Aug. 23, 2014; Kansas City, MO; Brad Childress (center) with Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (left) and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (right) before a preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs on Thursday officially announced Brad Childress and Matt Nagy will split duties as offensive coordinators.
Childress and Nagy assume the position left vacant by the departure of Doug Pederson, who earlier in the week became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Childress previously served as the spread game analyst/special projects coach since 2013, while Nagy served as the quarterbacks coach since 2013, a role Nagy will continue in addition to his new post.
“I’m fired up about the opportunity to have both these guys in that position,” coach Andy Reid said Thursday during a conference call with Chiefs beat writers, “and the continuity, maintaining continuity and stability within the offense there.”
With the promotion of both coaches, the Chiefs should have a seamless transition given the familiarization that Reid points out.
Childress served as a quarterbacks coach under Reid with the Eagles for three seasons (1999-2001), and then as an offensive coordinator for four seasons (2002-05) before becoming the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings (2006-10). He served as an offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns in 2012 before reuniting with Reid in Kansas City.
Nagy followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013 after serving as a quality control coach with the Eagles the previous two seasons (2011-12). He also served as a coaching assistant with the Eagles in 2010 and a coaching intern in training camp (2008-09).
Meanwhile, Reid allowed Pederson to call plays during the 2015 regular season and during the postseason.
But Reid left no ambiguity who will handle that duty going forward.
“I’ll call the plays,” Reid said.
Childress, who has play-calling experience, didn’t mind the responsibility remaining primarily with Reid.
“He loves to do that,” Childress said in a conference call. “That’s one of his passions, that’s one of his joys and I know that’s what he’s enjoying about doing it the way he’s doing it here.”
Reid said he is still working out how duties will be split between his co-coordinators surrounding game-week preparations, but he knows where each coach will be during a game.
“We’ll keep Brad in the box,” Reid said, “and then Matt will go ahead and come down on the field, he’ll do the coaching/quarterback headset.”
Matt Nagy of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team. (AP Photo)
While some could view two coaches holding one position as a potential problem with being on the same page, Childress said he didn’t believe it would present an issue based on coordination.
“It’s not like it’s a three-man, everyone speaking into the microphone at once when the play comes up,” Childress said. “All that stuff kind of gets worked out beforehand. Situationally, it’s on your game plan that way, you have choices on that menu. But we’re going to spend enough time together, so we’re probably going to be able to finish each other’s sentences.”
Nagy agreed with Childress in a separate conference call.
“Coach Childress and I have a fabulous relationship,” Nagy said. “We think alike, we work well together, we’ve done it the last three years. Once Coach came to us and talked to us about this, it was really exciting. It was exciting for me because I know how well I get along with Coach Childress.”
In the meantime, the Chiefs have potential holes to fill with former assistant offensive line coach Eugene Chung and coaching assistant Dino Vasso joining Pederson’s staff in Philadelphia.
Reid said he will fill Vasso’s former position, but indicated no rush to replace Chung.
“I’m going to kind of slow play that just a little bit, we’ll just see how that rolls,” Reid said. “I wanted to get this knocked out first. I’m not in a big hurry on that other side. I know (offensive line coach Andy) Heck can do it by himself if needed and so I’m going to take it from there.”
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Herbie Teope is the lead Chiefs beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com and The Topeka Capital-Journal. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @HerbieTeope.
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