Talking with Todd

From the Truman Sports Complex

There are some football coaches that whenever they speak publicly, their words need translation. There are other coaches who don’t say enough to even bother trying to define what they’ve had to say. And then there are the majority of coaches that bounce back and forth between those extremes.

Generally, Todd Haley’s public comments do not need translation. They are pretty clear in intent, although not always clear in edification. Haley juggles his public comments carefully so he doesn’t reveal too much. Even with that tendency, his comments provide plenty of information for those who want to pay attention.

Haley wrapped up the 2009 Chiefs season by spending 45 minutes with the media horde on Wednesday. Much of the attention from this session will go to question and answers involving the names Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. The NFL grapevine bubbles with chatter that both Weis and Crennel will be part of Haley’s 2010 coaching staff.

As this is being written Wednesday evening, ESPN is reporting that Weis has agreed to become the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Certainly, Haley’s comments earlier in the day would have one believe that was highly possible.

“Charlie is a guy I have a great amount of respect for as a coach,” said Haley. “He’s a coach that system-wise I feel we’re as close as we can be. It is the same system. I’ve talked to Charlie throughout the year but no different than I’ve talked to Coach Parcells or some of the other guys that I lean on for advice.

“I would ultimately like someone to run the offense. It’s the most efficient way to run the team. But what’s most important to me in making some of these decisions is that this team made good progress offensively and it showed down the stretch. What I want to make sure is that the fit is a good one. Speaking of Charlie, he would allow us to run the offense we’ve been running.” Read More..

From the Mouth of Todd

From the Truman Sports Complex

Todd Haley had looked at all the tape of Sunday’s loss to Denver. He wasn’t smiling when he met with the media horde for his weekly session of parry and thrust.

The score remained the same – 44-13 – as it was on Sunday, so there wasn’t much to highlight or enjoy from this one, although the ever-optimistic coach did find some good things.

“I thought we did a lot of good things early offensively,” Haley said. “In the third quarter we unraveled a bit. The defense made a play on the first possession (interception), but allowed too many 10-yard plus runs. We had a couple outstanding performances, specifically Tamba Hali. I thought he played outstanding from start to finish. He made a bunch of plays for us. Overall we were at least a tie on special teams. Every week, we need to win on special teams.

“There was some good to find in the loss. One of those things was our pass protection. It was one of our better games against a team that has produced a bunch of sacks.”

Here are some of the highlights of what Haley had to say during his 24 minutes on the griddle.

Does removing the starting quarterback from the game like what was done on Sunday with Matt Cassel hurt his ability to be a team leader?

“Not in my opinion. Others may have different opinions. That’s the head coach’s decision to make based on where the game is at and the circumstances surrounding it. Yesterday at the time, I thought the best thing for us as a team was to put Brodie in the game and let him play a little bit.”

Was that sending a message, saying everyone has to perform? Read More..

From The Mouth of Todd 11/23

From the Truman Sports Complex

The media horde gathered for Todd Haley’s weekly press conference, the first one to come after two consecutive Chiefs victories.

Haley was not celebrating or ebullient as he stood behind the podium. It was 24 hours after the Chiefs overtime victory and the head coach had moved on. There were the San Diego Chargers to get ready for this weekend.

But he did have a few things to say about the game and how things played out in the victory over Pittsburgh. Here are the highlights.

On whether he’s concerned about how his team will handle winning two games in a row.

“That wasn’t the Super Bowl. That was our 10th game of the season. We are just going to keep doing what we are doing, trying to stay consistent and pushing the players hard. We are trying to get the players ready each week with a plan that can lead to success. ”

On Jamaal Charles and his contributions to the team right now.

“He’s making progress that we are all excited about seeing. He’s not a big back by any means but he’s showing some substance. What you saw from Jamaal yesterday were some real positive signs. He took some hits and didn’t go down, and almost broke out of the one in overtime. ” Read More..

From The Mouth of Todd 10/26

From the Truman Sports Complex

Boy, the room was pretty crowded Monday afternoon for Todd Haley’s weekly meeting with the media.

