The Kansas City Chiefs are still processing the disastrous second half of their season that dropped them from the ranks of Super Bowl contenders, and moves are already being made. Some of them are about the coaching staff, where several current Chiefs coaches are already on the hot seat.
Stacy D. Smith of Arrowhead Addict did a rundown on this, and it’s intriguing, to say the least. It includes several coaching names who typically don’t turn up in a piece like this, so let's take a turn through some of the names that were mentioned.
Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator. We already know a lot about this one. The Chiefs sent out plenty of strong smoke signals in the last two weeks of the season that Nagy would be moving on, and the Tennessee Titans are already supposedly interested in him as their next head coach. Cheifs coach Andy Reid gave Nagy his blessing as a candidate, so there’s really not much to discuss here.
Dave Toub, assistant head coach and special teams coordinator. Toub’s name is where things start to get interesting. His special teams have been a Chiefs strength for years, but not so much lately. Untimely penalties have been a constant issue this year in the field-position game, and kicker Harrison Butker led the league in misses going into the last two games of the season. Throw in some questionable decisions by Chiefs returners, and it’s fair to ask if it’s time for Kansas City to move on from him.
Connor Embree, wide receivers coach. Here’s another name that most fans outside of Chiefs Kingdom don’t know a lot about. Embree has been a lightning rod for controversy for the fan base this year, especially since this is his first time around as a position coach.
Embree’s charges had a strange season. They went through a stretch early on where they were unstoppable, but it didn’t last. Receiver Xavier Worthy was supposed to have a breakout year in 2025, but he essentially went AWOL in midseason, perhaps due to a high ankle sprain that was never really clarified in the injury report.
Fellow receiver Rashee Rice had an equally odd campaign, posting several brilliant games when he returned from a six-game suspension, only to come up short with multiple brutal drops down the stretch.
Todd Pinkston, running backs coach. Pinkston got a mulligan from Smith, largely because his background is working as a wide receivers coach for Reid with the Phildelphia Eagles. According to Smith, he could move over to coach the receiving group if Embree leaves, but it’s clear that the Chiefs need more specialized coaching with this particular group going forward.