How Chiefs Are Using Defensive Coach to Attack Defenses

Reid had someone in mind, too. After the Eagles blew out the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, he hired his own fresh free agent, Mark DeLeone, as assistant running backs coach.

“DeLeone, we've added into the mix here,” Reid said after Sunday’s impressive 30-17 win over Detroit. “He gives us a nice perspective from the defensive side. He's kind of gotten into the offensive part of it, too. So that helps just with putting the gameplan together.”

DeLeone's defensive background

Baltimore’s inside linebackers coach last year, DeLeone since 2007 had coached on the defensive side -- until Reid brought him back to Kansas City this offseason. Now, he’s coaching the coaches on how to attack defenses, and coaching on the offensive side.

“I think it's a unique role,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said Thursday, “where you have somebody that has an expertise on defense; can come in and really help confirm and maybe tell us we’re idiots sometimes when we think we know everything on offense that the defense is doing.”

DeLeone, 38, grew up in a football household. His late dad, George, was a legendary coach for nearly 50 years, including time with the Chargers, Dolphins and Browns. And the younger DeLeone has plenty of familiarity with the Chiefs.

He joined Andy Reid’s initial Chiefs staff in 2013 as defensive quality-control coach, then spent 2016-17 as assistant linebackers coach before a promotion to inside ‘backers coach in 2018.

DeLeone was on Nagy’s Chicago Bears staff from 2019-20 as inside linebackers coach, on Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions staff in the same role in 2021 and even at the University of Kansas from 2022-23 as defensive analyst.

But during those early years in Kansas City, he learned from former Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. From 2013-15, the Chiefs finished among league leaders in points and yards, including fifth-, second- and third-place finishes in scoring defense over those respective seasons.

“He pours a lot of time and energy into what he does,” Nagy added. “And I give Coach Reid a lot of credit for embracing that type of opportunity for him, and he's been a huge advantage this year for us.”

Other coaches in similar situations

While Saleh and DeLeone are the two most recent examples, Raheem Morris and Aubrey Pleasant held similar roles. Morris, now the Falcons’ head coach, was Atlanta’s wide receivers coach in 2016. Pleasant, who like Morris has a defensive pedigree, was LaFleur’s offensive consultant in 2022.

The former defensive back, a head-coach candidate in the upcoming cycle, is now Sean McVay’s assistant head coach and passing game coordinator with the Rams.