The Kansas City Chiefs are at home, stuck watching the postseason for the first time in over a decade, leading to some changes on the coaching staff. Special teams was an area that fans were expecting a change, but that wasn't the case.
Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star reported that the Chiefs made four changes to the staff, including letting go of RBs coach Todd Pinkston and WRs coach Connor Embree. Meanwhile, Louie Addazio left to take the OL job at UNLV, and Alex Whittingham joined the University of Michigan's staff.
There were no other changes announced, signaling that the special team's coordinator, David Toub, will remain in charge. And after how the 2025 season panned out on his unit, that seems to be a bad idea.
Chiefs Appear to Keep David Toub Around for 2026 Season
Kansas City's special teams unit consistently underwhelmed during the 2025 campaign. Whether it came as a result of penalties, poor field positioning, or even struggles from kicker Harrison Butker, it wasn't pretty for the Chiefs. On the campaign, he was 33-of-38 (86.8 percent) on field goal attempts, while going 31-of-35 (88.6 percent) on extra point attempts.
His extra point numbers were the lowest of his career, and his field-goal percentage increased by just 2.8 percent compared to his 84 percent in 2024.
It didn't help his case that he was a voice that led to the Chiefs moving on from Skyy Moore, allowing him to sign with the San Francisco 49ers. That move was made in an effort to get Nikko Remigio on the field more. Instead, the move didn't go as planned, with the 49ers finishing seventh in kickoff return average (27.16), while the Chiefs checked in at 13th (26.17).
During the 2025 season, Moore averaged 27.4 kickoff return yards, up from his 18.6 average with the Kansas City Chiefs. It seemed like the change of scenery and a new voice coaching him up paid dividends. As for Remigio, he averaged 25.5 kickoff yards per return before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
This is just another example of why the Chiefs' special teams dipped this past season and why fans were asking for a change. Special teams used to be a strength for this team, but that may be behind them.
Having a subpar special teams can tank you on game day. Issues such as ill-timed penalties, bad field positioning, and missed kicks will hurt the team. The Chiefs can't afford to have this unit be underwhelming again in 2026.
It'll need to be an all-hands-on-deck approach, especially with Patrick Mahomes returning from a torn ACL. It remains to be seen if they still decide to keep Toub around, but if they do, fans certainly won't be thrilled with the decision.