Tribal Warfare
12-24-2008, 01:06 AM
Chiefs coach Edwards not feeling burned out (http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/950991.html)
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Herm Edwards dressed down for the occasion, but then again, the Chiefs coach always dresses down for his Tuesday meetings with reporters.
This time it was a familiar look, a gray sweatshirt with white thermals underneath. Edwards’ job security is the new hottest question in Kansas City, and he’s the leader of one of the NFL’s worst teams. Edwards said his look hasn’t changed, and neither has his attitude, even amid reports he is burned out after three seasons as Chiefs coach.
“Does it look like it?” Edwards said when asked if he’d used up all his energy. “I don’t know where people get that from, but no. I’ve got a lot of energy.”
He’ll need it. The Chiefs’ final game of this chaotic season is Sunday at Cincinnati. But that doesn’t mean Edwards’ work is finished. While team chairman Clark Hunt searches for Carl Peterson’s replacement as general manager, Edwards will stick to his schedule and await word on whether he’ll return for the final year of his contract.
Edwards said Tuesday his schedule already has been set. After the Bengals game, the team will return to Kansas City on Sunday night and will have a season-ending team meeting at 10 a.m. Monday. Then players will disperse, and assistant coaches will begin a brief vacation. But Edwards said he’ll keep plugging, evaluating this year’s players and scouting new ones. He said he’d meet next week with personnel director Bill Kuharich to begin discussing the Senior Bowl and next year’s draft.
“I’ll be in the office,” Edwards said.
The life of an NFL coach is not for the impatient or for men who suffer burnout easily. Sure, coaches get stretched thin and walk away. Former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil did it nearly three decades ago when, he says now, he realized he was killing himself with long hours and an unforgiving schedule. Vermeil says now that walking away from Philadelphia in 1982 might have extended his life. Bill Parcells, John Madden and Bill Walsh stepped aside, too, all of them admitting that the job had been too taxing.
Edwards said that’s not in his future, at least if he has it his way. Edwards, 54, said the Chiefs’ many youthful players have kept him feeling young, even during a season that would turn anyone’s hair gray.
“Their ability to recover after a bunch of hard losses,” Edwards said, “a bunch of football games we haven’t won this year, that’ll pay dividends for this football team next year.
“I just think that, with youth, every time they show up after a hard loss, and you go through the film with them, and they’re optimistic and they’re excited about the next week’s opponent, it gives us all energy.”
Edwards insisted Tuesday he sees progress and that next season — not 2010 as the Chiefs had targeted — could be the season Kansas City breaks through and contends for the playoffs. It’s an ambitious goal, and not an unexpected prediction coming from a coach with brittle job security, but Edwards said he believes that.
He said the Chiefs’ rebuilding job is “85 percent” complete. After this offseason, he said, it will be all but finished. He said Kansas City would be selective in adding free agents, targeting them with age and leadership ability in mind, and must be smart in selecting its seven draft picks next April.
“You’re going to have your team built,” he said. “From there, it’s just a matter of continuing to grow on that. The hard part is done.”
Edwards tiptoed around a question regarding whether all that hard work, and its seemingly few rewards, had taken a toll on him. He said his toughest test this season was keeping players believing in him and his vision. Edwards said Tuesday that’s a common obstacle for coaches of rebuilding teams. Other than a few detours, such as when defensive end Tamba Hali publicly questioned coaches’ play-calling and game management two weeks ago, most players have not strayed from Edwards’ path.
“They believe in the plan,” Edwards said. “The way these guys have played and come together and stuck together as a football team … they’ve been united. They believe that they’re going to be a good football team, and they are.”
As this season winds to a close, the questions surrounding Edwards’ job security will not go away. The coach’s responsibilities will not have pity, and neither will the Chiefs’ critics. Some of Edwards’ closely cropped hairs have begun matching that gray sweatshirt, but he said the stress hasn’t bested him yet.
