ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KCTV) – Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has a new-look secondary on his hands in 2026.
Spagnuolo, who enters his eighth season in Kansas City this year, shared his excitement Thursday with reporters as he embarks on a new journey with a changing defense.
“I’m always excited to be at training camp,” Spagnuolo said, as he deals with a defense that added multiple first-round picks.”
The Chiefs secondary lost All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and his 2022 NFL Draft classmate, Jaylen Watson, to the Los Angeles Rams this spring. It also lost Bryan Cook to the Cincinnati Bengals, and saw Joshua Williams depart for the Tennessee Titans.
So a new-look defensive secondary features sixth overall pick Mansoor Delane, free agent safety Alohi Gilman, and a bigger role for second-year cornerback Nohl Williams.
“I’ve seen a change from the OTA practices to now,” Spagnuolo said of Gilman, who signed with the Chiefs after time with the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens in previous years. “In the red zone today Nohl Williams made a really big play and I saw Gil go over there, congratulate him, want to do a little dance. Just something that little can show me what he’s all about. He’s a cerebral player and that’s what we thought when we got him here.”
Gilman becomes a veteran presence in a safeties room that is also looking for third-year Jaden Hicks to step up in his role this season.
“Jaden played a lot of different spots last year,” Spagnuolo said, though Hicks only saw a defensive snap count increase from 31% as a rookie to 43% in his second year. “I told him back in OTAs that I’d like to find him one (position) that he can just hone in on and master that while we experiment with some of the other guys.”
Hicks said he learned a lot in his second season in the league, while Spagnuolo pointed to Chris Roland-Wallace as a guy who was buried on the depth chart for multiple seasons before breaking through.
“There’s definitely things to build on,” Hicks said of his second season in Kansas City. “There’s opportunity ahead. I’m ready to attack it. I can’t wait for the season and what it holds.”
Chamarri Conner, who had a rough season in man coverage a year ago, is seeing more looks as a traditional safety than in 2025, though Spagnuolo said the Virginia Tech product remains an option as a nickel cornerback if the Chiefs need him there.
“He hasn’t played as much nickel,” Spagnuolo said, “but that’s really to get some of the other guys ready. I think we can always put him back there in a pinch, but this gives him more time deep than he had last year. I still think we’ll have some flexibility with him.”
But as Spagnuolo attempts to improve upon a 2025 defense that couldn’t get off the field late in games and allowed game-winning drives in the fourth quarter of four of their 11 losses, he’ll do so bringing back one familiar veteran face.
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed returns to Kansas City in 2026 on a one-year deal, something Spagnuolo expressed immense excitement about when asked Thursday.
“You know how I feel about him,” Spagnuolo said with a smile about the 29-year-old who returns after two injury-plagued seasons with the Titans. “It’s like having a son come back. Now he’s in the ramp up and he hasn’t really been out there, but when you see him in the jog throughs against ourselves, you can see it’s coming back.”
Sneed had a standout 2023 season for the Chiefs and made critical plays in the playoffs — including a forced fumble against the Baltimore Ravens — that helped bring Kansas City a third Super Bowl home in the Andy Reid era.
“I love the way LJ, Nick (Bolton), Drue (Tranquil), and Chamarri, I love the way they interact,” Spagnuolo said. “They were together for those number of years when we were playing really well, so hopefully we can find that same ingredient.”
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