Kansas City Chiefs could lose key man to San Francisco 49ers, talks begin

Add as preferred source on Google

The Kansas City Chiefs could lose one of their defensive masterminds to an NFC team in the near future.

Dave Merritt has been the Chiefs’ defensive backs coach since 2019 when they won their second Super Bowl in franchise history.

The 52-year-old is interviewing for the vacant defensive coordinator job with the San Francisco 49ers.

Dave Merritt’s background

Before getting into coaching, Merritt had a brief professional football career in the early 90s.

The Miami Dolphins drafted the linebacker in the seventh round in 1993.

His time in South Beach was short-lived, joining the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals from 1993-95 before finishing his playing career with the Rhein Fire in Germany in 1997.

He became the outside linebackers’ coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga that same year before serving in various other roles until 2000.

Merritt’s NFL coaching resume

Merritt began his NFL coaching journey in 2001, serving as defensive assistant and linebackers’ coach with the New York Jets until 2003.

From there, he served in various coaching capacities with the Giants from 2004 until 2017, as a defensive assistant to a linebackers’ coach, while also coaching the secondary and safeties.

During his early days with the Giants, his coordinator was Steve Spagnuolo causing one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in 2007, ruining the New England Patriots’ perfect season.

He’d help the Giants win another Super Bowl in 2011.

After a temporary return to Arizona as defensive backs coach in 2018, Merritt and Spags reunited in 2019, winning three Super Bowls together in KC.

Paying his due

When speaking about his potential promotion in San Francisco, he had some sound advice about paying your dues.

“A lot of guys think the grass is greener on the other side, and then all of a sudden, you can go chase the money. But I’ve always told my young coaches that are around me you want years of service. Years of service is more important than money, because money is going to come and go. It’s fleeting.”

“One of the things that my wife Yolanda and I spoke about decades ago was that, no matter what, I wasn’t going to pursue any type of coordinator job while my kids were young,” said Merritt.

That moment could now arrive for Mettitt as his kids are 33, 27 and 25.

Players who have thrived under Merritt

Under the tutelage of Merritt, many Chiefs have developed into elite players.

Charvarius Ward won a Super Bowl with KC in 2019, and he’s coming off his first Pro Bowl selection with San Fran this past season.

Trent McDuffie earned First-team All-Pro in KC in 2023, and L’Jarius Sneed didn’t concede a single TD until the Super Bowl this season.

Other alums under Merritt’s include Rashad Fenton, Bryan Cook, Jaylen Watson, Joshua William and Chamarri Connor.

What KC will be missing if he leaves

Spagnuolo has big shoes to fill if Merrit joins the 49ers.

The Chiefs were second in yards allowed during the 2023 campaign.

His secondary gave up the fourth-fewest yards per game last season.