Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach Brendan Daly leaves the field after the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
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After the 2018 NFL season, defensive line coach Brendan Daly seemingly made a curious move.
He left the reigning champion — and six-time Super Bowl winners — New England Patriots for the exact same position on another team.
“It was a situation that was very unique. The kind of stars aligned on a number of different levels,” Daly exclusively shared. “I didn’t have any intention of leaving New England. I didn’t have any desire. I was very happy with what we had going on there.”
But the opportunity to become the defensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs was appealing because it represented a homecoming for his wife, Keely.
She grew up in the Waldo area in Kansas City, Mo., and the Dalys live only about 10 streets away in the Brookside area.
“My wife is from Kansas City, and so at the end of the day, it was an opportunity for me to move my family closer to family and let my kids grow up near their grandparents,” Daly said. “And ultimately that is what swung it.”
They were even able to send their children to the grade school (St. Elizabeth School) and high school (St. Teresa’s Academy) that Keely attended.
Another reason, of course, that Kansas City was an alluring destination was because the Patrick Mahomes-led team was clearly on the rise.
“I wouldn’t have done it for one of the other 30 teams in the league,” Daly said. “Part of it also coincided with Kansas City being really good at that time and having this hotshot, young quarterback.”
In Daly’s first season with the Chiefs, they won the Super Bowl. It was just Mahomes’ second year as a starting quarterback.
Fast forward to 2025, and he’s been able to coach in an astounding nine Super Bowls.
“It’s crazy,” Daly said.
He’s won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was another connection to Kansas City.
Daly also spent three seasons (2009-11) with the then-Rams head coach in St. Louis.
While under Spagnuolo in Kansas City, he spent his first four seasons coaching the defensive line just like he did in St. Louis and New England.
But in 2022 he transitioned to linebackers coach to pave the way for Joe Cullen to join the team as defensive line coach.
While coaching the linebackers, Daly, who also specializes in helping the Chiefs defend the play-action pass and early-down, dropback passes, has formed a bond with Nick Bolton, the middle linebacker the Chiefs signed to a three-year, $45 million contract extension this season.
Bolton described Daly as a players’ coach who emphasizes competition, intelligence and physicality while tailoring his scheme to each individual linebacker.
“(He) understands that everybody’s not the same. So he gives you different schools and keys based off your size and your style of play,” Bolton said. “He is a great coach.”
Before coaching Bolton and the Chiefs, Daly, who originally joined New England as a defensive coaching assistant in 2014, spent 2015-18 as the Patriots defensive line coach. In those four seasons, his defensive line was a part of a defense that was top 10 in stopping the run while going to three Super Bowls.
“(I) loved working there, have a lot of fond memories,” Daly said. “It was a great experience”