KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Tuesday that Head Coach Andy Reid and Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo have finalized the club's defensive coaching staff for the 2019 season. Below is a complete look at the defensive staff additions and changes.
Defensive Coaching Staff
Steve Spagnuolo – Defensive Coordinator
Brendan Daly – Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line
Matt House – Linebackers
Dave Merritt – Defensive Backs
Sam Madison – Defensive Backs/Cornerbacks
Britt Reid – Linebackers/Outside Linebackers
Terry Bradden – Defensive Quality Control
Alex Whittingham – Defensive Assistant
"After a thorough process, we are happy to finalize our defensive coaching staff." Reid said. "All of these coaches are familiar with Steve, love the game and are good teachers that have had success in their careers. I'm looking forward to working with this group."
Brendan Daly begins his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 as the club's Run Game Coordinator/ Defensive Line Coach after four seasons as the Defensive Line Coach for the New England Patriots. Daly was hired in New England in 2014 as a Defensive Coaching Assistant before being promoted to Defensive Line Coach in 2015. Before his time with the Patriots, Daly had two stints with the Minnesota Vikings as a Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line Coach (2006-08) and Defensive Line Coach (2012-13). Daly also spent three seasons (2009-11) with Chiefs Defensive Coordinator and then-Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo as the Defensive Line Coach in St. Louis. Before breaking into the NFL ranks, Daly had multiple stops coaching in college including Villanova (1999, 2005), Oklahoma State (2001-03) and his first job at Drake University, his alma mater. He has coached in four Super Bowls, winning three of them, and five AFC Championships. Daly played tight end in college and earned a bachelor's degree in history.
Matt House will begin his first season as Linebackers Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. Before joining the Chiefs staff, House served on the University of Kentucky staff for three seasons (2016-18), the latter two as Defensive Coordinator/Insider Linebackers Coach. House's defenses anchored a Kentucky team that reached three-straight bowl games for the first time since 2007 through 2009 and culminated in a 27-24 victory over Penn State in the 2019 Camping World Bowl. In his first year with the Wildcats, House served as the Special Teams Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach. Before his time in Lexington, Kentucky, House spent time as a Defensive Coordinator at Pittsburgh (2012-14) and Florida International (2015). Before his college experiences, House spent four seasons in the NFL as Defensive Quality Control/Assistant Linebackers Coach for the St. Louis Rams (2009-11) and Special Teams/Strength and Conditioning Assistant for the Carolina Panthers (2008).
Dave Merritt enters his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 as the Defensive Backs Coach. He joins Kansas City after spending last season as the Defensive Backs Coach with the Arizona Cardinals. Before coaching in Arizona, Merritt spent 14 seasons with the New York Giants, where he was a Defensive Assistant (2004-05) and Secondary/Safeties Coach (2006-17), winning Super Bowls XLII and XLVI. With the Giants, Merritt worked under Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Merritt entered the NFL as a Defensive Assistant and Linebackers Coach with the New York Jets (2001-03) following two stops coaching at the collegiate level, including Tennessee-Chattanooga (1997) and Virginia Military Institute (1998-2000). Merritt played linebacker in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins (1993) and Arizona Cardinals (1993-95), and collegiately for North Carolina State.
Sam Madison will enter his first NFL season with the Chiefs in 2019 as the Defensive Backs/Cornerbacks Coach. Madison played cornerback in the National Football League for 12 seasons, the first nine with the Miami Dolphins (1997-2005). Following his time in Miami, Madison played three seasons with the New York Giants (2006-08), two of which came under Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and all three under Defensive Backs Coach David Merritt. During their time together, Madison, Spagnuolo and Merritt won Super Bowl XLII. Over the course of his career, Madison appeared in 173 games (154 starts) and tallied 38 INTs and 130 breakups. He was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round (44th overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played his college football at the University of Louisville.
Britt Reid enters his seventh season with the Chiefs in 2019 and will serve as the Linebackers/Outside Linebackers Coach. Reid spent the previous three seasons as the Defensive Line Coach (2016-18). Under Reid's guidance, Chiefs DL Chris Jones earned the AFC's Defensive Player of the Month award for the month of October last season and had an NFL record streak of 11 consecutive games with at least 1.0 sack. Reid has also served as Assistant Defensive Line Coach (2015) and Defensive Quality Control Coach (2013-14) for the Chiefs. Prior to joining Kansas City, Reid spent three seasons at Temple University (2010-12) working with the offense. In 2009, he was a training camp coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, and in 2008, he was an assistant offensive line coach at St. Joseph's Preparatory in Philadelphia.
Terry Bradden will enter his third NFL season with the Chiefs in 2019 as a Defensive Quality Control Coach. Bradden joined the Chiefs as the Defensive Assistant (2017) from Bethune-Cookman University where he served as the Quarterbacks Graduate Assistant. Prior to his time in Daytona Beach, he spent the 2015 season as the Head Coach of his alma mater, Inlet Grove High School. During the 2014 season, he was the Quality Control Special Teams Coach at Florida Atlantic University. He played quarterback for three seasons at Howard University (2009-11) before transferring to Tuskegee University (2011-13) where he graduated.
Alex Whittingham enters his second season as a Defensive Assistant with the Chiefs. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Whittingham appeared in 44 games at linebacker for the University of Utah (2013-17). At Utah, he was a three-time honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
