HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Kansas City Chiefs have staked their claim as the NFL's latest dynasty, winning the Super Bowl for the second year and a row and the third time in five years.
And three Central Pennsylvania natives have had a hand in it, with ties to KC's coaching staff and training department.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who helped head coach Andy Reid turn quarterback Patrick Mahomes into a superstar, is a graduate of Manheim Central High School in Lancaster County.
Assistant trainer Julie Frymyer, who helps keep Mahomes healthy during the season, also hails from Lancaster County; she's a Warwick grad.
And Frymyer's boss, vice president of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder, learned the family business of sports training from his dad, Rich, when he was growing up in Carlisle, Cumberland County.
If you take a longer view of the Keystone State, you'll find that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach comes from Pennsylvania's Coal Region. He's a former standout player for Mount Carmel High School, the state's winningest high school football program.
Nagy is in his second stint with the Chiefs. A long time member of Reid's staff, he served as Kansas City's quarterbacks coach before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2016. He left to take the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears, where he went 34-31 in four years before his dismissal prior to last season. He returned to Reid's staff as Mahomes' position coach before being promoted again following the departure of former OC Eric Bienemy.
Frymyer has served on the Chiefs' training staff since 2018. Last season, she helped Mahomes recover from an ankle injury during Kansas City's victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game, then helped get him healthy enough to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Burkholder is another long-time member of Reid's staff, having first joined him when Reid was coaching the Eagles in 2005. When Reid was fired in 2012, Burkholder accompanied him to Kansas City.
Veach is in his seventh season as Kansas City's GM.