Kansas City Chiefs: Separating the linebackers coaches in 2018

The Kansas City Chiefs are splitting up their linebacker coaching responsibilities in 2018, and it could be very successful.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be changing it up with their coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball in 2018. Under defensive coordinator, Bob Sutton’s 3-4 defensive scheme, inside and outside linebackers have very different responsibilities. Given the difference of the two positions, the Chiefs thought it best to try and have a coach for the inside linebackers and a separate coach for the outside.

Making this change will not be new for the coaching staff including both linebackers coaches and Bob Sutton. In 2012 when Sutton was spending his last season with the New York Jets, they ran a system just like it. Sutton worked under then head coach Rex Ryan and was the assistant head coach while also working with the inside linebackers.

The Jets also promoted defensive intern Mike Smith to take charge of the outside linebackers that season. Smith was the Chiefs assistant defensive line coach last season and will now coach the outside linebackers as he did in New York. Former Jets defensive quality control coach Mark Deleone will now take charge of the inside linebackers coach in Kansas City.

All three coaches including Sutton, Smith, and Deleone have worked together during their time in New York and are bringing that coaching formula to Kansas City. I personally am excited to see the change considering the difference in the positions between the linebackers and think it will help give the coaches more time to coach and develop the linebackers group.

More from Kansas City Chiefs

I am not the only one who is excited about the change as coaches and players of the Kansas City Chiefs have expressed their thoughts on the move. One player that spoke about the new coaching change is outside linebacker Justin Houston.

"“I think it is great just to have an outside linebackers coach,” linebacker Justin Houston said during the first week of OTA practices. “There’s so much we get to do now just focusing on ourselves and the little things we need to work on.”"

Before 2018, the Chiefs linebackers were all together in one room. Given the difference in the positions, players were spending the little amount of time they had with the group having to sit and wait to hear more about their position. The inside linebackers had to wait while the coach worked with the outside linebackers and the same for the outside linebackers when the coach was working with the inside guys.

Splitting up the two groups of linebackers will allow the coaches to focus on what that position needs to work on solely. It will let the coaches have more time with their players in hopes of more development. When I heard about the change, I wondered if the lack of separate groups could be one reason why we have seen little progress from outside linebacker Dee Ford.

Over the last four seasons with the Chiefs, Ford has yet to show much development or improvement. He is a good pass rusher, but highly inconsistent. Ford has yet to develop any new pass rushing moves outside of his bull rush which he is undersized for in the Chiefs defense if you ask me.

Allowing Mike Smith to have more time with that group could be tremendous for the 2018 season. Justin Houston has been in dire need of help from the other side. With Dee Ford being injured for significant parts of the last two seasons, the Chiefs have had to deploy backup outside linebacker Frank Zombo.

Kansas City has two young outside linebackers that could step into a more prominent role in 2018. With the 2017 second-round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon and the 2018 second-round pick Breeland Speaks, Ford will have to improve significantly to see a great deal of playing time this season. He will undoubtedly have to prove better against the run game if he wants to be a three-down linebacker.

Smith will have more time to work with Kpassagnon and Speaks as both spent most of their time at the defensive end position and are raw talents coming out of college. We saw some development from Kpassagnon last season when looking at his preseason film and comparing it to his Week 17 film. Will he take charge or will the rookie get more time opposite of Houston?

The inside linebacker group having their own coach coming into the 2018 season is just as crucial for the defense. Kansas City traded for inside linebacker Reggie Ragland late in the preseason last year. He wasn’t a full-time linebacker till later in the season and was still a rotating piece. Sutton tried just about every rotation of players in 2017 to help slow down the bleed in the middle without too much success.

After letting go of longtime Chiefs inside linebacker Derrick Johnson this offseason, the team brought in former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens. Both Ragland and Hitchens are relatively new to the defense going into 2018 and will need all the coaching they can get as the Chiefs try and get the defense back on track.

Next: The 5 major moves that Brett Veach completed in his first full offseason

I’m a huge fan of Ragland and what we saw from him last year. I think he will improve his role and play in 2018 and having a guy like Hitchens next to him will be a significant step forward from the inside linebacker situation last season. Now we have to wait and see how the linebackers group looks come the regular season.

Home/Kansas City Chiefs