University of Delaware Athletics
From Delaware to NFL Dynasty
2/9/2024 10:02:00 AM | Football
NEWARK, Del. – For the fourth time in five seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing on the biggest stage in sports having won three-straight playoff games, including two on the road, to advance to Super Bowl LVIII this Sunday in Las Vegas. A trio of Blue Hens have played a significant role in the NFL's most recent dynasty with general manager Brett Veach, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier in the Chiefs' successes.
Veach was promoted to Kansas City's general manager in July 2017 after having been a part of the front office for four seasons. He was hired by the Chiefs' current head coach, Andy Reid, in 2004 when he was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Veach started as a coaching intern and eventually made his way into the scouting department before following Reid to Kansas City in 2013 and joining the front office.
He is widely known for being instrumental in the Chiefs drafting Patrick Mahomes in 2017 and was promoted to general manager soon after that draft. Since Veach became the general manager, the Chiefs have won 85 regular season games and won the AFC West in all seven seasons. While Veach has pressed all of the right buttons to ensure the Chiefs success over the past seven seasons, arguably his most prosperous moves were retaining a pair of Blue Hens in Bleymaier and Nagy.
Bleymaier and Veach missed each other by a year at Delaware as Veach graduated in 2001 and Bleymaier first donned the Blue & Gold in 2002. He was already on Kansas City's coaching staff when Veach took over as general manager, having been hired by Reid the year before as an offensive quality control coach. He became a game analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2018 and served in that capacity until becoming the wide receivers coach in 2021. Prior to this past season, Bleymaier stepped into the role of pass game coordinator.
Veach and Nagy overlapped at Delaware for three seasons and hooked up for 58 receptions and eight touchdowns in 2000. Nagy, a 2021 inductee into the Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame, spent 10 years coaching alongside Veach and Reid in both Philadelphia and Kansas City, serving as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017 before being hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears ahead of the 2018 season, becoming the first Blue Hen to rise to become an NFL head coach. Nagy rejoined the Chiefs' coaching staff in 2022 and was named the offensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season.
The trio will look to lift the Lombardi Trophy together for the second-straight season on Sunday. Veach and Bleymaier both also won Super Bowl LIV and a Blue Hen has now appeared in each of the last five Super Bowls as either a coach, player or general manager.
Overall, Delaware has had 11 alums appear in the NFL's biggest game as a player and have come out victorious. Troy Reeder was the most recent Blue Hen to lift the Lombardi Trophy as a player in 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams, joining Jamin Elliott (Patriots), Joe Flacco (Ravens) and Gino Gradkowski (Ravens).
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
For the latest on Delaware football, follow the Blue Hens on X, Instagram, and like on Facebook.
