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.”

As for Crennel and the chance he could become the defensive coordinator, Haley said: “Romeo is another guy who is a very good friend of mine that I spent three years with. He’s a guy I’ve always looked up to and no different than Charlie, a guy I talk to periodically looking for advice. (There’s been) no conversation in that order.”

Those were the Haley comments that will draw the headlines, but there was much more said. Here are other highlights.

– Haley made it clear to his players that the coming off-season is going to be very important for the advancement of the team from their 4-12 record. The subject came up in discussion about Dwayne Bowe: “We can’t in the off-season go backwards. We must come into this off-season program at least where we ended this year physically and mentally and build on it from there. Dwayne’s a guy for which this is critical. He comes into this off-season in the condition or close to the condition he’s in, hopefully better, and then builds from there.”

The message here is obvious. There are some players who think they can’t work any harder than they did during the last year. They are wrong. They are going to have to work harder to squeeze out more production from their play. Being a player on team that finishes 4-12 makes one suspect in the eyes of the NFL. New talent needs to be infused into this team, but there are only so many draft choices and so few free agents worth signing. To advance the process, a team must improve from within.

– On plans to have an offensive coordinator: “I came into last year with that belief. That was the ideal goal. I made some difficult decisions back on offense that probably it would have been easier for me to just stay status quo. But for the team and the overall development and foundation, I felt it was necessary to make those changes. I’m completely at peace and by evidence of what I’ve talked about we’ve made very good progress. If any changes are made or additions it will be taken into account that we have made progress and we’re not going to go backwards.”

Haley mentioned several times the “fit” of an offensive coordinator with Haley’s view of what the offense should be doing. That’s vital because he does not want to throw away what happened offensively during the 16 games of the ‘09 season. Bring in somebody who can’t or won’t pick up the baton from Haley and the offense has to start all over. No NFL head coach has that kind of time.

– Whether he must speed up the hiring process to get the best people for his staff: “You don’t want any knee jerk reactions. You want to make sure you’ve gone through the evaluation process. There is a window of time, so you need to get your ducks in a row and done your research. But the most important thing is to be right.”

Last year, Haley was trying to fill out a coaching staff as the last head coach hired and he was at a severe disadvantage. Right now, he knows it’s important for him to get moving and moving fast if he wants to get quality coaches.

– Haley said the team has developed a core group of players to build around, and he named a view: “Jamaal Charles, when you see the development that he’s made over the course of the year, it’s hard not to get excited about and understand he’s going to be one of our core guys … Tamba Hali was put in a difficult position to transition and after being around Tamba for a year, I think he’s going to be a core guy for us … Glenn Dorsey made tremendous strides. He came in not looking the way we wanted him to look … Brandon Flowers showed a tremendous amount of fortitude to me … offensive line across the board, those guys came a long way … Brodie Croyle you can’t overlook. I perceive him playing a critical role for us as we go forward.”

He named a handful of other players, but the sad part was that only a few of them were players added by Pioli and Haley. He mentioned WR Quinten Lawrence, and was prompted into mentioning Tyson Jackson and Alex Magee. But he didn’t mention Mike Vrabel, or Mike Brown, or the injured Mike Goff, Chris Chambers, Leonard Pope or others.

Right now, the core group of players Haley mentioned first were largely found by Carl Peterson, Bill Kuharich and Herm Edwards.


9 Responses to “Talking with Todd”

  • January 6, 2010  - kcxiv says:

    Of course some of the core gorups are Carl (i wore out my welcome) Pertersos and Herm (play not to lose) Edwards guys.

    They couldnt fire the whole darned team. There is some decent players that they picked up. Remember carl is also the dumbass that Signed Larry Johnson and traded Jared Allen. We all seen how great that turned out to be. Its like kicking the owner of the house’s nuts on his way out the door.


  • January 6, 2010  - el cid says:

    All in all, interesting. Hiring Weis as OC was a move that will free Haley to be HC, what the heck he can still be QB coach if he wants. Haley may make it, much to my surprise. Add a better DC, this team has a chance to succeed.

    Did not much care for Lawrence being considered a “core player”. Haley released him three times and no one else wanted him but he is a core player, I doubt it. Haley is fixing his problems in coaching, now he has to work on players, in particular the 09 misses in free agency and draft.


  • January 6, 2010  - Mad Chief says:

    I’m glad Haley was smart enough to realize that he needed the help of an OC…and that he has apparently found someone he trusts to do the job. I hope Weis lives up to his “hype”.

    Crennel as DC will likely not be far behind this move. And a QB coach will be somewhere after that. This will free up Haley to do the job he was hired for…Head Coach. I give him a ton of credit for realizing that he can’t do it all by himself.

    El cid, don’t be too hard on Lawrence. He’s young, and still learning. It’s not like he was a top draft pick that they spent a ton of money on, anyway. And that old term “raw talent” certainly applies to this kid. Will he ultimately make it? Hard to say. He’s worth the chance, though. A lot of the things that are said about Lawrence were being said about a young player named Jamaal Charles last year. Hey, I’m not sure I’d call Lawrence a “core player” either…but the kid has some potential, so what’s the harm in giving him the chance?


  • January 7, 2010  - Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/7 « wire2 says:

    [...] Talking with Todd from Bob Gretz [...]


  • January 7, 2010  - Rick says:

    Bob you need to get over you obsession with Carl and Herm. They are the past. You have 53 men on a roster of course alot of players are going to come from them. Thigpen was 3rd string with Miami and people were clamorring he should be our starter!!! After watching him the last couple drives same old Thigpen make a good play and two bad plays will follow. I have been going to the Chiefs games about as long as you have been covering them. Haley has me about as excited being a Chiefs fan like when Marty was here. Alot of people thought Marty was bad but I will take a coach who year in and year out we have shot at playoffs. With Vermeil the O was great but our D sucked year in and year out. With Herm he stood on the sidelines never showing any emotion. His famous comment was we can only coach the players we can’t play sooner or later they need to start playing. Never once I don’t think he laid the blame on himself. GO HALEY YOU HAVE MY STAMP OF APPROVAL!!


  • January 7, 2010  - el cid says:

    Revisionist history. As I recall only carl put out the bs that Marty needed to go. What “lot of people”? Marty was much quieter than Vermeil on the sidelines, as I recall. But we all seem to recall it differently.

    That said, the Weis move has been Haley’s first I thought was a HC decision. Now we need to work on the defense. I will leave that to Haley but hope Pendergast is not his guy. Now the draft.


  • January 7, 2010  - Rick says:

    Elcid sitting in the stand during games and with Marty not winning pl;ayoff games alot of people were clamorring for his head. Want to talk about EGo’s Petersons ego wouldn’t allow him to keep Marty as Coach.I didn’t say one thing about Marty or Vermeil on sidelines I commented on Herm showing no emotion ever. Marty was a great motivator and if you watch nfl films he was always showing emotion to his players in a positive way. One thing interests me elcid do you have season tickets and if so how long? You can see so much more during a game I believe in person than watching it on TV.


  • January 7, 2010  - Jody says:

    There are no more Carl/Herm players they are all Haley’s now.


  • January 7, 2010  - Rick says:

    Smartest thing I have heard in awhile Jody


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