Mellinger: Enough’s enough: Clark Hunt must make major changes now
 

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/30...hunt-must.html

Enough’s enough: Clark Hunt must make major changes now

By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star

The Chiefs lost their last bit of reasonable hope in a loss so head-shakingly embarrassing it pushed this season from merely awful to pathetic, and some rich men are going to lose their jobs over this.

They need to, anyway, or else a fan base that deserves better is suffering for no reason. If this season were a meal, you’d send it back. Or end up really sick.

Either way, you wouldn’t go back to the restaurant, and that’s the part that has the legs to create some real change after only a few of the Chiefs’ closest friends stuck around to see the end of an embarrassing 37-20 loss to the Chargers at home on Sunday.

Because this is beyond hope, beyond excuses, beyond any explanation that isn’t a fireable offense for everyone who can be fired. This is gross, and imagining it improving requires a stiff imagination or a stiffer drink.

Romeo Crennel needs to fire Matt Cassel as the starting quarterback, because Cassel is now not only bad but hopeless.

Pioli needs to fire Crennel, because he’s building a convincing case as the worst head coach in the league.

And Clark Hunt needs to fire Pioli, because every stitch of progress with this roster is undermined by fundamental flaws in quarterback, head coach and philosophy that are a direct reflection of the general manager and serve as something like a parking brake on the franchise’s stated goal of winning championships.

The argument to make major changes goes something like this: Crennel is overmatched trying to be head coach and defensive coordinator, and a roster top-heavy with stars but lacking in depth cannot drag a leaking quarterback through today’s pass-happy NFL. Pioli has not earned the right to choose the next quarterback or a third head coach.

The argument to maintain status quo goes something like this: hey, it’s the NFL, and maybe the Chiefs can get really, really, really lucky.

Tickets are already sold for games that are already scheduled, so the Chiefs will go ahead and play out the last three-fourths of a meaningless season, but by now the only drama is whether games will be blacked out, how bad Cassel has to stink before he gets benched, and whether a bumbling product that’s now lost three games by two touchdowns or more will be enough to convince Hunt that his broken franchise needs major fixes.

That win last week in New Orleans felt good for a moment, like a candy bar for that afternoon crash, but we’re going to end up remembering it as empty calories keeping the Chiefs from a higher draft pick – a pick that needs to be made by whomever Hunt hires after he fires Pioli.

Because, enough. We’ve seen enough. The quarterback hand-picked and made apparently untouchable by Pioli’s faith and New England nostalgia has been booed in both stadiums at Truman Sports Complex and now has 10 turnovers in four games.

Pioli’s Chiefs continue to spit into the NFL’s wind, and the franchise’s fans deserve better than to slog through a 19th consecutive season without a playoff win while wasting more productive years from Tamba Hali, Dwayne Bowe, Justin Houston and the other good players stuck in a slogging Process that might max out at mediocre.

A roster so galvanized 10 months ago by its beloved Romeo is now a stumbling mess, three blowout losses in four tries, only a comeback win over one of the few organizations in football with less direction keeping them from being winless.

Cassel isn’t up to the demands of championship quarterback, and it’s not his fault that his bosses are slow to recognize he’s just good enough to get beat. Crennel is now 27-44 as a head coach, and Pioli still hasn’t been in charge of a playoff win without Tom Brady starting at quarterback.

Four years into what seemed like a great idea at the time, Pioli’s teams have an 0-1 postseason record and are working on a third disaster in four years.

Pioli is on record saying Cassel can be good enough to win a title. Everything he’s done here for four years is based on that belief, and with that evaluation so obviously wrong, there is no way Hunt can responsibly give him the chance to choose the next quarterback.

At this point, the worst thing that can happen is that the Chiefs win enough games to hold off major changes and strive for mediocrity one more year and waste more of the careers of players under long-term control who can be part of the solution.

The good news is it’s hard to imagine them doing even that.

When you think about it, this about the worst position a team can put its fans in: hoping for a season so bad it forces changes. Here comes Hunt’s chance to show Chiefs fans he shares their disgust in an underperforming team and won’t accept failure.

Your move, Clark.

To reach Sam Mellinger, call 816-234-4365, send e-mail to smellinger@kcstar.com or follow twitter.com/mellinger. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.

Ignore the other thread. This is formatted better. :p

Wait till Baltimore bitch slaps this team next week.

Bump

Dude has to be a poster here, and that was spot on.

Mellinger must not have got the memo on Cassel's passing feat from Pioli. Mellinger probably doen't know we have the #1 offense in the NFL either.

Funny, he's saying all the same things that have been said here for the last 3 years

Hell some of us have said before Pioli and Cassel even made it to Kansas City.

Nice article. I don't think the Clark or Pioli care though. Prove it if you do.