“This team has gone through a lot this year,” he said. “I’m going to be energetic.”
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Herm Edwards dressed down for the occasion, but then again, the Chiefs coach always dresses down for his Tuesday meetings with reporters.
This time it was a familiar look, a gray sweatshirt with white thermals underneath. Edwards’ job security is the new hottest question in Kansas City, and he’s the leader of one of the NFL’s worst teams. Edwards said his look hasn’t changed, and neither has his attitude, even amid reports he is burned out after three seasons as Chiefs coach.
“Does it look like it?” Edwards said when asked if he’d used up all his energy. “I don’t know where people get that from, but no. I’ve got a lot of energy.”
He’ll need it. The Chiefs’ final game of this chaotic season is Sunday at Cincinnati. But that doesn’t mean Edwards’ work is finished. While team chairman Clark Hunt searches for Carl Peterson’s replacement as general manager, Edwards will stick to his schedule and await word on whether he’ll return for the final year of his contract.
Edwards said Tuesday his schedule already has been set. After the Bengals game, the team will return to Kansas City on Sunday night and will have a season-ending team meeting at 10 a.m. Monday. Then players will disperse, and assistant coaches will begin a brief vacation. But Edwards said he’ll keep plugging, evaluating this year’s players and scouting new ones. He said he’d meet next week with personnel director Bill Kuharich to begin discussing the Senior Bowl and next year’s draft.
“I’ll be in the office,” Edwards said.
The life of an NFL coach is not for the impatient or for men who suffer burnout easily. Sure, coaches get stretched thin and walk away. Former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil did it nearly three decades ago when, he says now, he realized he was killing himself with long hours and an unforgiving schedule. Vermeil says now that walking away from Philadelphia in 1982 might have extended his life. Bill Parcells, John Madden and Bill Walsh stepped aside, too, all of them admitting that the job had been too taxing.
Edwards said that’s not in his future, at least if he has it his way. Edwards, 54, said the Chiefs’ many youthful players have kept him feeling young, even during a season that would turn anyone’s hair gray.
“Their ability to recover after a bunch of hard losses,” Edwards said, “a bunch of football games we haven’t won this year, that’ll pay dividends for this football team next year.
“I just think that, with youth, every time they show up after a hard loss, and you go through the film with them, and they’re optimistic and they’re excited about the next week’s opponent, it gives us all energy.”
Edwards insisted Tuesday he sees progress and that next season — not 2010 as the Chiefs had targeted — could be the season Kansas City breaks through and contends for the playoffs. It’s an ambitious goal, and not an unexpected prediction coming from a coach with brittle job security, but Edwards said he believes that.
He said the Chiefs’ rebuilding job is “85 percent” complete. After this offseason, he said, it will be all but finished. He said Kansas City would be selective in adding free agents, targeting them with age and leadership ability in mind, and must be smart in selecting its seven draft picks next April.
“You’re going to have your team built,” he said. “From there, it’s just a matter of continuing to grow on that. The hard part is done.”
Edwards tiptoed around a question regarding whether all that hard work, and its seemingly few rewards, had taken a toll on him. He said his toughest test this season was keeping players believing in him and his vision. Edwards said Tuesday that’s a common obstacle for coaches of rebuilding teams. Other than a few detours, such as when defensive end Tamba Hali publicly questioned coaches’ play-calling and game management two weeks ago, most players have not strayed from Edwards’ path.
“They believe in the plan,” Edwards said. “The way these guys have played and come together and stuck together as a football team … they’ve been united. They believe that they’re going to be a good football team, and they are.”
As this season winds to a close, the questions surrounding Edwards’ job security will not go away. The coach’s responsibilities will not have pity, and neither will the Chiefs’ critics. Some of Edwards’ closely cropped hairs have begun matching that gray sweatshirt, but he said the stress hasn’t bested him yet.
“This team has gone through a lot this year,” he said. “I’m going to be energetic.”