There’s been plenty of speculation about who’s coming back next year for the Kansas City Chiefs, with the most common name being tight end Travis Kelce. But there’s another name among the coach staff that’s guaranteed to get the fan base riled up as soon as they hear it, and that’s offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Nagy has been an under-the-radar success story in Kansas City for the last couple of seasons, but now the knives are out. He chose not to sign an extension last season, and the disappointing performance of the Chiefs offense this year has the fan base playing the blame game, even as Nagy searches for his next head coaching job.
I honestly want to just focus right now,” Nagy said to Jesse Newell of The Athletic in advance of the Chiefs’ Christmas night loss to the Broncos, 20-13. Tuesday. “I know that stuff will all take care of itself down the road. I have just so much respect for our organization here, from top down.”
There’s plenty of speculation about his next job, however. Dianna Russini of The Athletic says Nagy Nagy “is viewed internally as a serious candidate” for the Tennessee Titans’ head-coaching opening, which makes sense given that Tennessee’s GM, Mike Borgonzi, spent 15 years with the Chiefs organization.
Ian Rapport and Tom Pelissero are in on the speculation act as well, saying that “could become a hot candidate for a play-calling job elsewhere” if he doesn’t land another head coaching job.
Forget the rumor mill, though. Coach Andy Reid offered an unsolicited endorsement of Nagy as a head coach, and that combined with the dreaded vote of confidence from Reid is probably the best foreshadowing of Nagy's departure of all.
“Phenomenal,” Reid said when asked to evaluate Nagy’s performance as OC. “We were on a record pace there for a bit, as far as statistically. He does a nice job there.”
Pull back the curtain, though, and the reality of what happened becomes a lot clearer when you use the eye chart. The Chiefs couldn’t protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and that eventually led to the ACL/LCL tear that has Mahomes out for the rest of the season, and possibly into the first few weeks of the 2026 season.
It feels like Nagy’s run is over, and the fan base certainly won’t mourn his departure for long. Neither will Reid, from the sound of it, especially given the focus of Reid’s comments on Nagy’s next job.
“I think he deserves to be a head football coach in this league,” Reid said. “That’s exciting for him.”