The Kansas City Chiefs have promoted a member of their coaching staff.
After former cornerbacks coach Sam Madison left to join the Miami Dolphins coaching staff, it was clear there would be a new coach in the secondary. You’d expect the hire to come at the same position, but that wasn’t the case. The Chiefs announced on Tuesday that they had promoted defensive assistant Donald D’Alesio to safeties coach.
2021 marked D’Alesio’s first season in Kansas City after previously spending five seasons coaching at Youngstown State and the 2020 season as a defensive analyst at LSU. D’Alesio actually played safety at Youngstown State as a player from 2010 through 2014, so he’ll now be coaching the position he played.
To go from a defensive assistant job to a position coach in one season really tells you all you need to know about D’Alesio. He’s considered one of the brightest up-and-coming defensive coaches for the Chiefs.
Coaching Staff Update:
We have promoted Donald D’Alesio to Safeties Coach. He previously served as a defensive assistant for the team.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 22, 2022
This is an interesting route for Kansas City given the departure of Madison. While they didn’t announce any other changes in titles, this promotion would seem to suggest that defensive backs coach Dave Merritt will be taking a larger role in coaching the cornerbacks for the Chiefs. He already worked with nickel corners, but unless they make another hire, it seems he’ll also be working with outside corners as well.
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