Steelers know that Chiefs game is huge for Haley
By RAY FITTIPALDO
Special to The Star
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley walked off the practice field Thursday afternoon and headed toward a group of reporters for his weekly press briefing. As he approached, a Steelers spokesperson playfully asked if there were any questions.
Yes, there would be questions this week.
The Steelers and Chiefs play Monday night at Heinz Field in a contest pitting Haley against his former team for the first time since he was fired last December.
Haley downplayed the meeting, but his players told a different story.
“He’s a little geeked up; he’s a little juiced,” receiver Mike Wallace said.
Everyone associated with the Steelers knows this is a big week for Haley. Head coach Mike Tomlin sneaked behind the pack of reporters when Haley was talking and smiled widely as he listened in for a few moments.
It was Tomlin who took Haley’s phone call out of the blue last January after dismissing offensive coordinator Bruce Arians following a disappointing playoff loss in Denver. Haley and Tomlin didn’t know each other well, but Haley wanted the job.
Tomlin gave it to him even though Haley’s time in Kansas City had been marred by on-field failures and off-field drama that included accusations that Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli had bugged his office.
After a playoff appearance in 2010, the Chiefs were 5-8 last season when Pioli dismissed Haley. He left his first head-coaching gig with a 19-26 record and the embarrassment of not being allowed to finish the season he started.
“I’m very proud, No. 1, of the things myself and the players were able to accomplish,” Haley said. “I thought we made a lot of progress. Even taking the 2010 division win (into) the equation, last year is the year I’m most proud of because we had difficult circumstances, losing three really good players early in the year and starting as poorly as we did. We battled back and won four games in a row, which is hard to do in this league. We hung in there and beat Chicago on the road with our third-team quarterback.
“I’m proud of my players from that time. I have a lot of really good feelings toward all of them. There are good memories.”
Haley spoke glowingly of his former players, but did not mention anyone in the Chiefs’ front office during his 10-plus minute session with reporters. When asked if he would have done anything different to avoid his fate, Haley shifted the focus to his present-day employer.
“I’ve moved on,” he said. “I’m really happy to be a part of this great organization and what is a tight-knit family. It’s a unique environment that is hard to find. I know the Chiefs have moved on. I have a lot of fond memories and I’m proud of things that were accomplished. And I think we came a long way in three years from where we started.”
Haley went back to his roots when he landed in Pittsburgh. His father, Dick, is a western Pennsylvania native and served as the player personnel director with the Steelers from 1971-1990. Dick Haley oversaw the talented rosters that coach Chuck Noll led to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s.
Todd spent his summers as a ball boy at training camps in nearby Latrobe, Pa. He traveled with the teams to Super Bowls and rubbed elbows with Hall of Famers.
Haley’s transition to the Steelers has been helped by the presence of at least one future Hall of Fame player on his offense. After a rocky start, franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has taken to Haley’s offense — even though he called it “dink and dunk” two weeks ago.
Roethlisberger, who had a close relationship with Arians, doesn’t have much reason to complain. The Steelers are riding a three-game winning streak and are in contention for another playoff berth.
Haley is receiving credit for his role in the team’s turnaround. The Steelers rank in the top half of the league in almost every statistical category.
After the running game was in shambles early in the season, the Steelers have produced three consecutive 100-yard games by running backs for the first time in nearly five years. Third-string running back Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 122 and 107 in back-to-back weeks before getting injured against the Redskins. Second-string back Isaac Redman returned from injury and carried the load against the Giants last week, rushing for 147 yards.
“Right now, he’s playing to our strengths,” Redman said. “He’s not stuck in his ways. When things weren’t working in the beginning of the season, he went ahead and started using the runs we used last year. So he’s not opposed to changing what he does to make our team better. I feel like that’s what’s making us a better team right now.”
Haley came to the Steelers with the reputation of being a fiery coach whose abrasiveness sometimes rubbed his players the wrong way. Roethlisberger spoke of one minor run-in with Haley in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month. But there is no evidence of a rift with Roethlisberger or any of his other players.
In fact, Haley has acquiesced to them. Roethlisberger went to Haley early in the season and asked him to incorporate certain signals and plays from Arians’ offense into Haley’s playbook. Haley allowed their input and now fuses old and new into his play-calling.
“That was the question,” Redman said. “Were we going to bump heads like that if we needed to implement a couple of things that we were already comfortable with before he got here? He wasn’t opposed to it at all.”
The Steelers are 5-3 as they get set to begin the second half of their season against the 1-7 Chiefs. A strong finish is needed after some early missteps, when they blew second-half leads against the Broncos, Raiders and Titans.
Haley insists this game holds the same significance as any of the other seven remaining games on the schedule.
His players know better.
“Yesterday he spoke a little bit,” Redman said. “You could tell he had a little extra. He really wants to go out there and get this win. You know it means a lot more to him.”