On January 22 — just two days after the Kansas City Chiefs concluded their 2018 season with a 37-31 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship — the Chiefs fired defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. Just two days after that, the Chiefs hired Steve Spagnuolo to replace him.
As anyone would expect after a change at coordinator, a flurry of other coaching changes followed. On February 7, the Chiefs hired Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line coach Dave Merritt as defensive backs coach. On February 9, the Chiefs hired Patriots defensive line coach Brendan Daly as defensive line coach.