-53.
Rizzi has the Saints at a 3-4 record under his watch and has served as the team's assistant head coach since 2022 (along with being the team's special teams coordinator), so it made sense to hire him as the interim. Whether or not ownership wants to extend that partnership on a permanent basis is yet unknown but research will be done to figure those things out.
Nagy was ultimately run out of Chicago despite a decent overall record of 34-31 in four seasons, but that's bolstered by a 12-4 mark in his first year. Nagy's offense really didn't develop as hoped despite his reputation coming out of K.C., but then again, he wasn't handed a ton of talent to start with. Nagy also had some real leadership concerns, but perhaps that was more about being new to the head coaching role.
There are questions for any team importing part of Andy Reid's staff as to how much offensive magic they bring on their own. Eric Bieniemy's stint in Washington, Matt Nagy's tenure in Chicago, Mike Kafka's run in New York—they've all yielded middling or mixed results. That said even the NFL's best head coach sputtered in their first roles (e.g. Bill Belichick) and Nagy is respected in league circles for a reason.