Patrick Mahomes really can do everything. That includes teaching, according to his private quarterbacks coach. Jeff Christensen saw this last summer, when Mahomes invited all his targets—several of whom were new to the Chiefs’ roster—to Fort Worth, Texas, where they’d train together to erase any concerns that the offense might not coalesce this season.
Christensen was there, but he didn’t run the sessions; that was intentional. Mahomes and Kelce did. “They became the teachers,” Christensen says.
Mahomes, for instance, would instruct his teammates on what he saw in certain coverages, where they should go, how they might shake their defender and the precise spot where he hoped to throw the football. He helped them understand his distinct, electric style of quarterback play. Kelce pointed out examples, in real time, on the field where they practiced. All would be applied to the upcoming season.
Christensen saw many benefits to this exercise. The teachers became better players and better teammates by being more accountable, and by explaining what they knew but maybe hadn’t voiced to this group before. The students understood not what Mahomes like in a certain situation, but what he like, what he wanted. The sessions also gave Christensen a greater respect for Andy Reid. He always saw Reid as a teacher first, anyway, and he could see the coach’s imprint on Mahomes and Kelce, not to mention how the Chiefs communicated offensive football. He knew then the offense would be just fine.
Recently, Christensen went back and reviewed videos from those sessions—the ones that portended the season ahead, and how the Chiefs would (unexpectedly, for most) be better on offense even after Tyreek Hill departed. He saw Mahomes tell teammates to come out of a particular break with just a , which signaled his attention to detail. He taught them how to sit down in zone coverage when a defensive back decides to wheel, and he was precise to the degree of the angle they should take.
One particular example stood out. Mahomes needed to leave, but Kelce stayed out there, for nearly an hour, working with three free-agent tight ends unlikely to make the roster, on route concepts. Christensen turned to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. “Are you seeing this?”
“I was in awe of it,” Christensen says. “Like, this is a Hall of Famer. This is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. And look how much he cares about these kids and helping them reach their dreams.”
