'He ain't got no choice, he's stuck with me' — Ashton Gillotte already has strong ties to one of his new Chiefs teammates

Ashton Gillotte already considers Chiefs DE George Karlaftis a mentor

Asked to elaborate on his relationship with Karlaftis, Gillotte explained that the two share a college defensive line coach. That's how they were first introduced and became peers.

"So, George (Karlaftis) and I are coached by the same Coach Mark Hagen. He had him at Purdue, and then Coach Hagen came to us (at Louisville). But the relationship with George, he was training with us just because of the free facility in the offseason. And so my coach was like, 'I think this would be a good person to get in with. He's a smart guy. I think you would relate to him a little bit.' So, you know, obviously, take advantage of what you can. And I was doing film study with him, watching plays. He was watching practice, being like, 'Oh, that's bad. You gotta fix that.' Like, he's very critical. But in a lot of ways, he helped refine how I pass rush and, you know, get to this, to this level to be considered. So it's kind of like a mentor-type role. I don't be, like, trying to blow his phone up too much. I try to respect it. But now he ain't got no choice. He's stuck with me." 

Karlaftis has already had an immeasurable impact on this young player's career, helping him improve his game at the college level. Now, he'll be tasked with getting him up to speed in the pros. 

After Gillotte's conversations with the team, neither side took long to realize they were a match.

"It's one of those things where you can read the room, and you get the energy from the room," Gillotte said. "And obviously, my Zoom calls with (Steve Spagnuolo) were very good anytime I met. It was really good. But it's just again, familiarity. I already know a little bit about organization, because George (Karlaftis). I know, obviously, winning culture and the work mentality. Obviously, those are great things for me because that's what I've been around, and that's what works best for me. So again, (Steve) Spagnuolo, always been a character for me. I don't know if he's like that with y'all, but he's been funny, definitely a really cool dude, and very knowledgeable, too."