Kansas City Chiefs: Top 5 Assistant Coaches In Chiefs History

Katy resident Tom Bettis (left) earned a Super Bowl IV ring when he coached for the Kansas City Chiefs. Above, he served as defensive coordinator before his …

Number 3: Tom Bettis

Tom Bettis spent 12 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs as defensive coordinator. He was one of the architects of that dominating defense through out the late 60’s and early 70’s that the Chiefs had.

He and Hank Stram were two of the best, as Stram handled the offense with his innovative shifts and routes that were designed to confuse defenses, while Bettis helped scheme, and build, a defense that was nearly impenetrable. In 1977, Bettis stepped in as an interim head coach for the Chiefs after the firing of head coach Paul Wiggin. Bettis would go just 1-6 in the 7 games he head coached, and would eventually step down from Kansas City ending that 12 year run.

He returned to Kansas City in 1988 as the defensive backs coach but, that only lasted one season as Marty Schottenheimer was hired the next year and brought in his own staff. Bettis makes my list at number three because of his long tenure, and being the only defensive coordinator to win a Super Bowl with the Chiefs.