Herm Speaks: Vol. 5
It was an unusual Tuesday for Herm Edwards weekly meeting with the media scum. The looming trade deadline and the possibility of a deal involving Tony Gonzalez had the coach pushing back the start of his press conference. Then, the conference started with no news, as Gonzalez wasn’t traded so there was little to speak of on that situation.
But of course that’s the only angle the media horde wanted to address. There was little or no discussion on Brodie Croyle returning to the starting lineup.
Here are some of the highlights, with again my comments, translation and analysis.
ON WHAT HE EXPECTS FROM GONZALEZ:
“He’ll be like he always is. He’s a professional football player. He’s a pro. One thing about Tony, he will prepare himself this week to play well. That’s what we expect out of him.”
Comment: That was Herm talking about what he hopes happens with Gonzalez. What he does not need is another pout session like what happened after the Denver game when Gonzalez did not get his record. He needs his veteran tight end to show his young players how to deal with adversity, a concept they are struggling to learn.
ON WHETHER HE WAS PART OF ATTEMPTS TO TRADE GONZALEZ:
“I’ve been watching Tennessee. I’ve got enough problems trying to figure out how to make a first down against Tennessee on offense.”
Analysis: The situation with the possible Gonzalez trade is why having the head coach serve also serve as general manager just does not work. There are simply not enough hours in the day. The Chiefs were on their bye weekend, but Edwards worked every day. Like the man he played pro football for in Philadelphia – Dick Vermeil – he spends many nights sleeping on the sofa in his new office. And that’s without handling the duties of the general manager. No mortal can do both jobs justice.
WHAT EDWARDS LEARNED FROM RE-WATCHING ALL FIVE GAME TAPES DURING THE BYE WEEK:
“We are a very inconsistent football team, not confident at times, our emotional level goes up and down and that’s how we play. There have been a lot of errors made. I think we can help them. We can make some improvements there.”
Translation: Herm believes the Chiefs have drafted players who have a mental toughness about them. Some are already showing that, while others are lagging behind. It’s mental toughness that dispatches inconsistent football. It’s mental toughness that corrects errors and makes sure they do not happen again. The Chiefs need to be a tougher team mentally. Edwards believes it will come with more maturity on the part of the players. If it doesn’t, then he’s in trouble.
ON HIS YOUNG TEAM DEALING W ITH DISTRACTIONS:
“There’s always going to be distractions in pro football. (Good) teams put those things aside and concentrate on what they have to do. That’s what young guys have to learn about professional football. There are going to be distractions every week, some weeks they will be bigger than others and you can’t bring it to work. You’ve got to stay focused on your job and trying to prepare and get better and that’s what these young guys are going to have to do.”
Translation:
What Herm is saying is ‘that’s what they need to learn, but they don’t know it yet, so I’m not sure how this team is going to react to any of the extra stuff hovering around the team.’ It’s all part of the growth of young football players, and all of them don’t learn these things at the same speed. Herm is hoping his youngsters are picking up on blocking out distractions and just doing their job. He’ll soon find out.
HERM ON THE TENNESSEE TITANS:
“When you look at them on film, they are a big, physical football team … they are a very good defense and they haven’t given up a lot of points, about 11 points a game. Offensively, they are scoring about 23 points. They do a great job of taking the ball away. They are +14 in the giveaway-takeaway ratio. They run the ball fairly decent. The quarterback is making some good reads and good throws. This is a game where turnovers are a key. They’ve done a great job of taking the ball away and really dominating teams all through the game. They get a lead early in the game and keep the lead. This is a powerful, good football team.”
Translation: As Herm ran through the elements that make the Titans so good, he did so with a great deal of football lust in his voice. He was again describing a style of team that he wants to field wearing red and gold uniforms. The other thing that came through in his comments was the simple fact that the Titans are the best team the Chiefs have seen this season.
Hey Bob, thanks for the update, I too believe the Titans are the best team we have faced so far this year in respect to being good all around. Lets hope the Chiefs players play to the same level that they did against the Pat’s and the Broncos. It would be nice if the coaches found a chink in the Titans amour that we could exploit. I just hope Brodie can survive this game in one piece. Go Chiefs!
Media scum???? I think for one of the few times in Herm’s KC career, he was asked some legit, tough questions. That he got all defensive and just outright stupid shows how coddled Herm usually is by the media “scum”. Herm embarrassed himself in that press conference, but not any more than he does actually “coaching”. For Herm to refuse to talk to Tony G, both before and after this situation is just utter incompetance, but with Herm what else is new?
Clearly, at least to me, there seems to be a growing disconnect between Herm and the front office and their decisions which was prominently manifested during yesterday’s news conference. Anyone not seeing that happening is either not watching carefully, or comfortably numb (credit to The Departed).
So, if true, we have a house divided which, according to traditional wisdom, cannot stand. Something has to give home readers. I’m beginning to think, with no basis of fact other than my own instincts, that Clark Hunt would rather be back in Dallas considering investment opportunities that do not include running a NFL franchise.
