Chiefs Teicher: Chiefs’ Hunt isn’t discouraged

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-21-2009, 10:49 PM

Chiefs’ Hunt isn’t discouraged
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

The developments with his team’s AFC West rival in Denver haven’t escaped Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt. He’s seen the Broncos — who embarked on their own rebuilding project last winter after ousting longtime coach Mike Shanahan and replacing him with Josh McDaniels — shock the NFL by jumping to a 6-0 start.

But Hunt insisted in an interview Wednesday that no part of him looks at Denver’s success and wonders: Why not the Chiefs?

While disappointed in Kansas City’s 1-5 record, Hunt said he’s not discouraged about where the Chiefs are headed or their ability to catch and even surpass the Broncos someday.

“The difference is, if you look at their team a year ago, they were 8-8 and could have been a lot better,” Hunt said. “We were 2-14. They came into the year with more talent, significantly more talent, than the Chiefs. Would I like to be in their shoes? Yes. Does it make sense they’re 6-0? Probably on some level it does. That’s what we’re aspiring to be, and I’m confident we have the leadership and the coaching staff to get us to that level.

“As we looked at our schedule, we recognized that the first couple of months of the season had the potential to be difficult for us, especially coming in with a new head coach, a new defensive coordinator, effectively a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback. It’s met our expectations in terms of being difficult. Anytime we don’t win, we’re disappointed, but in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been pleased with the progress we’ve seen.

“I did not expect this to be easy. But I’m not at all discouraged. I feel very comfortable with both Scott Pioli and Todd Haley. I think in the two of them, we have the right leaders to get us through this transition and to a period where we’ll be very successful.”

That doesn’t make the interim more pleasant for Chiefs fans, who watched their team break a nine-game losing streak with Sunday’s 14-6 win over Washington.

Even with the victory, the Chiefs are five games behind the Broncos with less than half a season played. Denver’s achievements are perhaps a sign that the Chiefs could have done more to salvage this season while not jeopardizing their chances for long-term success.

Building a program that annually competes for division and league championships was Hunt’s goal when he overhauled the organization by replacing general manager Carl Peterson with Pioli and coach Herm Edwards with Haley.

“When you’re struggling, you think about those types of things: Was there something more we would have done?” Hunt said. “Just thinking back to the decisions that were made from a player personnel standpoint, Scott and I discussed them extensively, and I thought his reasoning for making moves or not making moves were well-founded, so I really don’t want to second-guess that. I think we made the right decisions. They are decisions that are designed for the long term.”

The Chiefs would surely be closer to the Broncos if not for the trades sending Jared Allen to Minnesota and Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta. Allen is third in the NFL in sacks for the 6-0 Vikings; Gonzalez has 23 catches and three touchdowns for the 4-1 Falcons.

For Allen, the Chiefs received draft picks they turned into Branden Albert, Jamaal Charles and DaJuan Morgan. All are still trying to establish themselves. The Chiefs received a 2010 second-round pick for Gonzalez.

“When we traded those players, we knew they were excellent players and, particularly in Jared’s case, in the prime of their careers,” Hunt said. “We expected Jared to go to Minnesota and Tony to go to Atlanta and have a tremendous amount of success. The circumstances were different but the judgment was the same that at the time, those were the best decisions for our organization.

“In the short run, we knew both trades would look like they didn’t make sense. We traded them for draft picks, and it takes three to four years for those players to get into their primes. So I don’t think you can second-guess. At some point down the road, everybody will be able to look back and say they were good trades or not good trades.”

The Chiefs and Broncos each hired a young, offensive-minded career assistant to be the head coach. McDaniels in Denver and Haley in Kansas City had to make significant changes to their respective cultures, McDaniels from the Shanahan era and Haley from 20 years of the Peterson administration.

Haley also became the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator during the preseason after firing Chan Gailey.

“Todd is an incredibly focused, incredibly driven head coach, someone who is very established in terms of his convictions about the right way to build a football team,” Hunt said. “He’s juggling a lot of responsibilities, but I’ve been impressed with his play-calling. His willingness to take on that role told me quite a bit about him, that he feels so strongly about getting it right that he was willing to take a significant amount of personal risk by running the offense as well as serving as the head coach.”

Hunt said he’s not concerned that Haley is overloaded as a rookie head coach and offensive coordinator.

“I’ve not seen any signs of that, other than maybe some bags under his eyes,” Hunt said. “I think there was a chance he could have been overloaded. I think he’s done an excellent job of juggling those responsibilities. His game management for the most part has been very good.

“I haven’t seen mistakes in terms of managing timeouts and end-of-game and end-of-half scenarios. There were risks we would have that with the responsibilities he’s carrying, but he’s done very well with that.”

orange · 10-21-2009, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teicher

The Chiefs would surely be closer to the Broncos if not for the trades sending Jared Allen to Minnesota...

