C-Mac
02-07-2009, 11:51 AM
Chiefs just got a whole lot more fun to follow (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11347911)
Feb. 6, 2009
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
The Kansas City Chiefs should get ready for a wild ride.
Todd Haley is coming to town.
Having spent the past three weeks focused on the Arizona Cardinals as they readied to play Super Bowl XLIII, I got to know the team pretty well. Most of the players and coaches all pretty much said the same thing about Haley, the team's offensive coordinator.
He's feisty, he's a competitor and he's a damn good coach.
A former golfer in college who didn't play football, Haley has worked his way through the ranks to become an offensive coach I respect greatly.
He isn't afraid to take chances in a league full of coaches who are. That means something -- especially to a pass-first guy like me.
I wasn't enamored with Arizona's game plan to start the Super Bowl since they didn't run the no-huddle, hurry-up offense that they used so well in the fourth quarter. I even wrote about it, questioning the tactics.
When I asked Haley about it, he gave me a straight-up football answer why they didn't do it. I didn't agree, but unlike other coaches who have their strategy questioned after games, he didn't snap. He didn't shoot me down. He answered in an intelligent, calm fashion. Respectfully, I might add.
That only intensified my belief that Haley has what it takes to succeed as a coach in the NFL.
Now it's up to new Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli to get him a quarterback he can win with, perhaps Southern California's Mark Sanchez with the third overall pick. It takes a smart, accurate quarterback to succeed the way Haley plays it.
"I'm always thinking aggressive," he said after the NFC Championship Game. "That's who I am."
Haley credits Bill Parcells for being his mentor. That's a big reason Haley rarely talked to the media in his first season with the Cardinals. At one point coach Ken Whisenhunt actually had to tell Haley to loosen up last season and get to know the media better. Why? They can help. Whisenhunt lived that when he was with the Steelers and it helped him get the Arizona job.
Haley went at it full force, which is his trait. Cardinals PR staffers said Haley would do anything they asked -- and then some. If a radio station in some out-of-the-way city wanted Haley, he'd do it.
That helped Haley get some exposure. His playoff run as coordinator only brightened it.
Now that he's going to a team with Pioli, who comes from the New England Patriots' way of closing down the ranks, here's hoping Haley stays who he was during the 2008 season, an outgoing, lively, intelligent coach.
The one concern with Haley is his sideline antics. We all saw him get into it with Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin during the NFC Championship Game, and that was not the first time. Haley is an admitted hot head.
That cannot happen now as a head coach. There is too much to do. Emotional outbursts will take away the focus from the game.
"That's something that can drive away the players," said one NFC coach. "You have to be really careful. Some of it is OK. But too much can lead to a problem."
Haley was on my coaching radar last summer. You can look it up. In our preview magazine, I did a column on 10 under-the-radar coaches who could be head-coach material sooner rather than later.
Haley was one of them. So was new Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris. I mentioned that to Morris when I saw him at the Super Bowl.
"You knew before I did," Morris said, chuckling.
No, I saw talent. Morris has it. Haley has it.
Get excited, Chiefs fans. It's going to be a lot of fun with Todd Haley. The offense won't be boring, and neither will those news conferences.
Feb. 6, 2009
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
The Kansas City Chiefs should get ready for a wild ride.
Todd Haley is coming to town.
Having spent the past three weeks focused on the Arizona Cardinals as they readied to play Super Bowl XLIII, I got to know the team pretty well. Most of the players and coaches all pretty much said the same thing about Haley, the team's offensive coordinator.
He's feisty, he's a competitor and he's a damn good coach.
A former golfer in college who didn't play football, Haley has worked his way through the ranks to become an offensive coach I respect greatly.
He isn't afraid to take chances in a league full of coaches who are. That means something -- especially to a pass-first guy like me.
I wasn't enamored with Arizona's game plan to start the Super Bowl since they didn't run the no-huddle, hurry-up offense that they used so well in the fourth quarter. I even wrote about it, questioning the tactics.
When I asked Haley about it, he gave me a straight-up football answer why they didn't do it. I didn't agree, but unlike other coaches who have their strategy questioned after games, he didn't snap. He didn't shoot me down. He answered in an intelligent, calm fashion. Respectfully, I might add.
That only intensified my belief that Haley has what it takes to succeed as a coach in the NFL.
Now it's up to new Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli to get him a quarterback he can win with, perhaps Southern California's Mark Sanchez with the third overall pick. It takes a smart, accurate quarterback to succeed the way Haley plays it.
"I'm always thinking aggressive," he said after the NFC Championship Game. "That's who I am."
Haley credits Bill Parcells for being his mentor. That's a big reason Haley rarely talked to the media in his first season with the Cardinals. At one point coach Ken Whisenhunt actually had to tell Haley to loosen up last season and get to know the media better. Why? They can help. Whisenhunt lived that when he was with the Steelers and it helped him get the Arizona job.
Haley went at it full force, which is his trait. Cardinals PR staffers said Haley would do anything they asked -- and then some. If a radio station in some out-of-the-way city wanted Haley, he'd do it.
That helped Haley get some exposure. His playoff run as coordinator only brightened it.
Now that he's going to a team with Pioli, who comes from the New England Patriots' way of closing down the ranks, here's hoping Haley stays who he was during the 2008 season, an outgoing, lively, intelligent coach.
The one concern with Haley is his sideline antics. We all saw him get into it with Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin during the NFC Championship Game, and that was not the first time. Haley is an admitted hot head.
That cannot happen now as a head coach. There is too much to do. Emotional outbursts will take away the focus from the game.
"That's something that can drive away the players," said one NFC coach. "You have to be really careful. Some of it is OK. But too much can lead to a problem."
Haley was on my coaching radar last summer. You can look it up. In our preview magazine, I did a column on 10 under-the-radar coaches who could be head-coach material sooner rather than later.
Haley was one of them. So was new Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris. I mentioned that to Morris when I saw him at the Super Bowl.
"You knew before I did," Morris said, chuckling.
No, I saw talent. Morris has it. Haley has it.
Get excited, Chiefs fans. It's going to be a lot of fun with Todd Haley. The offense won't be boring, and neither will those news conferences.