Clark's counting his $'s and figures he stands to make millions more with a shittier team before he has to make any moves.

Way to plink it out, SAM.

Good find SK. I can only hope this is the chemotherapy we need to rid our franchise of the cancer.

But I'll only believe we are in remission if we actually TRY to draft a franchise QB

Let's not get crazy here. clrak probably doesn't even know how many goals were scored today

Hunt and Pioli will remain silent this week just as they have with the others. Clark cares more about $ and Pioli is making him that $.

People keep coming around to my mindset. Good! But this falls one layer short....Clark needs to fall on his sword and admit he has no clue about anything but draining a trust fund! It must be funny watching the Hunt herd out in town downplaying where their coin comes from. If they are forced to fess-up, they must just cringe when they have to finally admit what team their family owns... LOL, I'd make sure everybody knew and we could all point and laugh...

So you think he is losing $ huh?

Sam nailed this.

The quarterback hand-picked and made apparently untouchable by Pioli’s faith and New England nostalgia has been booed in both stadiums at Truman Sports Complex and now has 10 turnovers in four games.


Priceless

Its become Land of the Lost. With Sleestak & Pakuni's

LMAO

I'm sure he drained his trust fund years ago - like his paid-for alternate wives drain him these days. Now he's living on the millions the team gives him each year.

The Chiefs season is OVER IN SEPTEMBER. Way to go Scott Pioli - You IDIOT.LMAO

I honestly think this is getting bigger than last years debacle that cost Haley his job.

Lets hope so.

Bravo

He will probably have Crennel saying the old company line "We are 0-0 in the second quarter of the season" crap at tomorrow's presser.

I said 1-5 at the bye and was laughed at. Not necessarily by CP'rs but co workers, family etc.

Not to poop in everyone's chef boyar dee, but don't we play the Ravens next week?

It seems unfair to partake in such a contest when the anus isn't completely healed

God I hope so. Pioli is an idiot

Nice article, lets hope it gets through to Clark so pissholy, crennel and casshole stop doing this to us every week

NSFW

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I've seen college freshmen write better than this. The subjects are unclear, and the sentences are awkward. It's not like he's trying to explain something very complicated. He just doesn't know whether to combine clauses or make new sentences.

I was gonna say man. Most of us felt a 1-5 start was inevitable. Looks like we were right.

WOW! Dead on target. Nobody with can argue with any of that, not even the slubs at One Arrowhead Drive. It will probably fall on deaf ears or not even be read as I truly believe Clark does not care about the Chiefs that much. Cassel is Pioli's biggest fugg up and at this point he may as well listen to the fans and bench him but he won't tell RC that. He must hang on to his ego. I fully expect the Ravens to end any doubt even in Pioli's mind that Matt can't be the starter.

This is truly pathedic.

Most of the people reading it don't know how to do any of that shit either.

Outstanding article. Hopefully it reaches Clark and sinks in.

:LOL:

I don't put the blame on Clark.

He spent the money to bring in the guy that seemed like the best candidate and paid top dollar to do so. He has also spent a ****ton of cash on players Pioli chose.

Pioli traded for Cassel and made the bold move of giving him that reeruned contract and has refused to even try to upgrade from an obviously failed move. Then, slaps the fanbase in the face with lies about competition, insults to the fanbases inteligence like the release about Cassels stats and allowing the coaching staff to be undermanned every ****ing year with MAJOR holes and refusing to make necessary changes across the board.

In a normal situation, Pioli would only be responsible for certain aspects, but this isnt a normal situation. Pioli has tried to micromanage every part of the team and therefore should be held completely responsible for his across the board failures.

It's a shame...if the bitch had hedged his bets with Orton...the season might have been salvegable.

Honestly all we need to do is replace Pioli. A new GM will most assuredly can Crennel and Cassel.

I don't blame Clark for bringing in Pioli. I don't blame him for OK-ing the Haley hire, nor the Crennel hire. I blame him for continuing to watch the embarrassment that is Matt Cassel and not stepping in in any way, shape, or form.

I would hope that people around here would know me as a pretty even-keel guy who doesn't get too high or too low on the team easily. I'm considering doing something I haven't done in over 15 years - skipping watching games intentionally. I just don't see the point until a TON of things change.

That's true. Even if they liked both of them, they'd almost be forced into getting rid of them both just for the PR.

Fans not showing up will sink in. This was a good article, but I think the other article the Star had up that quoted fans coming out of the stadium saying that they won't be back next week or will be looking to dump their season tickets is more telling.

I'll give Pioli one thing: he's managed to build a team that's not just good enough to keep people's interests. He's instead built one of the most boring and inept franchises in all of football, and people will easily lose interest in this team and stay home. And that is what Clark will notice...

