Muadianvita Kazadi

Muadianvita Machez "Kaz" Kazadi (born December 20, 1973) is a Congolese former professional gridiron football linebacker who is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the TCU Horned Frogs.

Born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Kazadi's family moved to the United States when he was age eight, settling in Newton, Kansas, where he played football at Newton High School. He signed to play college football for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane as a linebacker, playing for them from 1992 to 1996 while leading them in tackles in his last three years. He was a Butkus Award semifinalist as a senior when he played the majority of the season with a torn bicep.

Kazadi was selected in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams and made the team in his first year, appearing in 12 games. Released in 1998, he played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 1999. He then joined the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001 and was allocated to NFL Europe to play for the Barcelona Dragons. He concluded his career with the Buffalo Bills in 2002, being released before the start of the season.

Kazadi started his coaching career with the Missouri Tigers, then worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Kansas City Chiefs for two years and with the USF Bulls for one year. He was named head strength and conditioning coach for the Baylor Bears in 2008 and remained with the team through 2016. After a brief stint with the Dallas Cowboys, Kazadi worked with the Arkansas State Red Wolves in 2017, for the SMU Mustangs from 2018 to 2021 and with the TCU Horned Frogs since 2022.

Early life Muadianvita Machez Kazadi was born on December 20, 1973, in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He has three siblings, two of whom played college basketball. He spent his early years in Kinshasa and played soccer, recalling that "We played that all day." His father, a newspaper reporter, learned of the United States through missionaries and left the family for a year, with a goal of finding a place in the U.S. to move to. At Newton, he was named first-team all-league, first-team all-class and first-team all-state as a senior. Kazadi played for the West team at the Kansas Shrine Bowl all-star game. In addition to playing football at Newton, he also participated in track and field, performing in the shot put, 400m relay and 1,600m. After his football career, he returned to martial arts.

College career As a freshman at Tulsa in 1992, Kazadi redshirted. In 1994, he totaled 94 tackles, more than anyone else on the team, as the Golden Hurricane compiled a record of 3–8. He was named second-team All-Independent. In the offseason after the 1994 season, Kazadi worked as a prison guard for the Tulsa County Jail, meeting "all sorts of folks, ranging from murderers to child molesters to people who had run stop signs ... big guys, guys with scars in the middle of their faces and just plain scary guys." One of his teammates said that "I think if he could, he would mold his life around that movie." He finished the season with "just under 100 tackles" to lead the team, being named honorable mention All-Independent as Tulsa ended with a record of 4–7. Instead of getting surgery to repair the muscle, which would end his season, Kazadi opted to continue playing, with the Tulsa World dubbing him "Flat-Out Tough". He ended the season having led the team with 130 tackles – despite only having "one fully functional arm" – and was named second-team All-WAC Mountain Division. He was also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker nationally. Tulsa ended the season with a record of 4–6.

Kazadi graduated from Tulsa with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Professional career Following his collegiate career, Kazadi was selected in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 1997 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams. By the time of the draft, he had still not had his bicep repaired and said that he "does [not] plan to," saying that he wanted to keep it as a reminder to "just enjoy the moment," although he said that he would get surgery "if they [the Rams] can prove the injury hampers his ability."

Kazadi made his NFL debut in the Rams' season-opening win against the New Orleans Saints on August 31, 1997. He ended up appearing in 12 of the Rams' 16 games in his reserve role, being inactive for four games, as the team compiled an overall record of 5–11.

Kazadi was selected in the 1999 NFL Europe draft by the Barcelona Dragons. Instead of playing for the Dragons that year, he moved north and signed with the practice roster of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in late September 1999, soon after being added to the active roster due to injuries. In his second career CFL game, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he forced a fumble while on special teams. He finished the 1999 CFL season having appeared in four games, recording five special teams tackles while the Alouttes compiled a record of 12–6, before losing to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Division final by one point. He was among the final cuts for the Alouettes prior to the 2000 season.

Kazadi then returned to the NFL by signing with the Kansas City Chiefs on January 18, 2001. He was sent to the NFL's minor league, NFL Europe, where he appeared in seven games, all as a starter, for the Barcelona Dragons, posting 23 tackles and a forced fumble. The Dragons finished the season with a record of 8–2, reaching World Bowl IX where they lost to the Berlin Thunder. He became an exclusive rights free agent after the season and was not re-signed by the Chiefs.

Kazadi interned with the strength department of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005 before becoming a full-time member of the strength and conditioning staff in 2006. After two years with the Chiefs, Kazadi left to serve as an assistant strength coach with the USF Bulls in 2007. He also became an assistant athletic director for the Bears.

With the Bears, Kazadi developed a team considered "one of the most conditioned units in the country." He was known for his intense workouts and motivation to the team's players. Kazadi was a finalist for the FootballScoop.com Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award in 2011 and then won the award in 2012. With Arkansas State, he held the title of assistant athletics director for athletics performance, managing athletics performance staff in every sport.

Following four seasons with the Mustangs, Kazadi was hired as assistant athletics director for football human performance by the TCU Horned Frogs for the 2022 season. Wes Harris, an offensive lineman, noted that on "The very first day -- I don't even think we'd gotten back in school yet -- we get a text from Coach Kaz saying, '5:30 a.m. workouts, be here early at 5 o'clock,'" and Kazadi declared "That is the last time you will ever look at me and question what I'm doing" in the first team meeting. ESPN described his role as "crucial in earning the buy-in that first-year coaches need. Players have welcomed the accountability that he demands ... his work has spoken for itself."