Coogs
06-24-2009, 07:41 AM
Haley’s Offensive Philosophy … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs
June 24, 2009 - Bob Gretz |
The play was called Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon.
How it came to be created, implemented and called tells us something about Todd Haley, his approach to offense and how he hopes the Chiefs will go about moving the football in the upcoming 2009 season.
But before we find out about the play call mentioned above, we must touch on the basics with the Chiefs new head coach for his offensive philosophy and those who have influenced his approach.
“It sounds like coaching jargon, but my offensive philosophy is to utilize the players that we have to the best of their ability,” Haley said. “That’s the way I’ve been taught; whatever gives us the best chance to win.
“If that is three yards and a cloud of dust, we don’t turn the football over and we play great defense, I’ll be the happiest guy after games.”
Last year, when he was creating game plans and calling plays as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, the best chance to win was throwing the football. With Kurt Warner behind center and receivers like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, it didn’t make much sense to do anything else.
That the Cardinals finished last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (73.6 yards) had nothing to do with scheme or preference, and everything to do with not having the tools necessary to be a good running team.
“That’s a great example of what I’m talking about,” Haley said. “We were not able to run the ball real efficiently. There were a number of reasons for that. We had a big problem at tight end with injuries. At the end of the year we picked up a tight end off the street in Steve Spach and once we had him, we started to run the ball more effectively.
“We could have said, hey we are going to run it and we don’t care about the results. We obviously showed pretty quick that we could move the ball through the air, so we tried to play to our strengths.”
That basic lesson is something he learned as part of Bill Parcells staff with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. “He had a great impact on me philosophically,” Haley said. “Dan Henning had a big influence on me. He’s a great offensive coach. He understood all positions and was an excellent teacher.
“Then there’s Charlie Weis; I shared an office with him for three years (in New York) and I got to learn a lot from him. Even Ron Erhardt to some extent; he was there in New York in those early years and kind of took me under his wing.”
The goal is offensive balance. But the talent is used in whatever manner produces victories.
“Yes, balance is the goal, but again, we proved last year that it doesn’t have to be to have success,” Haley said of the Cardinals, who finished the year as the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL, averaging 292.1 yards per game “I’m trying not to pigeonhole exactly what we will be.”
What the Chiefs will be offensively in 2009 will probably not be apparent until the end of the pre-season, after Haley and his offensive coaching staff led by coordinator Chan Gailey get a chance to see the available talent up close and personal. Gailey is joined on the offensive side by assistant head coach Maurice Carthon (running backs), wide receivers coach Dedric Ward, tight end coach Bob Bicknell, offensive line coaches Bill Muir and Joe D’Alessandris and quality control coach Matt Sirianni.
The battle at quarterback will be between Matt Cassel and Tyler Thigpen. The edge will likely go to Cassel with his 15 starts last year in New England. Given his first chance to start and play regularly since high school, Cassel completed 63.4 percent of his 516 passes, with 21 TD throws and 11 interceptions. He finished the year with a passer rating of 89.4.
There’s a good chance Thigpen will also see the field. His mobility is one area where he has the edge on Cassel. If pass protection becomes a problem, Thigpen could get his shot.
As for the rest of the offense, it remains in limbo. The best weapon the team has is probably RB Larry Johnson if — that’s always a word used with L.J. — if he remains in shape, motivated and free of trouble. If the Chiefs can move the ball on the ground they will gravitate there in the play calling because the options in the passing game are slim when it comes to playmakers.
Haley wants to be able to do everything with his offense, run and throw. As he said he won’t pigeon hole the scheme or emphasis when the Chiefs have the football. He wants to be able to adjust on the run, and we don’t mean the running game. That’s one reason Gailey is still the offensive coordinator, because of his ability to shift gears last year with Thigpen at quarterback after Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard were injured and lost for the season.
This brings us back to Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon. As the Cardinals were flying to Charlotte to play the Carolina Panthers in the second-round of the NFC playoffs, Haley was watching tape. “I would really enjoy those long flights back East for games because most flights out of Phoenix were three, four, five hours and there was a lot of time to just look at tape,” Haley said. “I was looking at some cutups and tape that I used to prepare the call sheet.
“Everything was done; our call sheet for the game was finished.”
But Haley saw something on the tape … it was the tendency of Carolina’s left corner in how he reacted to certain plays. Haley thought the Cardinals could take advantage of that, so he drew up the play at his seat and then walked it around the plane to all the key people involved, coaches and players.
“We had a walkthrough that day when we landed and we went over the play,” Haley said. “But we didn’t practice it.”
That didn’t keep Haley from calling the play in the first quarter, with Arizona down by a touchdown and the offense looking at a 3rd-and-1 play at their 49-yard line. The play worked perfectly, as Warner and Fitzgerald combined for a 41-yard gain that set up Arizona’s tying touchdown. They never trailed after that score.
“Now, it went against the philosophy of what you are supposed to do,” Haley said. “But occasionally things come up and you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly.”
Expect the Chiefs to do a lot of adjusting on the fly during the 2009 season.
