With Matt Nagy receiving interview requests for head coaching opportunities just days after the regular season ended, the Kansas City Chiefs could be looking for a new offensive coordinator.
The Chiefs are entering a pivotal offseason after a disappointing 2025 campaign, which could set them up for success not only in 2026 but in the future. However, the Chiefs have to nail their player personnel moves and coaching hires.
Kansas City supporters weren’t exactly pleased with Nagy’s offense over the last two years, so the fan base would welcome a new voice to bring some excitement and electricity to the offense that was missing in 2025.
As of right now, it's hard to say who the Chiefs could even entertain as a potential replacement for Nagy at the OC spot. However, Mike McDaniel might be the perfect hire for Andy Reid and the Chiefs and is now available on the open market after the Dolphins fired McDaniel following four seasons with the club, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Mike McDaniel Is Immediate Upgrade over Matt Nagy as Chiefs’ OC
The Dolphins failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season under McDaniel, finishing with a 7-10 record in 2025. With the head coaching pool already loaded with big-time names, McDaniel could be the perfect OC for a team like the Chiefs, where he could rehab his stock and jump back into the mix in 2027.
Before landing the Dolphins’ head coaching job in 2022, McDaniel spent one season (2021) as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator after previously holding the title of run game coordinator.
In his lone season as the offensive coordinator in San Francisco, the 49ers were ranked 13th in scoring (25.1 points per game), 12th in passing (248.3 yards per game), and seventh in rushing (127.4 yards per game).
When he got to the Dolphins, McDaniel had them ranked within the top-10 in yards and top-12 in scoring in his first two years.
Things slowly fell apart over the last two years because of injuries. Despite that, you couldn’t take away from the fact that McDaniel utilized the speed he had at skill positions and used various motion plays to get guys open.
What’s one thing we know the Chiefs have on offense? It’s speed at the skill positions. Now, would McDaniel have to freshen up his offense, as some teams figured it out? Yes. That said, Kansas City would be the perfect spot to try different things on offense and bring back some creativity to an offense that desperately needs it.