[Sully]

Okay, my humble "report" to come, but I realized something after watching my first day of practices under the Haley regime....

Since the Schottenheimer years, this has been a team that, during their good years, won on emotion and heart as much as talent and execution. There were many years under Marty that the team was slated to finish out of first, and Marty used that as an affront to the team, and used it to piss them off every year/week/day. They had talent, obviously, but looking back, they probably didn't have nearly the talent that Marty squeezed out of them. I like Marty, and will look upon his years in KC fondly, but he was more of a mental manipulator than an Xs and Os guy.

Every coach since then, IMO, has followed down the same path. Obviously Gunther tried this method, Obviously Herm tried this method, and I'd say Vermeil did, as well (although he used the "play because you love each other" manipulation rather than the "pissed off at the world" one).

This regime couldn't be further from that. It's about business. Get your ass on the field, learn where to be and how to get there, and play football. It's far more about mentally being precise than it is about being angry. Sure, there's yelling (just as much as any other coach's camp). But it's more about players not using the techniques and plays correctly, than just trying to light a fire under their asses. I have heard Haley, in one day, coach more fundamental football than I ever did any of the previous coaches.

For instance, the QBs and pass catchers were doing a drill where the receiver or tight end would fake a post, cut it to a drag, then settle in between zones. The drill went on for several minutes, and as it was against air, it looked fine. WR was running across the field, stopping before the bag (intended to be a LB), settling down, catching the pass, and turning up field. Haley comes over, and he's not pissed, but obviously not happy with the way the drill was being run. And it was two basic things he was upset about. A) The QBs, in this situation, are to put the ball on the WR or TE's back shoulder, so they can reverse pivot to get upfield. The way they were throwing was getting the catch made, but was running them toward the LB. B) The WRs and TEs weren't settling their feet. It was all about details, and doing it exactly right, even if it was against air. I liked it.

Finally, as a complete departure from our previous coach, there was a short segment of practice dedicated to what to do for time management. The ball was on the opposing team's 45 yard-line. The team had 1 time out, and there were less than 20 seconds on the clock. He had each group go out, and against air run one play. But it wasn't about getting into the end zone or getting as many yards as possible. He wanted 12-16 yards...and that's it. So each group practiced several times running all the WRs deep, except one, who would settle short, grab the pass, and take a knee after several yards, as every player on the team looked for an official to call time out.

Details.



I was a fan of hiring Haley, but I like his plan even more than I thought I would.