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Chiefs will reportedly bring back Matt House among defensive coaching changes

The Chiefs are remaking a bit of the defensive staff under Steve Spagnuolo.
Matt Conner
Matt Conner

Arrowhead Addict

AFC Divisional Playoffs: Houston Texans v Kansas City Chiefs / Aaron M. Sprecher/GettyImages

The defense certainly wasn't the problem at season's end for the Kansas City Chiefs, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is making some changes to his staff nonetheless as the team prepares for the 2025 season.

On Wednesday, reports from Matt Zenith of 24/7 Sports emerged on social media indicating the Chifes were bringing in two specific additions to Spags' staff—one of whom will be familiar to Chiefs Kingdom.

The Chiefs are reportedly bringing back Matt House to be a senior defensive assistant in 2025 along with the addition of a young linebackers coach named Chris Orr.

The defensive adjustments for the Chiefs coaching staff will also include the departure of safeties coach Donald D'Alesio to the Baltimore Ravens to be their new defensive backs coach.

Steve Spagnuolo's staff will have a few new faces in 2025, including the return of Matt House.

Fans will recognize House from Spagnuolo's first season with the Chiefs in 2019. Spags wanted to hire House away from the University of Kentucky, where he was defensive coordinator, but the school played a bit of hardball about letting him walk to the NFL. Eventually the Chiefs were able to hire him away to be their linebackers coach, and he was in place for three seasons.

House eventually left the Chiefs to be a defensive right hand for Brian Kelly as he took over as head coach for the LSU Tigers. Then last season, House returned to the NFL as the Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers coach.

As for Orr, he's a former NFL linebacker who then coached the same position for Jackson State. A former star at Wisconsin, Orr played for a single season for the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent before trying to extend his professional football career in the USFL with a couple franchises. Orr's brother, Zach, is the defensive coordinator for the Ravens.

Matt Conner

Matt Conner

Matt Conner is an editor with FanSided who has covered the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Addict since 2017. Formerly an Assignment Editor with SB Nation, Matt was a longtime music journalist in a past life who has interviewed over 2,000 artists from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. These days, he hosts The Resistance, a podcast featuring in-depth conversations about the intersection of art and fear (listentotheresistance.com). He also has more Creed Humphrey autographs than anyone.