DaWolf
02-12-2009, 12:00 AM
Speculation on what Pioli-Haley will do about assistant coaches (http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1030384.html)
At the risk of throwing away any credibility I might have earned by nailing the Scott Pioli-Todd Haley partnership, I will now speculate on what Batman and Robin might be thinking with their assistant-coaching staff.
Let me warn you in advance, this speculation isn’t given with the confidence of the Pioli-Haley daily double. These musings are passed along for your edification while we wait for Pioli and Haley to wrap up their top-secret coaching search.
How about this journalistic copout: Don’t hold me to any of this!
I don’t expect Chan Gailey to be retained as offensive coordinator. It’s not the right fit. Gailey is a stud. I’m sure Haley would love to hold on to such a talented and experienced coach, but there’s no incentive for Gailey to stick around, learn a new offense and call someone else’s plays.
Would Gailey accept a “promotion” to assistant head coach? Maybe, for the right spectacular price. The problem is NFL owners are doing everything they can to lower coaching salaries. There’s a reason Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren and Jon Gruden all got canned or are sitting out this year. It’s the same reason owners are tabbing Doogie Howsers to lead their teams. It’s cheaper.
Look for Gailey to sit out the 2009 season and re-enter the league in 2010 when the economy is showing signs of recovery and Gailey’s BFF Bill Cowher is looking for an offensive coordinator. Also, keep Gailey in mind in 2011 if things don’t go well for Haley here.
OK, who might be willing to accept Kansas City’s OC title, a recession-friendly contract and allow Haley to call plays on Sunday?
Bill Muir, Tampa Bay’s old OC, is looking for a job. Muir was swept out in Tampa along with Gruden. At the very least, Muir would be an excellent candidate to be KC’s offensive-line coach.
Maurice Carthon, Arizona’s running backs coach, is another possibility. Carthon and Haley are Bill Parcells disciples. They had a tight bond in Arizona and oftentimes stood up to head coach Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm. Haley and Carthon vs. Whisenhunt and Grimm (Cowher disciples) was a de facto Parcells-Cowher clash that kept the creative tension and energy burning in Arizona offensive meetings.
Getting Carthon out of Arizona might be a little tricky. The Cardinals can restrict Carthon’s movement unless he’s being considered for a head-coaching position. Popular black assistants are sometimes valued because of their ability to communicate with the Anquan Boldins of the world.
Defensively, I expect Haley to value experience when looking for a coordinator. With Haley being an offensive-minded coach, the Chiefs will spend major dollars on a DC if necessary.
Why not Jim Haslett? He can coach the 3-4 or 4-3. He’s fiery, like Haley. Allegedly, the Carolina Panthers have targeted Haslett as their defensive coordinator. Kansas City is a better job. Carolina head coach John Fox could get fired after next season. Fox is a former defensive coordinator who will oversee/work closely with the new coordinator. Haslett would have more autonomy (and money) in Kansas City.
The Chiefs need a proven defensive coordinator. Pioli, you have to believe, would prefer the Chiefs run a 3-4 defense. He knows what to look for when drafting 3-4 defenders. What will be critical is finding a defensive coordinator who can turn Glenn Dorsey into Casey Hampton, the 6-foot-1, 325-pound Pittsburgh nose tackle.
Did I mention that Haslett made his bones running Cowher’s 3-4, zone-blitz scheme in Pittsburgh in the late 1990s?
If the Chiefs can’t land Haslett or someone of his stature, maybe Clancy Pendergast becomes a possibility. The Cardinals fired Pendergast shortly after the Super Bowl. I expect him to be a position coach on KC’s defensive staff. He’s known as an excellent teacher, which is not true of many NFL assistants.
Pendergast started out as a college assistant before jumping to the Houston Oilers in the mid-1990s. Teaching is valued and cultivated in the college ranks. Staffs hold seminars and constantly share and exchange schemes, techniques and methods.
In the pros, secrecy is valued and cultivated. It creates an environment where you have coaches who can’t teach their position because they’ve never been trained to do that.
Let’s say, for example, you have a defensive-line coach (Tim Krumrie) who went straight from the playing field to coaching the defensive line for the Cincinnati Bengals, then moved to Buffalo and then was handed the job of teaching Glenn Dorsey how to play two gaps.