Read into that as you will, but I don’t believe the young Mr. Hunt is up to the task of being a competent NFL owner…and I’m beginning to believe HE knows it.
I think you guys are missing the point on Herm’s frustration. I think the reason he was getting upset and being short the way he was is because of him being tired of talking about a trade that never happened. The last time I looked the weekly press conference is supposed to be about the up coming game and about football in general. Not about a player trying to get personal stats or jewelery. I think if the people asking the questions could have figured that out, then it would have been a more meaningful and productive conference. And as far as hard questions Mark those aren’t hard questions they are just questions directed at the wrong person – Herm is here to coach the players he has here not worry about what or where the players want or want to go. The reason he didn’t talk to Tony about it is because its not his job or responsibility. If Tony had a problem with Herm I am sure he would take it to Herm – if you read the interview that Tony gave yesterday you could see his side of it and see that the problem does not lie in the coaching staff but rather with his own personal objectives. The head coach has more important things to worry about than if Larry has taken his diapers off or if Tony will feels accomplished at the end of his career, he has to worry about “How to get a first down on offense against Tennessee”
JB
Sorry, but “What does that say about you, about Carl, about this organization that he asked to be traded?” is an idiotic question. It’s a question that no coach should respond to with anything but contempt, and only a moron would expect any kind of meaningful response to it. And who said Herm “refused” to talk to Tony?
Josh, you’re absolutely right. For Herm, as a Head Coach, to inject himself in this situation would be irresponsible.
IL, That was a fantastic question, and I applaud Ms Moss for asking it. There should be more questions like that at his press conferences, instead of the usual behind kissing banality. Herm has done a dreadful job as HC of the Chiefs, and it’s about time the press is questionning him about it. Herm is the one who said he wouldn’t talk to Tony and didn’t talk to Tony.
where in the article does it say “media scum”
I seem to have missed that, all I see is “media horde” unless this article was edited.
I completely disagree. What kind of meaningful response could you possibly give to that question? Could you imagine any NFL coach that would try? The proper response to that question (which Herm didn’t give) is “I’m not going to answer that”.
By the way, Herm said he had not talked to Tony and did not plan to. That’s different from refusing to. Refusing implies that you are requested or obligated to do something that you will not do it.
Herm did not think it was important enough to talk to his best player???? That’s how out of touch he is with reality. Tony, being the class act he is, made it his business to talk to his teammates first thing, and explain the situation in every detail. Herm could only think about how to punt after another futile offensive series.
Mark,
At the risk of sounding harsh, I’ve got to say that your whole “important enough” question is spin. It assumes what Herm was thinking and completely ignores the possibility that NOT talking to Tony was the right thing to do in this situation.
Are you saying that Herm should have asked Tony to stay or told him it’s o.k. to go? Can you not believe that it might be counterproductive for a head coach to interfere in a situation like this?
How do you equate Herm talking or not talking to Tony with Tony talking to his teammates? Tony felt like he had fences to mend with his teammates. Are you there’s some kind of issue between Tony and Herm? If so, what is it?
Spin??? It’s fact, reading and listening to Herm’s words. Instead of dissing his best player, and going on about Waters, yes indeed, Herm should have been talking to Tony G throught this travesty, instead of making a very strong point that he wasn’t. The “issue” between Herm and Tony is that Herm is clueless offensively, and has ruined Tony’s chances of winning in the post season in KC, and it goes back to the Indy playoff game, where Tony, along with LJ and Waters, were vocal and public in their criticism of the gameplan.
1st sentence, findthedr. “Media Scum”. “It was an unusual Tuesday for Herm Edwards weekly meeting with the media scum”.
Sorry, but it’s a little more than “listening to Herm’s words”; it’s also interpreting them in a manner that conforms to your negative view of him. But I guess that’s a popular passtime these days.
As it should be. Why would any objective Chief fan not be negative about Herm. He’s a poor head coach. Herm’s record as the Head Coach of the KC Chiefs is what should and does give most Chief Fans a “negative view of him”. FYI, I am fully on board with the rebuild, and support Herm’s vision of it, but sadly, since the day he started waffling about the QB’s every week after Croyle went down, Herm has proven he is not the Head Coach that should be guiding it. Waffling about the QB, sticking with McIntosh, who stands for everything the rebuid is not in spite of horrible performance, while refusing to play a young RT. He’s just a poor excuse for an NFL head coach, and is in way over his head. When the “media scum” call him on it, he gets totally defensive, as he did at that press conference.
Mark,
Fair enough. I happen to agree with you that Herm got defensive at that press conference; which was the wrong thing to do. I also have been frustrated with his lack of action on McIntosh and the way he’s handled his quarterbacks. I happen to think that Herm’s rebuilding plan (if it is his completely) was too aggressive, and it’s causing a lot of pain. These are things that people can observe and disagree with.
I get irked, though, when I see posters who make assertions that they have no concrete evidence to back up, such as that Tony Gonzalez is not important to Herm, or that Herm “wants to lose”, or that Herm wants to get rid of all players he wasn’t responsible for drafting, etc., etc., etc. I reserve the right to call people on statements like these.