Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco discusses his unique energy and running style, what he learned playing quarterback, and how head coach Andy Reid supports his players.
“Isiah Pacheco runs like…”
The running back out of Rutgers was largely unknown to Kansas City Chiefs fans when the team drafted him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Now, Pacheco’s unique running style has become memetic around the NFL. Add in the fact that he was instrumental in KC’s Super Bowl championship, even while playing through major injuries, and you can see how Pacheco quickly became a fan favorite.
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This week, I got to chat with Pacheco to discuss his unique running style, how he’s evolving in his second season, the best dancers on the Chiefs, and what he’s doing with Little Caesars, the official pizza sponsor of the NFL.
Joshua Brisco: One of the most distinctive parts of your game is the way that you run. I have some quotes here, because if you search on Twitter, “Isiah Pacheco runs like,” you get some good stuff. “Runs like he’s mad at the turf. Runs like he’s killing bugs. Runs like he’s mad at gravity for holding him down.” Where does all that come from? Where does that energy come from, and who taught you to run like that?
Isiah Pacheco: You know, it’s the love of the game. I love competing. I love the competition that’s in the NFL. And for myself in the room, the running back room, I have great people around me, great competition. You’ve got to love waking up ready to work and being in a great environment in Chiefs Kingdom. It’s a great feeling.
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JB: Was there ever a coach who tried to get you to run differently? What was that like in high school and when you got to Rutgers?
Pacheco: Yeah, absolutely. The head coach at high school, he used to tell me sometimes, some plays, I used to get a little crazy. He’s like, “You know, you got to be smarter, run out of bounds on that play.” I used to be a little extra and try to just keep running and not take the smart hits instead of the bad ones, because I was a quarterback.
JB: How does that come into it all? I wanted to ask about you as a pass-catcher becoming a bigger part of your game this year, and we talk all the time about Travis Kelce being a quarterback and helping how he sees defenses. We don’t get to hear that from you very often!
Pacheco: Exactly! I was a quarterback all four years in high school, and that played a huge role into me being able to catch the ball and just being understanding of some of the routes and the schemes and offenses. So, when I was a running back, it definitely allowed me to be more comfortable within the schemes.
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JB: How has that helped you on the NFL level? And when we talk about all of the changes in the offense and being on the same page with Patrick Mahomes, what’s that actually like from inside the helmet?
Pacheco: Oh, it’s great, you know, you just got to eliminate the distractions. And for me, doing that allows me to focus on the task and just getting the job done, allowing Pat to be more aggressive in the pass game and for me to pick up my pass-protection blocks. And right there, I’m the last line of defense, and that’s very important in this game.
JB: I’ve also seen a couple of times this year when you’ve shown some patience, some Le’Veon Bell kind of stop-and-start. Is that something you worked on specifically coming into this year, or is that just where you’re at with the speed of the game?
Pacheco: Just understanding the scheme more and being a little bit more patient, just dotting down those pinpoints, and it allows me to be better on the gamedays.
JB: I got to talk to Jamaal Charles a while ago, and he talked about what it was like getting in Andy Reid’s offense for the first time, and he said talking to Reid was the first time he ever had a coach tell him to let his personality show. What was that like for you, and have you had a similar experience?
Pacheco: Yes, exactly. That’s what he says to all of us. It’s day by day, getting comfortable with one another, not trying to be different, and just be yourself. Like you said, when you wake up, you got to love it. And when you’re trying to be someone else, it takes a little bit off the load on you. And for us, the word is “united” for us and “find the edge,” so we got to keep focusing on being ourselves.
JB: Your positional coach is Todd Pinkston, former NFL wide receiver, in his first year as a running backs coach. Greg Lewis last year, former NFL wide receiver. What’s the dynamic like with them obviously having the NFL experience but playing a different position? What makes that unique?
Pacheco: It’s different. You got a running back coach, it doesn’t really matter who’s the coach, moreso because we’re the players that’s out there playing, but you just have to have that knowledge of understanding the game. And I’m pretty sure Coach has been through a lot of ball and understands he could fit in our shoes. And so for me as a running back, it’s understanding the coaches and trusting them and just getting the job done.
JB: Looking back to your time at the combine, the entire pre-draft process and being a late draft pick, to ending the year dancing through the parade (with injuries that I think would have kept me from going to the parade). What do you do if you take a second to look back at how much ground you covered in your rookie season?
Pacheco: Yes, I have! It’s been a long season, and it was no offseason. And for me, my whole offseason was getting back to square one, getting better and trying to be better than I was. I had surgery, so that right there, it slows you down, you lose weight, and so I had to gain all my weight back and just come in with a better mindset of understanding the scheme.
JB: I have to imagine you were furious during training camp in the yellow non-contact jersey, right? That had to be so frustrating.
Pacheco: Yes, I wanted to get out there so bad. I was out there! I was out there every day, but it’s like, only to a certain extent, they would allow me to do things.
JB: Who’s the second-best dancer on the Chiefs?
Pacheco: …I don’t know. Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) been killing it. Clyde been definitely… Clyde be killing it for real. Clyde is nice.
JB: So the running back room is winning the dance competition?
Pacheco: We’re winning the dance competition. We’re lit in there.
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