Hailing Haley's grill work? Hold on there, Chiefs
 

Hailing Haley's grill work? Hold on there, Chiefs

Jan. 21, 2009
By Ray Ratto
CBSSports.com Columnist


The most intriguing story of the early Super Bowl prep is actually a sidebar, which is a weird enough way to start what might be the weirdest Super Bowl ever.

It isn't the Arizona Cardinals overcoming decades of self-applied filth; that one was played out after they beat Carolina.

(From Kurt Warner to T.O., Todd Haley has proven he won't back down to any player.) [Photo caption]

It isn't Anquan Boldin, the Cardinals wide receiver who chose an odd time to pitch a nutty, and is already finding the best way to backtrack.

It is, in fact, the sidebar to the Boldin story -- the fast-developing cult of Todd Haley.

Haley, the Arizona offensive coordinator who snapped back at Boldin on the sidelines during the NFC title game, has become the new prettiest girl at the dance -- the coach who faces down the diva wide receiver by pitching an even more effusive nutty. Indeed, he is the first coach since his mentor, Bill Parcells, to announce loudly and publicly that he is not a "players' coach."

And that is resonating in ways that Haley's work as the offensive coordinator of the pass-happy Cardinals never did. That is resonating so much, in fact, that he is now considered the next coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, which must come as a surprise to Herman Edwards, the current coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Indeed, the diva receiver is already learning the joy of institutional recoil. Terrell Owens is wondering for the first time if Jerry Jones still has his back. Chad Johnson already took a hard scolding from the Cincinnati Bengals. Braylon Edwards, Steve Smith, Randy Moss ... they have all found the limits to their diva-hood, and the largely more conservative customer seems fine with it.

But Haley has become the first assistant coach to actually benefit from striking back, and though it isn't his first time, the fact that he was willing to take time out of his busy schedule to strike back in the most public of venues makes him the new hot flavor.

He and Owens had their issues during his time in Dallas, a fact that is getting him points now for telling truth to power when it wasn't popular. He also gets points for having gotten in Larry Fitzgerald's grill in the offseason and being acknowledged by Fitzgerald for having a considerable role in Fitzgerald's breakout. He has had his loud arguments with Kurt Warner and both have come out ahead for it. Edgerrin James hasn't liked the way he's been used, but he suddenly got the ball more often down the stretch when Arizona decided it actually needed more of a running game than Tim Hightower and J.J. Arrington could provide.

And he really gets points for saying, as though he were channeling Parcells himself, that he isn't a players' coach. People like that, and as long as they're not the ones being barked at, they want to see more of it.

The down side, of course, is that Parcells did his best yelling when he had good teams, and Haley hasn't been the first-yeller-in-chief yet. Were he to get the Chiefs job, he would be yelling at a bad roster, which goes only so far before it makes you look like a lunatic rather than a strong man. True, he and Larry Johnson probably wouldn't get on well, but Johnson's time in Kansas City always seems short anyway.

In short, Haley looks great now because he and his employers are talented and on a roll, the best time to look tough. Even though the Cardinals are playing it down as best they can, the cult of Haley is rolling on at the best time for any cult to grow and flourish.

But like Parcells, who had to turn around a bad Giants team to make his rep, we won't know if Todd Haley is the next big deal until he can take a bad team on his own and make it a winner under his name. And we will actually get a hint of that this week and next if he tries to play up his newfound image as though it were a brand. That would be a bad idea, and would expose him as being too manufactured and disingenuous.

No, Haley needs someone in his face to be the caricature. What we'll discover next Sunday is not whether he can yell at Steve Breaston, because he probably can, but whether he can outthink a tougher defense than any he's faced this year.

That goes a lot further than any vein in his neck ever will.

Good article...

not too shabby, not too shabby at all.

Not my coach of choice!

This is a good piece. Everyone loves a yeller until there's a losing streak. Then you become like Mangini (who people similarly fawned on) and the team quits on you. Parcelss softened considerably the longer his career went on.

To me Russ Grimm has a better resume. What he did with that line this year was amazing.

