Teicher: Chiefs coach Haley finding out it’s not easy making the decisions...

[DaWolf]

Chiefs coach Haley finding out it’s not easy making the decisions

During his 12 years as an assistant coach, the critical game decisions that a head coach has to make always looked simple to Todd Haley.

“When I was an assistant,” Haley said Monday, “I had all the answers.”

Those answers are proving more elusive to Haley in his first year as the Chiefs’ head coach. Many of his game decisions have been puzzling, and not merely because they haven’t worked out in Kansas City’s favor.

“It’s difficult,” Haley acknowledged. “Ultimately, you’re responsible for how they all turn out.”

The latest examples of Haley’s questionable game management came in Sunday’s 16-10 win over the Raiders in Oakland. With the Chiefs in easy field-goal range for kicker Ryan Succop, Haley ordered the Chiefs to try and convert on fourth and 1 in the third quarter and with a three-point lead.

The play failed when quarterback Matt Cassel threw an incomplete pass. The three points they didn’t get from a field-goal attempt could have come in handy against a low-scoring team like the Raiders.

All head coaches wrestle with such decisions. New England’s Bill Belichick was roundly criticized for having the Patriots try to convert on fourth and 2 in their end of the field late in Sunday’s game against Indianapolis rather than punt and make the Colts go the long field for a game-winning touchdown.

The Patriots failed to convert, and the Colts won after taking possession with favorable field position. (Story, B3.)

But Belichick has three Super Bowl wins on his head coaching résumé. Haley is still trying to find his way, and this part of his coaching game is — to use a term he favors in many situations — a work in progress.

“I’m learning, and those decisions until you’re actually the guy having to make those decisions on a game basis … you learn through experience,” he said.

Haley said he was most upset about his decision to have Succop try a 52-yard field goal in the third quarter. Succop missed the kick, and the Raiders used the favorable field position to try a field goal of their own.

That one missed, so the Chiefs lost nothing. But Haley is still haunted by it.

“I was on the walkie-talkie deal telling the (assistant) coaches, ‘Why didn’t somebody tell me to punt?’ ” Haley said. “That was the one that I should have thought out a little clearer. We had a chance to change field position or keep field position in our favor. If we could have pinned them there and got the ball back in good field position, then we could have really turned the game.”

Haley said he relies on some of the assistant coaches for advice when making critical decisions. But sideline squabbles between Haley and his assistants have been common this season, the latest being a profanity-laced shouting match with running-backs coach Maurice Carthon on Sunday.

Those quarrels suggest the assistants may not be comfortable disagreeing with Haley and telling him things he doesn’t want to hear, though Haley disagreed.

“Yeah, especially some of them,” Haley said. “(Carthon) is the most important guy I have, no disrespect to anyone else, and somebody I’ve looked up to from the first day we’ve ever been around each other. We’re friends, and we’ve worked together a bunch. We’re both emotional and passionate guys.”

Before coming to the Chiefs, Haley worked as an assistant with several of the coaches on his current staff, including Carthon, defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and special-teams coach Steve Hoffman, plus position coaches Gary Gibbs (linebackers) and Bill Muir (offensive line).

One feature that his staff lacks, though, is a former NFL head coach to advise him through such decisions. Chan Gailey was the head coach for the Cowboys for two seasons in the late 1990s, but he was fired by Haley during the preseason.

As things stand now, among Haley’s staff only Gibbs has head coaching experience, that coming in college at Oklahoma more than a decade ago.

“I don’t think that’s a necessity,” Haley said. “I think it’s a luxury or a bonus if you have it. There are enough guys on our staff that I really, really rely on and respect their thoughts in all of those situations.”