5 replacements for Bob Sutton as Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator

3. Jack Del Rio

After a disappointing 2017 season, and being fired for Jon Gruden, Del Rio sat out of coaching and collected Mark Davis’ money this year. But a return to coaching seems imminent, and the Cincinnati Bengals are reportedly interested in making him defensive coordinator under incoming new head coach Zac Taylor.

But Taylor cannot officially be hired for two more weeks, as he’s otherwise occupied as quarterbacks coach for the Super Bowl-bound Los Angeles Rams. So absent a formal, not yet-public agreement already in place with Del Rio to be defensive coordinator for the Bengals, there’s an opportunity for another team to swoop in.

In four total seasons as a defensive coordinator, one with the Carolina Panthers (2002) and three with the Denver Broncos (2012-2014), Del Rio helmed three defenses that finished in the top-10 in yardage allowed, four top-10 run defenses and three top-10 pass defenses. He was a linebackers coach prior to that lone season as coordinator in Carolina, after playing the position at a solid level in the NFL, with 12 total seasons as a head coach too.

If he’s left to choose between Cincinnati and Kansas City, it would be a no-brainer for Del Rio. If not for the Bengals effectively putting themselves first in line to hire him, he’d be higher on this list to replace Sutton in Kansas City.