Lots of mini-cams, lots of sports talk types, lots of scribblers. We don’t normally see this kind of crowd for a 1-6 football team.

But then these Chiefs like to do things differently. Larry Johnson’s Twitter blast at Haley’s credentials to be a head coach was on everybody’s mind. So too, apparently were homophobic comments and tweets that have now been removed from Johnson’s Twitter.com account.

Haley had little to say about the situation, commenting only that the organization was looking into the situation. As much as the media tried, Johnson would not budge from his stance. The head coach handled himself very well in this situation, maybe better than he did in the first quarter of Sunday’s game when he called for a fourth-and-one play at his own 41-yard line.

This meeting with the media lasted 28 minutes, the longest of the season to date.

Here are the highlights: Read More..

From the Mouth of Todd 10/19

From the Truman Sports Complex

For the first time in his short career as an NFL head coach, Todd Haley was able to meet the media horde without a big fat zero attached to his record and name.

That first victory came on Sunday in Washington and although the Redskins might be really in disarray right now and the Chiefs were unable to punch a touchdown across the goal line, a win, is a win, is a win.

“After looking at the tape, I’m very encouraged by some of the things I saw,” said Haley. “Our defense probably put together our most complete performance. Offensively though we didn’t score enough points, we only had two penalties and no turnovers, again. I think on the road that’s critical (no turnovers) to your chances for success. Special teams for the most part were very good.”

Here are some more of the highlights from his 19-minute session with the media scum. Read More..

From the Mouth of Todd 10/12

From the Truman Sports Complex

It was another Monday after a Chiefs loss and another session with the media horde for head coach Todd Haley.

No real news out of this one. LT Branden Albert’s left ankle was sore on Monday according to the coach and his status for this week remains to be determined by the trainers and doctors.

Here’s some of the other stuff worthy of mentioning:

DID HE SECOND GUESS DECISION TO GO FOR ONE INSTEAD OF TWO POINTS AFTER LATE TOUCHDOWN.

“Yeah sure. I replayed a lot of that game. I didn’t sleep a whole bunch last night. Sure, you replay that. I was laying there with my wife and I said, ‘you think I should have gone for two?’ It’s two yards to win. But again, I stand by the decision I made. We’ve got two opportunities in overtime to win the game and really looked good.” Read More..

From the Mouth Of Todd 10/5

From the Truman Sports Complex

Todd Haley met with the media horde on Monday afternoon and the session went for 26 minutes.

Haley handled the questions and even provided some good answers.

Here’s the important stuff he talked about.

ANY POSITIVES OUT OF SUNDAY’S GAME AGAINST THE GIANTS

“I think our defense made some progress. I think our defense I s starting to work together a little bit. Were they perfect? No. Can we give up 27 points and expect to win? Not usually. I saw some encouraging signs from them.”

ANALYSIS OF MATT CASSEL’S PERFORMANCE ON SUNDAY

“Not good enough to win. He has to be better. Was Matt Cassel the reason we lost? No, it was a group effort. I think the kid is a tough, competitive guy, who fought it out yesterday. Read More..

From The Mouth Of Todd 9/28

From the Truman Sports Complex

Everything around the Chiefs these days is very fluid, and that includes the head coach’s weekly press conference. It will now be held Monday afternoon rather than Tuesday.

So Todd Haley met with the media horde and answered questions for 24 minutes at the Chiefs offices. Naturally, the theme revolved around the Chiefs 34-14 loss on Sunday to the Eagles.

Here’s some of the best of what Haley had to say.

ON THE DIRECTION THE CHIEFS GO FROM HERE

“I think it’s pretty clear that our margin of error is not real great right at this time, so we must as a team and as a coaching staff really do everything right – all the little things including technique, decision making – especially against a team like Philadelphia. We weren’t (doing things right) and that’s why we saw the result that we had.

“We’ve got to continue to coach discipline. We just have to get better at the little things. When your margin of error is small you can’t align a yard out of place, or allow a big play to happen. We need to have all those little things coached hard, coached correctly and then we need to execute. I don’t think we do a whole lot different other than focus and not let anything slide. That’s the direction.” Read More..