Chiefs’ Reid Still Has Recruiting Midas Touch

The Cougars were at the T-Mobile Center to meet Houston. Reid might’ve been secretly scouting 6-9 freshman forward AJ Dybantsa, in the event the old tight ends coach can coax Dybantsa into a multi-sport professional career to replace Travis Kelce in the near future.

Sporting a BYU pullover, Reid might’ve planted that seed this week with Dybantsa, who by NFL rule must wait two more years before he’d be eligible to follow in the footsteps of Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham and Tony Gonzalez. The NFL has long prohibited youngsters from playing until they’re three years removed from high school.

The recruiting road

Reid’s pitch this month worked for Tonga, however. The venerable Chiefs head coach and the fresh-off-the-Super Bowl lineman share a lot in common. Tonga said Reid was the primary reason he chose the Chiefs.

“My agent just got me right with them,” Tonga said Thursday in his first comments since signing a three-year, $21 million deal. “And it was a no-brainer for me to come here. I got ties with Coach Reid and with BYU. And system-wise, it’s perfect. Just excited to be here.”

The system isn’t the only reason Tonga is perfect for the Chiefs. They need a dependable, early down presence who can eat interior blocks to free up Chris Jones and Nick Bolton. And every once in a while, expect to see him blowing up plays like he did on Denver’s snowy field in the fourth quarter of the AFC championship.

And when he does, credit Reid. The old ball coach, who turns 68 on Thursday, has perfected the art of recruiting at the NFL level. After all, Reid is a household name in Provo, Utah.

BYU monarchy

“He’s royalty over there,” Tonga explained. “So, just hearing all the stories about him from my coach at BYU. That's his mentor, so I'm real close with him. He talks highly of Coach Reid. So, today I got to meet him, and so it was pretty cool.”

Tonga’s coach at BYU, Kalani Sitake, had a lucrative offer to move to Penn State this winter. But a phone call from Reid played an important role in keeping Sitake at the reins of the Cougars.

Expect that kind of gesture to mean something to Tonga, and as a result, expect him to play even harder for Reid than had he signed with another NFL head coach. Another BYU product on the Chiefs’ roster, Kingsley Suamataia, rewarded Reid’s trust last year, improving every week in his transition from tackle to starting left guard.

Tonga said he played only briefly with Suamataia at BYU.

“I know Kingsley,” Tonga said Thursday. “He was a young pup, so when I left, he was barely coming into BYU, getting his feet wet. And it was super cool to see him do what he did last year, kind of grow within his first year. And I can't wait to see him and learn from him and grow with each other.”