Coming Thursday: Haley’s defensive philosophy.
June 24, 2009 - Bob Gretz |
The play was called Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon.
How it came to be created, implemented and called tells us something about Todd Haley, his approach to offense and how he hopes the Chiefs will go about moving the football in the upcoming 2009 season.
But before we find out about the play call mentioned above, we must touch on the basics with the Chiefs new head coach for his offensive philosophy and those who have influenced his approach.
“It sounds like coaching jargon, but my offensive philosophy is to utilize the players that we have to the best of their ability,” Haley said. “That’s the way I’ve been taught; whatever gives us the best chance to win.
“If that is three yards and a cloud of dust, we don’t turn the football over and we play great defense, I’ll be the happiest guy after games.”
Last year, when he was creating game plans and calling plays as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, the best chance to win was throwing the football. With Kurt Warner behind center and receivers like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, it didn’t make much sense to do anything else.
That the Cardinals finished last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (73.6 yards) had nothing to do with scheme or preference, and everything to do with not having the tools necessary to be a good running team.
“That’s a great example of what I’m talking about,” Haley said. “We were not able to run the ball real efficiently. There were a number of reasons for that. We had a big problem at tight end with injuries. At the end of the year we picked up a tight end off the street in Steve Spach and once we had him, we started to run the ball more effectively.
“We could have said, hey we are going to run it and we don’t care about the results. We obviously showed pretty quick that we could move the ball through the air, so we tried to play to our strengths.”
That basic lesson is something he learned as part of Bill Parcells staff with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. “He had a great impact on me philosophically,” Haley said. “Dan Henning had a big influence on me. He’s a great offensive coach. He understood all positions and was an excellent teacher.
“Then there’s Charlie Weis; I shared an office with him for three years (in New York) and I got to learn a lot from him. Even Ron Erhardt to some extent; he was there in New York in those early years and kind of took me under his wing.”
The goal is offensive balance. But the talent is used in whatever manner produces victories.
“Yes, balance is the goal, but again, we proved last year that it doesn’t have to be to have success,” Haley said of the Cardinals, who finished the year as the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL, averaging 292.1 yards per game “I’m trying not to pigeonhole exactly what we will be.”
What the Chiefs will be offensively in 2009 will probably not be apparent until the end of the pre-season, after Haley and his offensive coaching staff led by coordinator Chan Gailey get a chance to see the available talent up close and personal. Gailey is joined on the offensive side by assistant head coach Maurice Carthon (running backs), wide receivers coach Dedric Ward, tight end coach Bob Bicknell, offensive line coaches Bill Muir and Joe D’Alessandris and quality control coach Matt Sirianni.
The battle at quarterback will be between Matt Cassel and Tyler Thigpen. The edge will likely go to Cassel with his 15 starts last year in New England. Given his first chance to start and play regularly since high school, Cassel completed 63.4 percent of his 516 passes, with 21 TD throws and 11 interceptions. He finished the year with a passer rating of 89.4.
There’s a good chance Thigpen will also see the field. His mobility is one area where he has the edge on Cassel. If pass protection becomes a problem, Thigpen could get his shot.
As for the rest of the offense, it remains in limbo. The best weapon the team has is probably RB Larry Johnson if — that’s always a word used with L.J. — if he remains in shape, motivated and free of trouble. If the Chiefs can move the ball on the ground they will gravitate there in the play calling because the options in the passing game are slim when it comes to playmakers.
Haley wants to be able to do everything with his offense, run and throw. As he said he won’t pigeon hole the scheme or emphasis when the Chiefs have the football. He wants to be able to adjust on the run, and we don’t mean the running game. That’s one reason Gailey is still the offensive coordinator, because of his ability to shift gears last year with Thigpen at quarterback after Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard were injured and lost for the season.
This brings us back to Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon. As the Cardinals were flying to Charlotte to play the Carolina Panthers in the second-round of the NFC playoffs, Haley was watching tape. “I would really enjoy those long flights back East for games because most flights out of Phoenix were three, four, five hours and there was a lot of time to just look at tape,” Haley said. “I was looking at some cutups and tape that I used to prepare the call sheet.
“Everything was done; our call sheet for the game was finished.”
But Haley saw something on the tape … it was the tendency of Carolina’s left corner in how he reacted to certain plays. Haley thought the Cardinals could take advantage of that, so he drew up the play at his seat and then walked it around the plane to all the key people involved, coaches and players.
“We had a walkthrough that day when we landed and we went over the play,” Haley said. “But we didn’t practice it.”
That didn’t keep Haley from calling the play in the first quarter, with Arizona down by a touchdown and the offense looking at a 3rd-and-1 play at their 49-yard line. The play worked perfectly, as Warner and Fitzgerald combined for a 41-yard gain that set up Arizona’s tying touchdown. They never trailed after that score.
“Now, it went against the philosophy of what you are supposed to do,” Haley said. “But occasionally things come up and you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly.”
Expect the Chiefs to do a lot of adjusting on the fly during the 2009 season.
Coming Thursday: Haley’s defensive philosophy.