NFC Team Poaches Chiefs’ Linebackers Coach Rod Wilson

New Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur has reportedly poached Reid’s outside linebackers coach, Rod Wilson. According to insider Matt Zenitz, Wilson will coach inside linebackers for Arizona.

Curious move

Neither LaFleur nor defensive coordinator Nick Rallis have any obvious connections with Wilson. Plus, moving from outside linebackers to inside linebackers seems like a lateral move. Nonetheless, a team source said Wilson was not terminated and the change is a better opportunity.

Wilson, who played mostly inside linebacker during his college career at South Carolina and NFL days with the Bears, Buccaneers and Jaguars, had spent the prior two seasons coaching Kansas City’s outside linebackers -- a position that could see Leo Chenal sign with another team and Drue Tranquill possibly released as a cap casualty.

Prior to that, Wilson served as the Chiefs’ defensive assistant (2022-23) and assistant special teams coach (2017-19). The Cardinals are his second NFL team as an assistant coach.

Matt House, who enters his 26th year in coaching and fifth with the Chiefs, now takes over outside linebackers. The team’s senior defensive assistant in 2025, House previously served as Kansas City’s linebackers coach from 2019-21.

Brendan Daly’s title remains linebackers coach.

Departure No. 8 from Chiefs' coaching staff

Wilson is the eighth known departure from Reid’s 2025 staff, an unusually high number for the veteran head coach. That turnover includes the reported terminations of running backs coach Todd Pinkston (replaced by DeMarco Murray), wide receivers coach Connor Embree (replaced by Chad O’Shea) and assistant running backs coach Mark DeLeone.

Meanwhile, Matt Nagy’s contract expired and he left to become a play-calling offensive coordinator for John Harbaugh’s New York Giants. Reid replaced Nagy by returning Eric Bieniemy. Quality-control coach Kevin Saxton left to become offensive coordinator at Bridgewater College (replaced by Nate Pagan).

On defense, two coaches also left for other opportunities: Assistant defensive line coach Alex Whittingham departed to become linebackers coach at Michigan (replaced by Terry Bradden) and quality-control coach Louie Addazio went to UNLV as offensive line coach (replaced by C.J. Cox).

Meanwhile, in an interesting turn of events, Deland McCullough has replaced Murray as running backs coach at Oklahoma. McCullough, who coached the same role for the Chiefs from 2018-20 and spent 2025 in charge of running backs with the Las Vegas Raiders, was requested to interview for the same role with the Chiefs. Whether that request was denied by the Chiefs’ division rival is uncertain.

In the end, Reid hired Murray – a former NFL Offensive Player of the Year – and new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak on Thursday hired Omar Young from the University of Iowa to replace McCullough.

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