C-Mac
01-03-2008, 08:09 AM
Herm gets rid of old offensive playbook (http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/428237.html)
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs would take their offense in a different direction next season. Its exact course won’t be determined until Solari’s replacement is hired.
Edwards wouldn’t confirm or deny any names on his wish list, but sources indicated he planned to speak with Texas-El Paso offensive coordinator Eric Price. The son of UTEP head coach Mike Price, the 41-year-old Eric Price once coached as an offensive assistant for Edwards with the New York Jets.
Running mostly a spread offense, UTEP averaged more than 30 points in three of Price’s four seasons as coordinator. The Miners averaged 35.8 points in 2004 (11th in the country) and 33.6 (26th) last season.
Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Mike Shula also could become a candidate. Shula was the coordinator for Tampa Bay in the late ’90s while Edwards was the Bucs’ secondary coach. Shula later was the head coach at Alabama when Brodie Croyle quarterbacked the Crimson Tide.
Edwards said the new coordinator would have experience whether it’s in the NFL or college. Solari was a career offensive-line coach and was new to game-planning and play-calling.
“You want a guy that’s called plays,” Edwards said. “That’s important. He has to have the ability to adjust as the game’s being played and take advantage of people’s weaknesses.
“You want a guy who understands that the system has to be player-friendly and has to be easy for the players to learn. Players come first. It’s not about plays. It’s about players.”
Edwards fired three other offensive assistants this week: John Matsko (line), Charlie Joiner (wide receivers) and James Saxon (running backs). Solari, Joiner and Saxon all coached under former head coach Dick Vermeil.
“When you hire a new offensive coordinator, you have to give him the ability to hire guys that he wants to hire,” Edwards said. “That’s not fair to him to give him too many of the position coaches.”
It’s no coincidence that the two offensive coaches Edwards retained, Jon Embree (tight ends) and Dick Curl (quarterbacks) joined the Chiefs two years ago after Edwards arrived.
“The guys I let go of are good football coaches,” Edwards said. “It’s been intact for seven years. It’s time to do something different.”
The system helped take the Chiefs to unprecedented heights under Vermeil. The Chiefs were annually among the highest scoring teams in the NFL.
The offense slowed in 2006, its first season with Edwards as the head coach and Solari as the coordinator. In 2007, it barely crawled. The Chiefs scored fewer points and ran for fewer yards per game than ever.
Edwards indicated the new system might incorporate some features of the West Coast offense, but it would have many different wrinkles. That would seem to rule out the return of former Chiefs offensive coordinator Paul Hackett.
“I don’t want to call it the West Coast because when you call it that, people say, ‘Oh, that’s a bunch of little, short passes.’ ” Edwards said. “That’s not what we’re going to do. We’re not going to be throwing it in the flat all day. Call it the Chiefs offense, whatever that is.”
Edwards laid out in broad terms his vision for the new system.
“You have to be balanced,” he said. “You have to be creative to keep the defense on their heels. You never want them to get comfortable with what you’re doing. You have to have different ways to run the ball, and you have to have different ways to stretch the field in the passing game. You have to be able to make chunks and get big plays in the passing game. It’s too hard to travel 70 yards on a football field all with short gains.
“Looking at it from the defensive side, you hate those types of offenses, the ones that can pound you running or also hit you for 50 yards. You don’t like playing against that. That’s tough stuff.
“I want the ability to play fast-break offense. Some weeks, that’s going to be the best way for us to win. You have to be able to take advantage of people’s weaknesses. If you’re playing a team that isn’t very good when they get into their nickel defense, you might have to throw the ball 40 times if that’s the best way for us to win the game. But you have to have an offense that has the ability to do that.”
The Chiefs had that type of ability under Vermeil with the same offensive system, but Edwards indicated the schemes were part of the problem in 2007.
“The system didn’t allow you to get the ball to certain guys enough when you needed to,” he said. “I’m not knocking this system because it accomplished a lot of good things here but it was built on volume. We ran so many plays. It can make some positive plays and some negative plays. We had more negative plays than anybody in football, 125 negative plays. Over the years, it’s always been that way. There are a lot of negative plays, and I don’t want negative plays. Negative plays kill you.”
Edwards said the new system would be designed to play to the strengths of the returning skill players, including Croyle, running back Larry Johnson, tight end Tony Gonzalez and particularly wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who led rookie wide receivers in receptions (70) and yards (995).
Bowe runs as well, if not better, with the ball than any Chiefs receiver in recent memory.
“He’s big and physical and can break tackles,” Edwards said. “When he’s in the (secondary), he’s hard to tackle. That’s why you like big, physical receivers. There’s more margin for error with those kinds of guys.
“I’m not hung up on any one thing. One thing I do know: We have to be tough, physically tough, up front on your offensive and defensive lines. Offensively, that means when it’s third and 1 or third and 2, you don’t have to throw the ball. You don’t have to trick people when you run the ball. You can say, ‘I’m running right here, buddy, and you aren’t stopping me.’ To me, that’s football. Nothing fancy there. I’m not saying you do that every play. But there are times you have to do that.”
