Brendan Daly made the perfect jump from dynasty to dynasty, now he’s heading to his ninth Super Bowl in 11 seasons.
The former New England Patriots coach, now a linebackers coach for the Kansas City, punched his ticket to yet another Super Bowl after his Chiefs beat the Bills in the AFC Championship Game.
The 49-year-old is a six-time Super Bowl champion and could add another ring to his collection when the Chiefs take on the Eagles in a couple of weeks.
How did Daly pull it off? It started in 2014, when he left the Vikings to join the Patriots as a defensive assistant and later a defensive line coach. Daly stayed in New England from 2014-2018, just enough time to make the most of the team making four Super Bowls in five years (winning three).
In 2019, he became the run game coordinator/defensive line coach in Kansas City. That year also marked the first time the Chiefs made (and won) a Super Bowl during the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid run.
The Chiefs have now made the Super Bowl in five of the past six seasons — and Daly has been there for all of them.
Daly timed the Jump from Foxborough to KC perfectly. But why did he leave?
“I had no desire or anticipation to leave New England. I really didn’t,” Daly said back in 2020. “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.”
Since 2013, Daly has only failed to make the Super Bowl twice. The first was in 2015, when the Patriots lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game by just two points. The second was in 2022, when the Chiefs lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-27 in overtime.
For those keeping score: That means Daly has been five points away from making it to the Super Bowl 11 years in a row.
Daly, who went from D-line coach to LBs coach in 2022, could climb further up the coaching ladder soon. Last year, he was reportedly a candidate for the Giants’ defensive coordinator job. Meanwhile, he was a possible candidate for promotion in Kansas City if the team’s current DC, Steve Spagnuolo, had landed a head coaching gig elsewhere.