How do you think that would turn out?
I’ll let you think about it for a day or two and get back to you.
At the risk of throwing away any credibility I might have earned by nailing the Scott Pioli-Todd Haley partnership, I will now speculate on what Batman and Robin might be thinking with their assistant-coaching staff.
Let me warn you in advance, this speculation isn’t given with the confidence of the Pioli-Haley daily double. These musings are passed along for your edification while we wait for Pioli and Haley to wrap up their top-secret coaching search.
How about this journalistic copout: Don’t hold me to any of this!
I don’t expect Chan Gailey to be retained as offensive coordinator. It’s not the right fit. Gailey is a stud. I’m sure Haley would love to hold on to such a talented and experienced coach, but there’s no incentive for Gailey to stick around, learn a new offense and call someone else’s plays.
Would Gailey accept a “promotion” to assistant head coach? Maybe, for the right spectacular price. The problem is NFL owners are doing everything they can to lower coaching salaries. There’s a reason Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren and Jon Gruden all got canned or are sitting out this year. It’s the same reason owners are tabbing Doogie Howsers to lead their teams. It’s cheaper.
Look for Gailey to sit out the 2009 season and re-enter the league in 2010 when the economy is showing signs of recovery and Gailey’s BFF Bill Cowher is looking for an offensive coordinator. Also, keep Gailey in mind in 2011 if things don’t go well for Haley here.
OK, who might be willing to accept Kansas City’s OC title, a recession-friendly contract and allow Haley to call plays on Sunday?
Bill Muir, Tampa Bay’s old OC, is looking for a job. Muir was swept out in Tampa along with Gruden. At the very least, Muir would be an excellent candidate to be KC’s offensive-line coach.
Maurice Carthon, Arizona’s running backs coach, is another possibility. Carthon and Haley are Bill Parcells disciples. They had a tight bond in Arizona and oftentimes stood up to head coach Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm. Haley and Carthon vs. Whisenhunt and Grimm (Cowher disciples) was a de facto Parcells-Cowher clash that kept the creative tension and energy burning in Arizona offensive meetings.
Getting Carthon out of Arizona might be a little tricky. The Cardinals can restrict Carthon’s movement unless he’s being considered for a head-coaching position. Popular black assistants are sometimes valued because of their ability to communicate with the Anquan Boldins of the world.
Defensively, I expect Haley to value experience when looking for a coordinator. With Haley being an offensive-minded coach, the Chiefs will spend major dollars on a DC if necessary.
Why not Jim Haslett? He can coach the 3-4 or 4-3. He’s fiery, like Haley. Allegedly, the Carolina Panthers have targeted Haslett as their defensive coordinator. Kansas City is a better job. Carolina head coach John Fox could get fired after next season. Fox is a former defensive coordinator who will oversee/work closely with the new coordinator. Haslett would have more autonomy (and money) in Kansas City.
The Chiefs need a proven defensive coordinator. Pioli, you have to believe, would prefer the Chiefs run a 3-4 defense. He knows what to look for when drafting 3-4 defenders. What will be critical is finding a defensive coordinator who can turn Glenn Dorsey into Casey Hampton, the 6-foot-1, 325-pound Pittsburgh nose tackle.
Did I mention that Haslett made his bones running Cowher’s 3-4, zone-blitz scheme in Pittsburgh in the late 1990s?
If the Chiefs can’t land Haslett or someone of his stature, maybe Clancy Pendergast becomes a possibility. The Cardinals fired Pendergast shortly after the Super Bowl. I expect him to be a position coach on KC’s defensive staff. He’s known as an excellent teacher, which is not true of many NFL assistants.
Pendergast started out as a college assistant before jumping to the Houston Oilers in the mid-1990s. Teaching is valued and cultivated in the college ranks. Staffs hold seminars and constantly share and exchange schemes, techniques and methods.
In the pros, secrecy is valued and cultivated. It creates an environment where you have coaches who can’t teach their position because they’ve never been trained to do that.
Let’s say, for example, you have a defensive-line coach (Tim Krumrie) who went straight from the playing field to coaching the defensive line for the Cincinnati Bengals, then moved to Buffalo and then was handed the job of teaching Glenn Dorsey how to play two gaps.
How do you think that would turn out?
I’ll let you think about it for a day or two and get back to you.