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs would take their offense in a different direction next season. Its exact course won’t be determined until Solari’s replacement is hired.
Edwards wouldn’t confirm or deny any names on his wish list, but sources indicated he planned to speak with Texas-El Paso offensive coordinator Eric Price. The son of UTEP head coach Mike Price, the 41-year-old Eric Price once coached as an offensive assistant for Edwards with the New York Jets.
Running mostly a spread offense, UTEP averaged more than 30 points in three of Price’s four seasons as coordinator. The Miners averaged 35.8 points in 2004 (11th in the country) and 33.6 (26th) last season.
Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Mike Shula also could become a candidate. Shula was the coordinator for Tampa Bay in the late ’90s while Edwards was the Bucs’ secondary coach. Shula later was the head coach at Alabama when Brodie Croyle quarterbacked the Crimson Tide.
Edwards said the new coordinator would have experience whether it’s in the NFL or college. Solari was a career offensive-line coach and was new to game-planning and play-calling.
“You want a guy that’s called plays,” Edwards said. “That’s important. He has to have the ability to adjust as the game’s being played and take advantage of people’s weaknesses.
“You want a guy who understands that the system has to be player-friendly and has to be easy for the players to learn. Players come first. It’s not about plays. It’s about players.”
Edwards fired three other offensive assistants this week: John Matsko (line), Charlie Joiner (wide receivers) and James Saxon (running backs). Solari, Joiner and Saxon all coached under former head coach Dick Vermeil.
“When you hire a new offensive coordinator, you have to give him the ability to hire guys that he wants to hire,” Edwards said. “That’s not fair to him to give him too many of the position coaches.”
It’s no coincidence that the two offensive coaches Edwards retained, Jon Embree (tight ends) and Dick Curl (quarterbacks) joined the Chiefs two years ago after Edwards arrived.
“The guys I let go of are good football coaches,” Edwards said. “It’s been intact for seven years. It’s time to do something different.”
The system helped take the Chiefs to unprecedented heights under Vermeil. The Chiefs were annually among the highest scoring teams in the NFL.
The offense slowed in 2006, its first season with Edwards as the head coach and Solari as the coordinator. In 2007, it barely crawled. The Chiefs scored fewer points and ran for fewer yards per game than ever.
Edwards indicated the new system might incorporate some features of the West Coast offense, but it would have many different wrinkles. That would seem to rule out the return of former Chiefs offensive coordinator Paul Hackett.
“I don’t want to call it the West Coast because when you call it that, people say, ‘Oh, that’s a bunch of little, short passes.’ ” Edwards said. “That’s not what we’re going to do. We’re not going to be throwing it in the flat all day. Call it the Chiefs offense, whatever that is.”
Edwards laid out in broad terms his vision for the new system.
“You have to be balanced,” he said. “You have to be creative to keep the defense on their heels. You never want them to get comfortable with what you’re doing. You have to have different ways to run the ball, and you have to have different ways to stretch the field in the passing game. You have to be able to make chunks and get big plays in the passing game. It’s too hard to travel 70 yards on a football field all with short gains.
“Looking at it from the defensive side, you hate those types of offenses, the ones that can pound you running or also hit you for 50 yards. You don’t like playing against that. That’s tough stuff.
“I want the ability to play fast-break offense. Some weeks, that’s going to be the best way for us to win. You have to be able to take advantage of people’s weaknesses. If you’re playing a team that isn’t very good when they get into their nickel defense, you might have to throw the ball 40 times if that’s the best way for us to win the game. But you have to have an offense that has the ability to do that.”
The Chiefs had that type of ability under Vermeil with the same offensive system, but Edwards indicated the schemes were part of the problem in 2007.
“The system didn’t allow you to get the ball to certain guys enough when you needed to,” he said. “I’m not knocking this system because it accomplished a lot of good things here but it was built on volume. We ran so many plays. It can make some positive plays and some negative plays. We had more negative plays than anybody in football, 125 negative plays. Over the years, it’s always been that way. There are a lot of negative plays, and I don’t want negative plays. Negative plays kill you.”
Edwards said the new system would be designed to play to the strengths of the returning skill players, including Croyle, running back Larry Johnson, tight end Tony Gonzalez and particularly wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who led rookie wide receivers in receptions (70) and yards (995).
Bowe runs as well, if not better, with the ball than any Chiefs receiver in recent memory.
“He’s big and physical and can break tackles,” Edwards said. “When he’s in the (secondary), he’s hard to tackle. That’s why you like big, physical receivers. There’s more margin for error with those kinds of guys.
“I’m not hung up on any one thing. One thing I do know: We have to be tough, physically tough, up front on your offensive and defensive lines. Offensively, that means when it’s third and 1 or third and 2, you don’t have to throw the ball. You don’t have to trick people when you run the ball. You can say, ‘I’m running right here, buddy, and you aren’t stopping me.’ To me, that’s football. Nothing fancy there. I’m not saying you do that every play. But there are times you have to do that.”