The Kansas City Chiefs had an average age of 26 years, 11 months, and 17 days old last season, making them one of the youngest teams the National Football League has to offer. However, Father Time keeps on ticking on, and retirement comes sooner than expected for certain players and personnel.
At the beginning of the month, longtime punter for Kansas City, Dustin Calquitt, signed a one-day contract to officially retire as a Chief. Just a handful of days later, the franchise announced that their assistant special teams coach, Andy Hill, would be joining Calquitt in retirement.
“Hill served as the Assistant Special Teams Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs from the 2020 season through the 2024 season. During his tenure, he contributed to two Super Bowl wins and four total Super Bowl appearances,” the Chiefs wrote on behalf of Hill.
Before joining the Chiefs organization, Hill was with the University of Missouri for 24 seasons, making him the longest tenured coach in the program’s history. Porter Ellett will slide into the assistant special teams coach position, following Hill’s retirement. Mark DeLeone, former linebackers coach for the Chiefs, returns to KC and takes over Ellett’s old role as assistant RB coach, as reported.
With a member of the franchise that had a hand in leading the Chiefs to both Super Bowl victories and appearances, the franchise is hopeful that the newest coaches in their positions will bring as much success to Kansas City moving forward.
Before his promotion, Ellett spent three seasons as an offensive quality control coach (2020-22) after serving three seasons as the senior assistant to the head coach from 2017 to 19. Seeing as though the Chiefs have had success with their special team in the past, perhaps the loss of Hill won’t be felt too hard.
While the loss of coach Hill may impact some now, the Chiefs still have a ton to get underway ahead of the 2025 campaign. With the final phase of OTAs to conclude soon and mandatory minicamp just around the corner, celebrations for coach Hill have to be short. At the end of the day, the Chiefs still have a job to do.
