Among the sea changes washing over the Chiefs, the secondary stands out as a familiar patch of sand.

When the Chiefs defensive backs take the field during OTAs, they line up just as they finished 2008. Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr are the cornerbacks and Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page are the safeties.

The secondary hasn’t been fixed because it’s not broken. The starters all have held their own despite trying circumstances, and none has reached his peak.

The returning reserves are also solid – a group that includes CB Maurice Leggett, S Jon McGraw and S DaJuan Morgan. The unit should be additionally strengthened by rookie cornerback Donald Washington, the fourth-round draft pick. The club also added former Browns CB Travis Daniels as a UFA in the off-season.

If the Chiefs all-in youth movement had worked as well for every unit as it’s worked for the secondary, there would have been no need to pull the plug.

The unit was built through the draft, with Flowers and Carr going in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, in 2008, and Pollard and Page going in the second and seventh rounds, respectively, in 2006.

This is the scenario every NFL franchise envisions: drafting players who are talented enough to play and grow together and who develop attachments to their organization and each other.

“We bond together, we’re like brothers,” Flowers said.

“We’ll spend the weekend together, go bowling, something like that. When I was a rookie we all went out on Thursdays.”

Just last week Flowers was mulling a playbook assignment and felt the need for some peer feedback.

“I’m calling Brandon Carr late at night to ask what he thinks about this and that,” Flowers said, “just so we know how to play the same thing when we get on the field. Having that relationship with the other DBs goes a long way.”

Though the faces in the secondary are the same, the scheme will be much different. Gone is the “cover two,” defense, in which defensive backs and linebackers filled zones while the four linemen tried to pressure the quarterback. With the Chiefs totaling just 10 sacks, a dubious NFL record, the defensive backs were routinely trying to cover routes that were allowed too much time to develop.

And considering their defensive backs ranked as four of their top five tacklers, it should be no surprise that the Chiefs rush defense ranked 30th.

If coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s 3-4 defense works as intended, with a more intense and unpredictable pass rush, the defense should improve upon its 13 interceptions of a year ago.

”That’s what I’m looking forward to – getting my hands on the ball,” said Page, who led the Chiefs with four interceptions in 2008. “We’re going to be in position to make hits and be in position to make plays on the ball.”

Pollard, a big-hitting strong safety who led the team with 98 tackles, should be able to make more of them nearer the line of scrimmage.

“I love the defense we’re in now,” he said. “This is the defense we played in college (Purdue). This is me – the box safety running around.”

The cover two was the baby of former coach Herm Edwards, while former defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham added his own wrinkles.

“For three years we were always playing a cover two defense and a couple of other things and we never got really good at one thing,” Pollard said.

“Guys are excited. Our coach is setting us up to make plays – we’re not just sitting back and waiting. This is going to be a different defense. It’s going to be fun.”