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Gardner Minshew reveals what all 4 Chiefs QBs on the roster have in common dating back to their collegiate days

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Nick Roesch | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 11:11 AM ET

For the third straight season, the Chiefs have a new backup quarterback.

Kansas City signed Gardner Minshew to a one-year contract back in March. The Chiefs also brought back two familiar faces in Bailey Zappe and Chris Oladokun to round out their QB room.

Led of course by Patrick Mahomes, all four Chiefs QBs share a familiar background that dates back to their collegiate days. Minshew shed some light on it while speaking to the media after an OTA practice on Thursday.

"Actually, all four of the quarterbacks in the room have Air Raid experience," Minshew said. "So it's funny, we'll all kind of go, oh, this is just, 'Ace 6' or 'Ace 95,' you know, old Air Raid terms. So it's cool we all have that background and see it a little bit through that lens. It's cool to see, I think everybody in the room has been influenced a lot in that way. How we see the game - space, numbers, leverage, like, that kind of simple style of ball. I think Pat's taken it to the highest and most successful level, pretty much."

The Air Raid in simple terms is a pass-heavy offense that is mostly no-huddle and the QB operates predominantly out of the shotgun. The formations are spread out with multiple wide receivers as the QB looks to get the ball out of his hands quickly.

Minshew played for Mike Leach, one of the great masterminds of the Air Raid, at Washington State in 2018. Minshew's game was elevated to the next level, completing 70.7% of his passes for 4,779 yards and 38 touchdowns. He finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting that season.

Zappe's Air Raid experience came from his offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, who coached Zappe at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky. Before that, Kittley was a graduate assistant Texas Tech, which was led by Kliff Kingsbury (who formerly played for Leach) at the time. Kittley worked closely with Mahomes from 2015-2016.

During Oladokun's time at Stamford from 2019-2020, he played for a lesser-known Air Raid expert in Chris Hatcher. In 18 games played Oladokun threw for 2,279 yards and nine TDs, also rushing for 517 yards and 10 TDs under Hatcher.

As for Mahomes, he played under Kingsbury during his three-year career at Texas Tech. Kingsbury ran the Air Raid system, which he operated as a QB under Leach from 2000-2002 for the Red Raiders. In 2016 Mahomes led the nation in passing yards with 5,052 and total TDs with 53.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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