Chiefs: Daly Quotes From Coach Daly – If you were a team looking for a defensive lineman coach, and I told you I could make one available to you who had just helped his team win three out of the last four Super Bowls, would you be interested? You’d probably be beside yourself and thrilled that your Kansas City Chiefs would even be in play for such a coach, with that kind of resume. Well, that coach is Brendan Daly but his decision to leave the Patriots and jump to the Chiefs wasn’t easy.
Last year, Daly describes his decision to leave the Patriots to the Boston Herald:
“I had no desire or anticipation to leave New England. I really didn’t and to be honest, it was a very difficult decision for me. That’s a hard place to leave. It really was, particularly after the success we had there and the relationships and the people, but there were a number of things that lined up all at the same time that led me here.”
After Daly made the move, he was asked if he would have stayed with New England if he had been offered the Defensive Coordinator’s position? If said: “I don’t want to deal in hypotheticals.”
The possibility that Brendan Daly could one day be the DC for an NFL team seems likely. He’s worked on both sides of the ball in his coaching career and served as a Defensive Assistant. At 44 years of age, that means he could one day become a Head Coach, but for now, the Chiefs players are happy he’s here and he has credibility like no one else. 17 year NFL veteran, Terrell Suggs, who signed late in the season and revealed how Daly helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV. Suggs said of Daly:
“He made us watch all the screens.
He just knew it.”
Of course he did… he’s been there before and knows the tendencies of every team’ offense. The transition from the Pats to the Chiefs was not to be without its challenges and Daly recognized that was the case:
“This is a challenge in another way. In terms of working with a new scheme, working with new players, developing relationships….”
2020 Revealed?
Looking back, it’s amazing to think that the Chiefs defense helped to deliver a Super Bowl title in the first season under a new regime… and that includes Coach Daly. If the scheme, players and relationships were solidified in year one, what’s to come in year two and beyond?
It begins with goal setting. Brendan Daly said:
“I think that’s my goal each and every day:
to come into the office and get better.”
A better defense than in 2019? That seems all the more likely with Brendan Daly helping to guide the young Chiefs D. Consider what he said about first year defensive tackle Khalen Saunders who started out slowly then came on strong in the last half of the season. Daly on Saunders in week 9 of 2019:
“Khalen’s done a nice job. I’ve been pleased with him and his sense of urgency and how he’s stepped up. He’s got progress to make, he knows that. He’s not a ready made and finished product by any means, but happy with the effort he’s put forward and the improvement that’s been made.”
While its common knowledge that Steve Spagnuolo has helped a team win a Super Bowl before — the NY Giants over the NE Patriots in Super Bowl XLII — not many fans recognize how crucial Daly’s contributions have been during the more recent past. The familiarity Daly has with the Chiefs current system and players should be a huge plus this year along the DL. As Derrick Nnadi had an uptick in his performance in his second season, we should also see an improvement for Khalen Saunders in his year two, in 2020.
So, what does Daly say about a guy like Breeland Speaks who spent his first year in Bob Sutton’s disaster of a defense and spent all of last season on the Injured Reserve List because of a sprained MCL in September? Here’s Daly on Breeland:
“Breeland’s done a nice job in terms of his rehab. In terms of working post-surgery, he’s had some good time in terms of recovery. We’ll see, I’ve got high expectations for him. The third year [which Speaks will be in during 2020) is a year when guys kind of define themselves in a lot of instances. So, hopefully, we’re going to see that out of Breeland. I’ve got great anticipation for what we’re going to see out of him when we get back on the field.”
Daly appears to practice what he preaches. Maybe that’s why he get such respect from players.
How about a newby to K.C. like Taco Charlton? What does Daly say about his input this year?
“We’ve had him for a couple for weeks. It’s probably a little bit early to make some of those judgements based on not having seen him move around at all with him on the field. He’s done a great job in our meeting settings. I’ve been impressed with his work ethic in terms of trying to learn the system and get up to speed with our vocabulary, terminology, and on the same page with the rest of the group.”
Brendan Daly is a position coach at the top of his game. Handling a player like Chris Jones who is in the middle of a contract disagreement with the Chiefs has to be as big a challenge as he will face, even though he’s not the one in charge of that. Daly says of CJ:
“Chris and I have had a great relationship and I’ve had a couple of conversations with him over the course of the offseason here. I’m not going to get into the details of that and he’s got his contract situation going on and I trust that Brett Veach and his staff are handling that side of thing and I just kind of leave it there.”
Recently, Daly also had this to say about new draft pick, Mike Danna:
“It’s been really good to get to know him. I’ve been impressed with his work ethic. I’ve been impressed with the way he has studied. The time he’s spent on his own, the questions that he’s asked, give you a very good feeling about where he’s at and the effort that he’s putting into this situation. I’m excited to get him on the field and see what that looks like. I’ve been really happy how that’s gone so far, up to this point.”
If Brendan Daly says he’s happy, so am I. Mike Danna is the one draft pick this year that has had me consistently befuddled. IOW, I don’t know why Veach selected someone who appears to be a 3-4 OLB to work in Spags 4-3 as a DE. When Danna was drafted, Daly said, “He’s a very smart, tough football player, who’s going to come in and compete.” If Daly had any input on the selection of Danna, I’m satisfied. Even if he didn’t… I’m happy that he’s happy.
So, what do his players think of him? Frank Clark spells that out:
While Brendan Daly has worked with Steve Spagnuolo before, they didn’t always produce Super Bowl results together. From 2009-to-2011 they both worked with the St. Louis Rams and went, 1-and-15, 7-and-9, and 2-and-14. Apparently, they have both learned a lot since then. Daly says of the opportunity to work with Spags again:
“It’s been awesome. It’s been a really good relationship, and I’ve had a lot of respect for him for a long period of time, and we’ve obviously worked together before. It’s been a good opportunity for both of us, I think.”
Of course, Steve Spagnuolo was the Head Coach of those Rams teams so now the two of them can return to what I see as their best coaching positions. Plus, Spags says it’s nice to have Daly here so he can pick his brain (presumably about his Patriots days). The confluence has worked out quite nicely for the K.C. Chiefs and their fans.
If you’re not out here giving maximum effort and
everything you’ve got, then we’ve got a problem.
– Brendan Daly
If I had to choose one defensive coach who was most responsible for the Chiefs winning Super Bowl LIV, it would be Brendan Daly. That’s reason enough to pay attention to what he says… and he’s saying the Chiefs currently have quality competition and depth along the DL plus, he credits Brett Veach and his staff for that. Good enough, let’s #runitback
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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