It seems that time has run out for Kansas City Chiefs' special teams coordinator Dave Toub. The coach simply hasn't lived up to expectations this season, running a unit that is consistently penalized and unable to understand the basics of kick coverage, when to return the ball or signal for a fair catch. On top of this, Harrison Butker has struggled, leading Toub to throw his kicker under the bus in what appeared to be an effort to defend his own failures. While there are three games left in the season, it is hard to imagine that there is anything Toub can reasonably do to change his deserved fate.
The Chiefs pushed Skyy Moore out the door partly at the behest of Toub in an effort to keep Nikko Remigio as the primary return option. This has resulted in the Chiefs ranking 17th in the league, while Moore has the San Francisco 49ers ranked 13th. While this isn't a huge gap, it points to one of the many failures of the coordinator.
Toub's unit plays sloppily without seemingly ever giving the Chiefs the benefit of creating a big play. There always appears to be a holding penalty or a lack of awareness of where you are on the field that creates awful starting field position for Patrick Mahomes and the offense. Now, the games no longer matter, and Toub simply is out of time.
Chiefs Have No Choice but to Move on From Dave Toub After 2025 Failures
Putting an already struggling offense into a hole was a glaring shortcoming that could've easily been avoided with proper coaching. Kansas City's special teams unit was sloppy and unable to meet expectations from Week 1, this cannot be changed in three weeks when the games mean nothing, and Mahomes has been lost for the rest of the season.
For Toub, the coach has an accomplished resume, spending well over two decades in the league and helping the Chiefs win three Super Bowls. With this in mind, it shouldn't be difficult for Toub to find a new landing spot. Even with his accomplished resume, however, this season's failures simply cannot be accepted if the Chiefs hope to return to dominance.
For whatever reason, it seems that the message and strategy of the coaching staff have grown stale. This includes special teams, where even the most basic tasks weren't executed at a high level. This is evidenced by the consistent penalties and mistakes that set up KC in poor field position over the last 15 weeks of the season.
As difficult as it might be to part ways with such an accomplished coach, this is a business focused on your most recent season. Toub's 2025 was an objective failure and demands change as the Chiefs look to reset and reload, hoping to put a rare failure of a season behind them.