Parcells evidently loves the guy, and that's why he has a good chance of getting the job, I think.

Screaming at players was Gunther Cunningham's entire shtick, by the way, and everyone in town loved him for it.

Hiring an Oline coach to be a head coach just doesn't seem like a good idea to me and as far as Haley goes I would have issues hiring a coach that players don't even seem to respect.

This guy might be OK. Let's see if he can move the ball on the Steelers.

I like the idea of Haley as head coach. The Chiefs have sucked under "player's coaches." Vermeil and especially Herm coddle their shitty rosters. Guys become complacent and know that they aren't at risk of losing their jobs no matter how brutally they suck, because "it's okaaaay."

I think Haley would lay down the law, help Bowe break out, give LJ (who looks like he'll be back) a role that suits him, and improve the way the O-line functions. He's the kind of tough, hard-nosed coach that is representative of the players Pioli wants. He'd be a perfect fit for the new regime.

He calls the offensive PLAYS. He's not just the O-line coach.

All that respect for Herm got us 6 wins in the past two seasons and it's not like Boldin hasn't been being a sucktit the entire season there. I want a coach who tells the players you work for ME, not the other way around. These prima donna athletes need to get a grip AND the fans that support said behavior.

They are talking about him as possibly being the Chiefs coach on Around the Horn and PTI. Have we not heard something they have?

I agree with what you said but there is one thing that is important not to leave out IMO. He has to be able to coach up these young guys. Teaching this young team effectively is going to be the most important job this next regime is going to face. Marty was effective when he came in because he could teach players well. Hopefully Haley can do the same while still holding the players accountable for their actions on and off the field.

I think that was in response to the Russ Grimm comment that Zouk made.

I'll take Haley, Grimm, and Pendergast.
Thanks.

If so, my bad.

If Haley is indeed the HC prospect who would he look to for his DC? This position is the biggest concern IMO, almost as much as the HC position itself. Our Defense is going to need an incredible turnaround simply for the sake and morale of the players themselves IMO.

I would say going to the Super Bowl qualifies for coaching the players up.

Uh no, the OL coach was in reference to the guy bringing up Russ Grimm..

My gripe with Haley is you can be a tough coach and all that but players have to want to play for you, you can't make guys hate you.

What the hell is going on?

Have people just accepted that Chris Collinsworth has inside info, or have more sources come to the surface saying that we are expected to hire Haley as the head coach?

Sorry if old news, I've been out of the loop all day.

I haven't, but nothing wrong with speculating about the possiblity and finding out more about a potential HC canidate is there?

I think that goes back to what Pioli was saying in getting players in here who mesh with the head coach's personality. Not everyone loved Bellichik either until his second stint when he started winning in New England and adjusted his attitude a bit...

Nope, They were just playing off of the Collinsworth comments yesterday.

Everything on there is a day late.

I agree with that sentiment, but I believe a coach should have more authority than any player. Boldin showed his ass the other day and I don't fault Haley in the least.

The problem is these athletes are millionaires and some are prima donnas, who don't take direction very well. I think Tom Coughlin is a perfect example of being a hard-nosed coach, who doesn't take any shit and I think that discipline pay divendends for the team. If a player can't take direction, they are worth keeping around in the first place.

Of course not, I wasn't complaining about people talking about it.

But is this article simply in reference to Collinsworth's idle speculation from yesterday about Haley possibly being KC's head coach?

Until more info comes out, or even an anonymous source says something, it seems like much ado about nothing.

Tom Coughlin is the kind of guy that can only coach in a place for so long...

By the end of his stay in Jacksonville the entire team hated him and basically refused to play for him. Fred Taylor admitted he would milk injuries and sit out extra games because of how much he hated Coughlin.

What a fuggtard, why would you admit to something like that. I don't care how much you hate the guy, you're getting paid to do a job.

Then he's one of those prima-donna pricks, I was referring to. I realize people don't like hard-ass bosses, but I don't see Haley that way. I see him as somebody who does his job, but won't back down from some punk ass athlete who gets in his face. The millions of dollars and passion for the game should be enough to motivate these guys.