Exactly. I think Pioli's built a much better team than he gets credit here for.
What's hilarious is that we know this team turns from shit show by making three key moves. Fine for Pioli to trade for Cassel, but he should have had competition in year 2 and he should have been canned last year. No excuse for hiring Romeo. No excuse for hiring Daboll.

And the only reason Pioli didn't make those moves is arrogance.

I'm seriously thinking about skipping next week's game and going to see "Looper."

got off reddedit, says its from ESPN

Is it time to replace Matt Cassel?
September 30, 2012 8:09:43 PM PDT
By Bill Williamson

KANSAS CITY -- It is officially dump Matt Cassel season in Kansas City.

Cassel has never been overly popular in Kansas City. The Chiefs’ playoff-hungry fan base has wished their team were in the hands of a more dynamic quarterback ever since Tom Brady’s injury replacement came to Kansas City along with general manager Scott Pioli in 2009.

My mailbag was flooded by Kansas City fans demanding Cassel’s benching Sunday, and I’m sure the subject will be the main course for columnists and talk radio in the Heartland in the wake of an embarrassing offensive showing by the Chiefs in a 37-20 defeat to San Diego on Sunday.

Expect pressure on Cassel to grow until he is either removed as the team’s quarterback or the team decides to move away from him after the season.

Much was expected from Kansas City this year, but with a quarter of the season over, playoff hopes are starting to fade as Cassel and the Chiefs are now 1-3. The Chiefs have been outscored by a league-worst 77 points in the first quarter, they haven’t scored a touchdown on their opening drive since the 2010 season and they are the only team this season never to play with the lead.

After an inspired overtime win at New Orleans in Week 3, the Chiefs had the chance to tie San Diego for first in the AFC West. But Kansas City quickly showed themselves, the Chargers and their antsy fans that they were not ready to become a first-place team. Kansas City, which finished with six turnovers, committed three turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 17-0. Cassel threw three interceptions as the Chiefs were suffocated by a much improved, dangerous San Diego defense.

The truth is that the Chiefs' offensive line gave Cassel little time to work and Kansas City’s running backs lost three fumbles, including two by beloved running back Jamaal Charles.

Kansas City right tackle Eric Winston said Sunday's poor performance was a failure by all 11 offensive players. He also believes “a couple” of Chiefs will likely take the brunt from the media. While Winston didn’t say Cassel’s name, it's clear he's expecting to hear calls for Cassel’s removal.

Winston is right. It has already started. Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel was asked after the game if he is considering a quarterback change, and Cassel was asked about it in his media session that lasted less than 90 seconds Sunday. Crennel said he is not considering a change. He said he stuck with Charles despite his fumbles and he is sticking with his quarterback.

I spoke to former Kansas City running back Jackie Battle about Cassel, and he expects it to be a tough week for his former teammate.

“I don’t think people were always fair to Matt (in Kansas City),” Battle said. “I like Matt. He can do a lot of things. He was my leader when I was with the Chiefs.”

San Diego safety Eric Weddle said he thinks Cassel is “super athletic” and capable of winning games, but he acknowledged that falling behind 20-0 is tough on any quarterback.

Week 4 Coverage - Hensley: Are Bengals for real?

- Williamson: Time to replace Cassel?

- Kuharsky: Texans' secondary is hot

- Yasinskas: Ryan leads comeback win

- Walker: Bills 'embarrassing' in loss

- Kuharsky: Titans spark rushing revival

- Hensley: Ravens rise with resiliency

- Clayton: 5 things about ref deal

- Week 4 scoreboard

- Monday Night HQ
“Next week, he will come out and be great and he will silence the critics,” Weddle said. “That’s the way it is with quarterbacks.”

I think Crennel believes that and that’s why he is sticking with Cassel. Here’s another reason why Crennel won’t make a move: Who would be Cassel’s replacement? The basis of any position change -- especially one as colossal as quarterback -- is the belief in the replacement.

Does anybody believe Brady Quinn would be a better option than Cassel? What about second-year third stringer Ricky Stanzi? Are either of these players capable of turning the Chiefs around?

If you think so, you’re fooling yourself, but rational thinking is often thrown out the door when a team hasn’t won a playoff game in 19 years.

If Cassel is pulled this early in the season, it will be a shame. He is the only quarterback available who gives this team a chance to win. He hasn’t been awful this season. Yes, he had a poor showing Sunday. But so did the rest of the offense. This offense was the No. 1-ranked offense in the NFL through three weeks and Cassel was a big reason why the Chiefs won at New Orleans. After Week 3, Cassel was a respectable No. 16 in ESPN’s Total QBR.

Teams bench quarterbacks when they are completely lost. Cassel is not lost. He is just not good enough right now to be the difference-maker, a reason why this could be his last season in Kansas City.

The Chiefs have the makings of a good program and they have a lot of talent. If they don’t make the playoffs and Cassel’s play doesn’t improve, I’m sure the team will seriously consider making a move and drafting a quarterback.

