Mizzou alum Nick Bolton aspires to lead No. 1 defense in the league

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KMIZ)

Heading into the 2025 edition of Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph, the view looks quite a bit different for former Mizzou star Nick Bolton.

This time in 2024, Bolton was entering a contract year in Kansas City, hoping things would work out for him to stay on board with the team that drafted him. Now, flash forward one year, Bolton is signed on for three more seasons and $45 million dollars with KC.

ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones went one-on-one with Bolton, after the fourth day of training camp. He reacted to finally getting that deal done.

"It was super exciting for me and actually super urgent," he said. "Again, everybody knows the relationship I have with the coaching staff, especially Coach [Spagnuolo], and the guys in the locker room. I feel like we've built something over the couple of years that we've been here and been here together. We just wanted to keep building on that. I wanted to get back in the building, be with guys, pick up where we left off last year and hopefully have a different outcome."

You can watch the full, exclusive one-on-one chat with Mizzou fan favorite in the video player below.

Through the first four days of training camp, Bolton's coaches and teammates made it clear that they are just as happy that he stayed in Kansas City as he is. In fact, on Wednesday, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo gave Bolton just about the biggest compliment one could get.

"He's Patrick Mahomes for us," Spagnuolo said. "We're pretty multiple defensively, so if you don't have that guys, it gets really challenging. Back when didn't know if we were getting Nick because it was, you know...in my mind, I was preparing like if we don't have Nick, what do we do? It's just not the same. Thank God, he's here."

Through the 2024 season, the former Tiger showed that consistency. Coming back from an injury in 2023, Bolton tallied a team-high 73 tackles, as well as three sacks, one forced fumble and even an interception.

Although he said that he still has quite a few personal goals to achieve in his career, the two-time Super Bowl champion said that the high praise from his coaches and teammates means the world.

"It's almost like overwhelming a little bit because we've all seen how good 15 is and how special he is for our offense...It just empowers me to do my job a little bit because Coach Spags believes in me, got the players in the locker room believing in me and just helps me do my job. It's no the easiest job in the world, but it's the most rewarding job when you can get everything correct. Having him in my corner, along with my teammates and my position coaches, as well, gives me all the support I need to go out there and execute," Bolton said.

The Frisco, Texas native has big aspirations for his defense, heading into 2025. Bolton said he is super excited about the guys that general manager Brett Veach was able to bring on board in the offseason.

Of course, Kansas City lost some big names on that defense, including safety Justin Reid, however, Bolton said he believes that the front office and head coach Andy Reid all do a good job of brining guys in to raise the level of competition at camp and compete for starting jobs.

Through all the changes on a new-look defense, Bolton remains a consistent voice for the Chiefs.

"Just taking it day-by-day, minute-by-minute, play-by-play," he said. "I never look too far into the future. Again, every day, every play, every game has a different obstacle, so it's just kind of just going with the flow and figuring it out as you go. One of the big things, actually that my vet told me when I was a rookie was that football's not perfect, neither is life...I'm trying to be perfect, but understanding that's never the end result."

With the talent that Veach and Coach Reid brought in over the offseason and the core of returning players, Bolton believes this team has every capability of being the best defense in the NFL.

"We were a pretty good defense last year, in terms of efficiency, but we also want to be a top defense in this league. I think we got the players, the personnel and the coaches to do so. It's about executing week-to-week and giving ourselves and opportunity to win football games, to help our team win and ultimately get back to the end game," the Mizzou alum said.

You can watch the full press conference with Bolton in the video player below.

Although Bolton is focused on getting ready for a season of his own, he told ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones that he has loved to see the progress that his alma mater has made over the years, recording back-to-back 10-win seasons.

"I've seen them guys playing in big bowl games that I didn't have the opportunity to play in and actually having 10-win seasons and continuing to build on stuff...I think they've got a lot of stuff going in the right direction. Man, they've got a great nucleus of players, they keep getting guys from in-state. I think that's a big thing for them, especially when I was there, we wanted to get a lot of in-state, Missouri people. They've been doing that, they've accomplished that and they're accomplishing their goals, so I'm super proud of them," Bolton said.

He added that he would love to be able to get out to Columbia for a game in 2025, hinting that maybe he could swing by the return of the Mizzou, Kansas rivalry after the Chiefs return from their game in Brazil.

Bolton and the Chiefs will get a day off from training camp work on Saturday, before returning to the field in full pads, on Sunday.