That was 2008, Adam. That's one mistake you can't hang on Scott Pioli.

Get over it.

kcxiv · 10-22-2009, 12:53 AM

Clark is right. Denver has tons more talent then we do. They have some good players on that team.

sportsman1 · 10-22-2009, 01:26 AM

The o-line problem has to be fixed before we can even judge any other sort of progress. We need stability there to gauge the offense. There have been some positives on D.

**cdcox** · 10-22-2009, 01:56 AM

Some gems in this one:

"Does it make sense they’re 6-0? Probably on some level it does."

"It’s met our expectations in terms of being difficult."

"I think we made the right decisions."

Also I find it strange that he'd use end of half game management as the prime indicator if someone is overloaded or not.

**cdcox** · 10-22-2009, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

That was 2008, Adam. That's one mistake you can't hang on Scott Pioli.

Get over it.

I can forgive him trading Allen, but no way does Pioli get off the hook for drafting Blackledge.

SenselessChiefsFan · 10-22-2009, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

I can forgive him trading Allen, but no way does Pioli get off the hook for drafting Blackledge.

Hey moron, Blackledge was drafted in....... oh, wait.. I see what you did there.....

**HemiEd** · 10-22-2009, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

That was 2008, Adam. That's one mistake you can't hang on Scott Pioli.

Get over it.

They were interviewing Clark Hunt, and he was the owner then.

Deberg_1990 · 10-22-2009, 07:04 AM

Is it Soccer season yet??

orange · 10-22-2009, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HemiEd

They were interviewing Clark Hunt, and he was the owner then.

But they were asking about the improvement (or lack thereof) from 2008-2009.

"Building a program that annually competes for division and league championships was Hunt’s goal when he overhauled the organization by replacing general manager Carl Peterson with Pioli and coach Herm Edwards with Haley."

Jared Allen has nothing to do with that.

Jack · 10-22-2009, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Hunt said he’s not concerned that Haley is overloaded as a rookie head coach and offensive coordinator.

“I’ve not seen any signs of that. . .

1-6

Mr. Laz · 10-22-2009, 03:10 PM

Clark wasn't concerned during the Herm tenure either .... until he had to fire him.

bowener · 10-22-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsman1

The o-line problem has to be fixed before we can even judge any other sort of progress. We need stability there to gauge the offense. There have been some positives on D.

You all can kill me if you choose... but if Will Smith, for whatever reason, allows our team to do better with him at LT, do you think it would be wise of the Chiefs to go ahead and plug Albert in at RG so that he can begin his retraining now to take over for Waters next year (moving him back to RG). Or maybe play Albert at LG and move Waters to RG right now. At least then if we draft or acquire a LT next year, we can have a pretty studly duo of T/G. I hope for something like McKinney/Hutchinson type of good, but I dont know if that could happen really.

Fritz88 · 10-22-2009, 03:21 PM

Hunt is a very patient man and after reading this. It's obvious that he could leave the management do whatever it wants for at least 3-4 years before he even thinks about intervening.

Here's hoping he won't have to do it.

FloridaMan88 · 10-23-2009, 10:48 AM

Teicher is such a tool. Why not ask Clark Hunt about the Chiefs being near the salary MINIMUM and if he thinks that is contributing to the Chiefs obvious lack of talent.

