The Chicago born, 33-year-old Chiefs quarterback coach, Michael John Kafka, is drawing buzz for a potential head coach position in 2021.
The young coach left the NFL in 2015 to become first an offensive graduate assistant at Northwestern University before getting hired by one of the best NFL coach Andy Reid in Kansas City in 2017.
Since then, he had earned the praises of Andy Reid, who always talks highly about his quarterback coach.
Mike Kafka has plenty of experience as a quarterback in the NFL and has had the opportunity to learn loads of different schemes which enriched him for his coaching experience.
He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2010, and Kafka was expected to be the team’s third-string quarterback behind Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick. Eagles former head coach Andy Reid (him again) said of Kafka, “I think once you meet him, I think you’ll see he’s a smart guy. He has some of the intangible things – the leadership, he’s a tough kid. Inner-city, Chicago kid. He’s got a little grit to him. I think that’s important. You have to be wired right to handle you guys and play in the city of Philadelphia. I think he’s wired right. He likes to compete.”
In total, he played for seven different teams in the NFL. Sure, he did not become the successful quarterback, the face of a franchise, but eventually he had enough intelligence to put his quarterback experience to the test coaching young players.
With the nice work he has done with Patrick Mahomes, MVP in 2018 and Super Bowl MVP the next season, the Philadelphia Eagles expressed interest in interviewing Kafka for the team’s vacant offensive coordinator position in 2020, but Kafka stayed with the Chiefs for the 2020 season instead after Reid blocked the Eagles from pursuing him further.
Should Bieniemy, another KC coach, accept a head coach position next season, being Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator would be a great promotion for this young man. Reid’s affinity for Kafka is well known and he has told associates how valuable he is to the team’s offensive production. Being offensive coordinator under the helm of one of the best would be a great opportunity for Kafka unless he hears the sirens of a Head Coach position somewhere in the league.