The Kansas City Chiefs are increasingly preparing for the possibility that their offensive staff will look different in 2026.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs amid growing belief around the league that his expiring contract in Kansas City may not be renewed.
That uncertainty matters for a franchise built on continuity and precision. The Chiefs do not appear to have a clear internal successor ready to step into the role. Passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier and quarterbacks coach David Girardi are the only realistic in-house options, but neither would represent a seamless or obvious transition for a team chasing championships year after year.
One name that fits the moment, both historically and stylistically, is Jon Gruden.
Gruden’s connection to the Chiefs is not direct, but it is layered. His professional path has crossed repeatedly with head coach Andy Reid, and those intersections trace back to a formative chapter in NFL coaching history.
In 1992, the Green Bay Packers reset their organisation under new head coach Mike Holmgren. Holmgren assembled a staff that included Reid and Gruden, then young assistants helping to shape what would become one of the league’s most influential coaching trees.
That group played a key role in stabilising the Packers and setting the stage for long-term success, aided by the acquisition of quarterback Brett Favre. Though Reid and Gruden eventually went their separate ways, the professional respect forged during those years never disappeared.
Gruden’s ties to Kansas City extend further. Earlier in his career, he coached under former Chiefs offensive coordinator Paul Hackett at the University of Pittsburgh, adding another strand to his connection with the organisation’s offensive lineage. Over time, those shared roots have kept Gruden loosely tethered to the Reid coaching universe.
Why Gruden remains a complicated but intriguing option
After Green Bay, Reid and Gruden followed parallel paths through the league. Both earned head coaching opportunities in the late 1990s and both won Super Bowls during their second stints as head coaches, Gruden with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Any potential return to an NFL sideline, however, would come with unavoidable baggage. Gruden resigned from his second stint with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after emails containing inappropriate language were made public.
He later filed a lawsuit against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league, a case that remains unresolved. That history would bring scrutiny to any hiring decision and ensure that a move like this would not go unnoticed.
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