10-21-2009, 10:49 PM
Tribal Warfare The Boom Boom Room Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $942813	Teicher: Chiefs’ Hunt isn’t discouraged Chiefs’ Hunt isn’t discouraged By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star The developments with his team’s AFC West rival in Denver haven’t escaped Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt. He’s seen the Broncos — who embarked on their own rebuilding project last winter after ousting longtime coach Mike Shanahan and replacing him with Josh McDaniels — shock the NFL by jumping to a 6-0 start. But Hunt insisted in an interview Wednesday that no part of him looks at Denver’s success and wonders: Why not the Chiefs? While disappointed in Kansas City’s 1-5 record, Hunt said he’s not discouraged about where the Chiefs are headed or their ability to catch and even surpass the Broncos someday. “The difference is, if you look at their team a year ago, they were 8-8 and could have been a lot better,” Hunt said. “We were 2-14. They came into the year with more talent, significantly more talent, than the Chiefs. Would I like to be in their shoes? Yes. Does it make sense they’re 6-0? Probably on some level it does. That’s what we’re aspiring to be, and I’m confident we have the leadership and the coaching staff to get us to that level. “As we looked at our schedule, we recognized that the first couple of months of the season had the potential to be difficult for us, especially coming in with a new head coach, a new defensive coordinator, effectively a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback. It’s met our expectations in terms of being difficult. Anytime we don’t win, we’re disappointed, but in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been pleased with the progress we’ve seen. “I did not expect this to be easy. But I’m not at all discouraged. I feel very comfortable with both Scott Pioli and Todd Haley. I think in the two of them, we have the right leaders to get us through this transition and to a period where we’ll be very successful.” That doesn’t make the interim more pleasant for Chiefs fans, who watched their team break a nine-game losing streak with Sunday’s 14-6 win over Washington. Even with the victory, the Chiefs are five games behind the Broncos with less than half a season played. Denver’s achievements are perhaps a sign that the Chiefs could have done more to salvage this season while not jeopardizing their chances for long-term success. Building a program that annually competes for division and league championships was Hunt’s goal when he overhauled the organization by replacing general manager Carl Peterson with Pioli and coach Herm Edwards with Haley. “When you’re struggling, you think about those types of things: Was there something more we would have done?” Hunt said. “Just thinking back to the decisions that were made from a player personnel standpoint, Scott and I discussed them extensively, and I thought his reasoning for making moves or not making moves were well-founded, so I really don’t want to second-guess that. I think we made the right decisions. They are decisions that are designed for the long term.” The Chiefs would surely be closer to the Broncos if not for the trades sending Jared Allen to Minnesota and Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta. Allen is third in the NFL in sacks for the 6-0 Vikings; Gonzalez has 23 catches and three touchdowns for the 4-1 Falcons. For Allen, the Chiefs received draft picks they turned into Branden Albert, Jamaal Charles and DaJuan Morgan. All are still trying to establish themselves. The Chiefs received a 2010 second-round pick for Gonzalez. “When we traded those players, we knew they were excellent players and, particularly in Jared’s case, in the prime of their careers,” Hunt said. “We expected Jared to go to Minnesota and Tony to go to Atlanta and have a tremendous amount of success. The circumstances were different but the judgment was the same that at the time, those were the best decisions for our organization. “In the short run, we knew both trades would look like they didn’t make sense. We traded them for draft picks, and it takes three to four years for those players to get into their primes. So I don’t think you can second-guess. At some point down the road, everybody will be able to look back and say they were good trades or not good trades.” The Chiefs and Broncos each hired a young, offensive-minded career assistant to be the head coach. McDaniels in Denver and Haley in Kansas City had to make significant changes to their respective cultures, McDaniels from the Shanahan era and Haley from 20 years of the Peterson administration. Haley also became the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator during the preseason after firing Chan Gailey. “Todd is an incredibly focused, incredibly driven head coach, someone who is very established in terms of his convictions about the right way to build a football team,” Hunt said. “He’s juggling a lot of responsibilities, but I’ve been impressed with his play-calling. His willingness to take on that role told me quite a bit about him, that he feels so strongly about getting it right that he was willing to take a significant amount of personal risk by running the offense as well as serving as the head coach.” Hunt said he’s not concerned that Haley is overloaded as a rookie head coach and offensive coordinator. “I’ve not seen any signs of that, other than maybe some bags under his eyes,” Hunt said. “I think there was a chance he could have been overloaded. I think he’s done an excellent job of juggling those responsibilities. His game management for the most part has been very good. “I haven’t seen mistakes in terms of managing timeouts and end-of-game and end-of-half scenarios. There were risks we would have that with the responsibilities he’s carrying, but he’s done very well with that.”
Posts: 42,034

10-22-2009, 12:53 AM	#3
kcxiv In Search of a Life Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Central Valley, Cali Casino cash: $8807996	Clark is right. Denver has tons more talent then we do. They have some good players on that team.
Posts: 29,110

10-22-2009, 01:26 AM	#4
sportsman1 Nomadical Transient in Chief Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Fort Worth, TX Casino cash: $10005215	The o-line problem has to be fixed before we can even judge any other sort of progress. We need stability there to gauge the offense. There have been some positives on D.
Posts: 1,456

10-22-2009, 01:56 AM	#5
cdcox www.nfl-forecast.com Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $2361769	Some gems in this one: "Does it make sense they’re 6-0? Probably on some level it does." "It’s met our expectations in terms of being difficult." "I think we made the right decisions." Also I find it strange that he'd use end of half game management as the prime indicator if someone is overloaded or not.
Posts: 45,536

10-22-2009, 07:04 AM	#9
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Is it Soccer season yet??
Posts: 66,914

10-22-2009, 03:10 PM	#12
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	Clark wasn't concerned during the Herm tenure either .... until he had to fire him. __________________
Posts: 95,626

10-22-2009, 03:21 PM	#14
Fritz88 Custom User Title Join Date: Nov 2008 Casino cash: $8875943	Hunt is a very patient man and after reading this. It's obvious that he could leave the management do whatever it wants for at least 3-4 years before he even thinks about intervening. Here's hoping he won't have to do it.
Posts: 12,706

10-23-2009, 10:48 AM	#15
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $3192906	Teicher is such a tool. Why not ask Clark Hunt about the Chiefs being near the salary MINIMUM and if he thinks that is contributing to the Chiefs obvious lack of talent.
Posts: 38,113