With Doug Pederson officially off to Philadelphia as the Eagles’ new head coach, the Chiefs are promoting from within, and will install assistant coach Brad Childress as their new offensive coordinator, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
[RELATED: Eagles hire Doug Pederson as head coach]
Childress, who began his coaching career back in 1978 at the University of Illinois, served as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator from 2003 to 2005 before becoming head coach of the Vikings. Childress returned to an offensive coordinator role for the Browns in 2012, and has been a part of Kansas City’s staff since 2013.
The Chiefs’ official website, which refers to Childress as the club’s spread game analyst and special projects coach, suggests that the veteran coach has played “a critical role in helping the club prepare for its upcoming opponents,” and has proved to be “a vital asset and a creative mind for the franchise.”
Andy Reid indicated on Sunday that Pederson’s replacement would be an in-house candidate, and Childress always seemed to be the most logical internal choice. However, there was some speculation that he might end up in Philadelphia as Pederson’s offensive coordinator.
Peter King of TheMMQB.com suggested this morning that quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy looked like another candidate for a promotion to OC, and Rapoport tweeted today that running backs coach Eric Bieniemy was a “name to watch” for the job, calling him one of the most highly-respected position coaches in the league.
Instead, it’ll be Childress, who will take over an offense that performed surprisingly well this season after the loss of Jamaal Charles. Although the Chiefs ranked 30th in passing yards per game (203.4) and 27th in overall yards per contest (331.2), they placed within the top 10 in rushing yards per game (127.8) and points per game (25.3).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