That is fair. If Cassel can win this year, then wait to make the change. The Chiefs decided to build around him this year. If it doesn’t work, it’s time to pull the plug on him. Just don’t do it now.

I think Pioli should have his scouts jump inside USC QB Matt Barkley’s mind. They must find out everything they can about West Virginia’s Geno Smith, Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson and Tennessee’s Tyler Bray.

It’s definitely time for the Chiefs to be thinking about a different quarterback for the future other than Cassel. But the future is not now.

To be fair, every Chiefs QB besides Montana and Dawson have been booed in this town outside of Arrowhead stadium.

I disagree with the bolded part. What is the point in paying Pioli if he will dictate to him what QB starts? You can't be ok with whom Pioli picks as HC and then question his choice at QB. This needs to be the season where Clark started it by saying "You pinned your hopes on Cassel Scott. If he fails you will be fired." Now did any of that happen? Doubt it, but I respect Clark not micro managing those who work for him. Now I think he needs to fire Pioli after this season after 4 years of mediocrity.

This fanbase has shown to be loyal, even during bad years.

What we WON'T do is continue to buy a product from people that think we aren't deserving of information about the team and outright lying to us.

Battle drank bleach as a child

I can't believe this team has lost six of their last seven at home...

Correct. Pioli was the best GM candidate at the time. All of the NFL wanted him.

But now 4 years later, his decision to keep him would be his fault and held accountable.

Which ones didn't deserve it?

Forgive me if I don't hold my breath on that one.

Sounds like Mr. Bill Williamson is another writer who doesn't actually watch the games.

FAX

No, he wasn't. He was Peter Princilped into the position. I find cHunt completely guilty of not performing his proper due diligence.

Absolutely.

The move NEEDS to be made this offseason, too. Clark needs to be decisive.

This should be a desirable spot for any prospective GM.

All he would need to do is draft a good quarterback and hire a good HC and then hit a few doubles in the draft...beyond that he would just need to do his best to keep the talent in house.

Good managers step in when their subordinates are clearly struggling. That's not micro-managing. From what we've seen, Clark's idea of managing is paying and running away.

Reported.

What GM did he miss on that actually moved on and succeeded somewhere else?

Let's not act as if Hunt hired a guy that everyone knew was gonna fail because that wouldn't be the truth.

There's going to be plenty of rectal trauma for sure.

Eric Weddle is an idiot.

When Clark Hunt picks up the Dallas Morning News tomorrow am and reads the recap of today's game...

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Didn't Seattle offer Pioli the job without even meeting with him?

Mother flippers I'm tired of losing.

Clark's first move should be to fire himself.

LMAO

Well, Dimitroff for one. Even in 2009, DeCosta was my guy (and a few others here as well).

Pioli's draft record, whether he had final say or not, sucked. His record in free agency was garbage. Hell, he didn't even want Brady in 2000.

Pioli was the "name" but if anyone had bothered to look deeper, you have seen, as I did, many, many flaws.

Too bad I was right.

Pretty early in the season for this level of vitriol.

Me likey.

I don't know what major changes could be made at this point other than Cassel being benched or Gibbs being named the DC.

Or fire them which is what I am hoping he does after this season.

Great article by Sam.

It would be criminal to waste another year of Bowe, Hali, Charles, etc.

We need a rookie QB NOW.

A new GM could hopefully get Bowe signed, too. Provided the new GM is not a complete ****ing reerun.

FYP

Well, cHunt could fire Pioli and put the assistant GM in charge, who may or may not replace Romeo.

There's no way Pioli fires Crennel seven games into his tenure. But someone else could.

He's still available so here's hoping he is our GM next year.

This. Even though Dimitroff was hired a year before. But New England's draft record from 2004 to 2008 was ****ing horrible and main reason why alot of us wanted nothing to do with New England's style of building a team which was mainly getting lucky as hell with Brady.

It would be a pointless move.

Everyone can see Pioli needs to GTFO.

Just cut off the head. Pioli dies, so do Crennel and Cassel.

Unfortunately, he's been locked up long term for big bucks. He won't leave Baltimore.

I'm starting to hate Matt Cassel as a person.

I really liked the Pioli hire.

Of course, I had no idea he was this dumb.

Damn, who else is out there?

Pioli isn't going anywhere, unfortunately.

I don't think it would be pointless to fire Pioli and replace him with Joel Collier. Collier would likely fire Crennel and Cassel.

LMAOLMAO

Dimitroff was in 2008 and took over a team with a pick high enough to take a franchise quarterback.

If Bill Parcells took Ryan in instead of Long, who knows if Dimitroff fails just as hard.

Decosta was my choice, too...but he didn't go anywhere. He stayed in Baltimore.