It's about playing for the game, isn't it? Screw the coach. What are you bringing to the game, that asks from you, what the play is called? The game is what drives players. If the game itself doesn't drive the player, then his ass needs to ride the pine.

I'm sure Bowe is saying, "I'll have what he's having," regarding Fitzgerald.

I figured I could add a Cardinals fans perspective here.

1) Some feel Haley won't work well with a non-successful team, but he did well with Arizona which wasn't exactly .. well Arizona.. when he got there. We were 5-11 and some of the players playing well now were not then. The coaches called Fitz a one trick pony when they got here because all he did was the jump ball, never caught it in stride or ran like he does after the tackle now. A lot of the Fitz who the world is finding out about comes from our coaches.

2) We aren't all that happy with Grimm right now. The numbers don't tell the story, our O-line has been pretty damn bad. Warner is excellent at getting rid of the ball which makes them look better, but our top 5 pick Levi looks like he might be bench-bound. our RG has sucked, plain and simple. our center has been good but is not a world-beater by any standards (and he was a lucky find, a UDFA), the only guys playing well are our left side (Mike Gandy who has surprised with his play and Reggie Wells, who played well in the 'let em off the hook' era).

3) Haley and Warner are known to argue with each other, but more is made of it than needed. Warner is a firey guy who gets upset whenever anything goes wrong, and more often than not he is upset at himself. He also is almost like a coach on the field, often times Haley will call the Blocking and let Warner call the rest of the play. Haley impressed me with his ability to let go of that control.

4) Us Cards fans don't much like Cris "Arizona is still the worst playoff team ever" Collinsworth

5) I wouldn't expect anything else from a guy going to the super bowl in 2 weeks, but this seems like more than just a I like my job here. “I really, and I’m not just saying this, I love my job here, I really do,” Haley said Monday, sitting in his office. “Everybody loves to get patted on the back or told they do a good job, but the attention isn’t something I am super comfortable with. I just told (head coach Ken Whisenhunt) I love my job here. I live in a great place, I have five kids and the thought of me moving or doing something else isn’t at the forefront for me.”

And for what its worth, most Cards fans don't want to lose Haley, we like him and as a whole think he would be successful as a H.C. and that its only a matter of time until he is one somewhere.

Yeah, I could tell how much the Giant's players hated him right after that Super Bowl win....

Thanks for the input.

Gotta say, it must be nice to have a coach on your team that you actually wouldn't want to lose.

I can't remember what that feels like.

I know I wouldn't mind getting Krumrie. Plus, Herm and Denny Green aren't that different in their effect on their teams. Denny helped provide Zona with a lot of the current talent, but couldn't coach or gameplan worth anything. There is a lot of young talent on KC, add a good coach and Coordinators who can gameplan well and you will be dangerous very soon.

Trust me, you don't want Krumrie.

But you can have him.


Please, take him.

I agree with the quoted post.

If he and Pioli have an excellent repoire, I see no reason they can't get the right people in place to BE PROFESSIONALS, get the job done, and win. If players quit playing for a coach, they are not being professional and should be looking for another job.

Heh, my roommate is a chiefs fan and has always spoken highly of him, figured the issues this season were personnel not coaching.. well in that case, no time better than now for a clean wipe.

Todd Haley has a history of developing good WRs as a WRs coach with the NY Jets (Keyshawn Johnson and Wayne Cherbet), and Chicago Bears (Marty Booker had his two best seasons when Haley as the WRs coach in Chicago).

The potential risk with Haley is the risk you would take hiring any assistant coach who has never been an NFL head coach IMO. I don't put too much stock into his blow-up with Boldin, because Boldin has been a pain in Arizona's ass all season with his unhappiness over his contract.

Well, if Haley turns out to be the guy Pioli is after, we have another week and a half of rumor-mongering and speculation to deal with.:banghead:

Hey, don't underrate the Chiefs. You can have another week and a half of rumor-mongering and speculation to deal with even if Haley is NOT the guy!

Haley said in an article that he doesn't wanna leave, he's comfortable in Arizona and has a big family and doesn't want to move them.