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Tom Melvin enters his 11th season as Kansas City's tight ends coach and his 25th season as an NFL coach in 2023.

Tom Melvin enters his 11th season as Kansas City's tight ends coach and his 25th season as an NFL coach in 2023.

Melvin joined the Chiefs in 2013 - the same year Chiefs TE Travis Kelce was drafted in the third round (63rd overall) - making him Kelce's position coach for the entirety of his 10-year career. Entering 2023, Kelce holds a streak of 143 games with a reception, the longest in franchise history and second-longest active streak in the National Football League. His 69 receiving touchdowns tie him for second in team annals. Under Melvin's tutelage, Kelce recorded the most receptions by an NFL tight end with 814. Kelce has recorded seven-straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards and was the fastest tight end in NFL history to reach 6,000; 7,000; 8,000; 9,000; and 10,000 receiving yard plateaus. Since QB Patrick Mahomes took over at QB, the two have had an obvious chemistry that has paid off on the field, connecting 46 times for touchdowns which ties PFHOF QB Len Dawson and former WR Otis Taylor for most QB-pass catcher connections in franchise history. Kelce's been a vital player in the Chiefs seven straight AFC West Titles and five consecutively hosted AFC Championship Games recording 16-career postseason receiving touchdowns, 133 receptions and 1,548 receiving yards for the most in franchise history. His 16 postseason touchdowns are a league best for tight ends. Since 2015, Kelce has not missed a Pro Bowl nomination and since 2016 has made the All Pro Team (first-team: '16, '18, '20, '22; second-team: '17, '19, '21). Kelce has been voted by his teammates to be an offensive postseason captain every year since 2017, helping to lead the team to two Super Bowl victories in four years (LIV, LVII).

The 2022 season proved to be another record setting year for Kelce and included the return of TE Jody Fortson after his season-ending Achilles injury in 2021. Melvin also continued to develop TEs Noah Gray and Blake Bell. After Kelce recorded 92 yards against Tampa Bay (10/2/2022) he passed former NFL TE Rob Gronkowski for fifth-most receiving yards in league history with 9,328. Following the season, Kelce's 10,344 career receiving yards trails only TE Tony Gonzalez for the most receiving yards in team history and fourth-most by a TE in league history. Back for his second year, Gray recorded 28 receptions for 299 yards and one touchdown. Fortson saw action in 13 games and racked up nine receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2021, Melvin coached Kelce to another 1,000-yard season as he recorded 1,125 receiving yards and nine touchdowns en route to his seventh Pro Bowl nomination. With 9,006 career receiving yards, he became just the sixth tight end in NFL history to reach 9,000 career receiving yards and is the quickest tight end to do so.

In 2020, Melvin's coaching helped Kelce set two NFL records in Week 15. Kelce became the first tight end in NFL history with multiple seasons of 100+ receptions in his career (2018 and 2020), while his 1,416 receiving yards were the most-ever by a tight end in NFL history, passing 49ers TE George Kittle's previous record of 1,377 yards set in 2018. His 105 receptions in 2020 set a franchise record and marked the fourth-most single season receptions by a tight end in NFL history. 

In 2019, Melvin helped Kelce become the first tight end in NFL history to record back-to-back 1,200+ yard receiving seasons. In the week 16 game against the Chicago Bears in 2019, Kelce finished the game with 504-career reception becoming the fastest tight end in NFL history to record 500-career receptions, doing so in just 95 games played.

Under Melvin's tutelage in 2018, Kelce was a key component to Mahomes' breakout season as Mahomes took the starting quarterback role. Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, earning Mahomes NFL MVP.

Due to injury, Kelce only played in one game in his rookie season (2013) but since his return in 2014 he has been the team's leading receiver each season except 2015 (second to Jeremy Maclin) and 2021 (second to Tyreek Hill).

Melvin has developed well-rounded tight ends including TE Demetrius Harris. Harris entered the league in 2013 as an undrafted free agent, spending the season on the club's practice squad after playing college basketball at UW-Milwaukee. In 2017, he recorded 18 catches for 224 yards and one touchdown. 

Prior to joining the Chiefs in 2013, Melvin spent 14 seasons on the offensive coaching staff in Philadelphia, including the last 11 years of his tenure as the Eagles tight ends coach. During his time overseeing the tight ends, Melvin played a key role in the development of Brent Celek, who caught 280 passes for 3,472 yards and 20 touchdowns in his six-year career playing for Melvin and the Eagles. He had 684 receiving yards in 2012 after registering 811 yards in 2011 with six touchdowns in those two seasons. Celek turned in one of the finest seasons ever by an Eagles tight end in 2009 with 76 receptions for 971 yards and eight touchdowns. Prior to being elevated to tight ends coach, Melvin was the club's offensive assistant/quality control coach from 1999-01.

     Melvin joined the Eagles after an eight-year stint at Occidental College, where he served as the school's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. In 1993, he led the Tigers to a then-school record 326 points and 2,526 rushing yards on the way to an 8-1 record.

    Prior to his time at Occidental, he served as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at the University of California—Santa Barbara. At UCSB, Melvin directed the nation's fifth-ranked offense in 1989 while coaching five All-America selections.

     From 1982-83, Melvin played on the offensive line at San Francisco State University. During the 1983 season, his position coach at SFSU was current Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid.

     Following his playing career at San Francisco State, Melvin began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, serving on the same staff with Reid. He then moved on to Northern Arizona, where he mentored TE Shawn Collins, a first-round draft pick of Atlanta in the 1989 NFL Draft.

     Melvin attended Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, Calif. Today, he holds a bachelor's degree in physical education from San Francisco State and a master's degree in educational administration from Northern Arizona.

     Melvin's cousin, Bob Melvin, is a former major league catcher and current manager of the San Diego Padres.

    Education: ­San Francisco State University (B.A. 1984, M.E. 1987). Born: Redwood City, Calif. Family: Wife - Kathy; Children - Justin, Joshua, J.T., Heather; Grandchildren - Haylee, Noa and Travis.