2/20 - Q&A w/ Todd Haley from NFL Scouting Combine...

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Q&A with Head Coach Todd Haley
Feb 20, 2009, 6:35:10 PM

FROM NFL SCOUTING COMBINE – INDIANAPOLIS, IN

Q: With Chan (Gailey) as your offensive coordinator, what does that mean for QB Tyler Thigpen and the offense?

TODD HALEY: “Well, again we’re just at the beginning stage of evaluation, and that’s what the staff is going through now. I think that any time there’s a familiarity or continuity, in some respects, I think it’s always good for the player.”

Q: What are your thoughts on where you are as a football team and what you have?

HALEY: “That’s a tough question to answer. I’ve spent the last week and a half, strictly, just working on getting together a staff and trying to get as many good coaches into the building as I could. I’ve got my computer loaded up with Kansas City Chiefs tape which I’m trying to, in any spare moment, watch as much as I can. Again, it’s right at the early part of the evaluation process.”

Q: Where are you at on the defensive side? Is Clancy Pendergast going to be the coordinator?

HALEY: “We’re still in a state of flux. Once again, I’m trying to do my best to get as many good coaches into the building and on to the Chiefs staff as I can. There’s still a little a fluidity to the situation, nothing I can comment directly on right now, but I’m excited about the guys we’ve got right now. A bunch of guys I have some history with, and a bunch of guys I think are pretty good coaches.”

Q: So you’re not done on the defensive side?

HALEY: “I can’t say. Might be, but there’s definitely a couple more guys I’m doing my best to try to get.”

Q: What’s Maurice Carthon bring to your staff?

HALEY: “Mo’s huge for me personally. He’ll end up being huge for the Kansas City Chiefs. We have a long history together. Mo is not only a great running back coach, but also has a great feel for the game and for the players. I can’t say enough about what Mo will do for us.”

Q: Can you address speculation on any other possible additions on the defensive staff?

HALEY: “Again, there’s some fluidity on the defensive side and that’s why I’ve been a little vague on who’s doing what right now. Again, I’m trying to get as many good coaches on my staff as I can. That’s not an area that I can really talk about right now.”

Q: What do you see happening with RB Larry Johnson and Coach Carthon?

HALEY: “We are at the early stage of the evaluation of what we have. I’m extremely excited to have someone like Coach Carthon on the staff. He does a tremendous job. He’s done a tremendous job wherever he’s been, specifically coaching the running backs. At the early stages, we’re going to have an open mind and kind of a clean slate on everybody if you will. Everybody is going to have a fair opportunity to show us what we have. As we move forward, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure some things out.”

Q: With a guy who has expressed some frustration, can Maurice coach a guy like that?

HALEY: “With all situations, there are solutions. I haven’t spoken specifically to Larry. As we move forward, I’ll get a little better feel for what we have to do as a team. Again, I know what my policy is going to be a clean slate. Everybody is going to have a fair opportunity to show what they are and what they want to be.”

Q: What are your thoughts on WR Dwayne Bowe?

HALEY: “I haven’t been able to follow him a whole bunch, although I’ve seen he’s gotten better each year, at least statistically. I thought a lot of him coming out, you know when he came out as a player. He was a guy that, when coming here, I’m excited to work with. He has the skill set that you need to be successful in this league at that position. So I’m excited to see what we have there.”

Q: Why are WRs unique and special in terms of being impact players?

HALEY: “Well, I think all players can be impact players. You see a guy like, in Arizona, (WR) Larry Fitzgerald and what an impact he had for the Arizona Cardinals this past year. Anytime you get a guy, and I’m not comparing anybody, I’m just talking about Larry, that can have such an impact on the game even when he only touched the ball seven or eight times. When you get a guy who was playing like he was playing, regardless of what position they were playing, when they can have an impact like that, and force defenses to worry about that player, I think that’s a good thing.”

Q: Have you had a chance to talk with Chan about who is calling the plays?

HALEY: “Again, I’m not even done trying to get the staff together. I think that is priority number one. Everything has to go towards that. We’ve started the evaluation of the team process. That’s all going to be part of i. I’m excited about having a guy like Chan Gailey with his experience. The more time I’m around him, the more I’m excited about what he’ll bring to us.”

Q: Where are you in terms of deciding what sort of defensive front you’ll go with?

HALEY: “Again, I think that it’s critical that we go through – and that’s their first assignment – was to go through our players, player by player, and not think about scheme, but let’s try to figure out what we have and what each player brings to the table. Until that’s finalized and we kind of have a feel for those guys and what they’re capable of – that’s not something you can wait two months to decide – we’ve gotta move here and we’ll be working hard to get those answers.”

Q: There are a lot of good young left tackles in this draft. You’ve got a good young tackle in T Branden Albert. Would you foresee a scenario where Albert moved to right tackle if you drafted another tackle?

HALEY: “I’m going to be for getting – just like I’m doing with the staff – as many good players on the Kansas City Chiefs roster along with (General Manager) Scott (Pioli), let’s try to get as many good players as we can here. Those are good problems to have, and I think Branden Albert right now is one of the least of our problems, from a quick look. I think he has a good chance to be a great player here if he does the right things. We’re going to try to accumulate coaches and accumulate players.”

Q: What is your early impression of the Chiefs and where are they?

HALEY: “You are what you are. Last year the Kansas City Chiefs won two games. That’s what they were last year. This year is a new year. I’m going to be about trying to win games, do everything possible to give us the best chance to win games. That’s the bottom line. I know it’s pretty basic. It’s what I’m going to follow. I know that it’s what Scott is going to follow. We’re going to be about what we can do to win games. It’s going to start with one. At this point, we haven’t won a game here as Kansas City Chiefs. And that’s going to be our goal, to figure out a way to win one game at this point.”

Q: Is there a good foundation there?

HALEY: “It’s not fair of me to comment. I’m halfway through last year’s season at this point, so it wouldn’t be fair to everyone involved.”

Q: Have you heard from any players on the team?

HALEY: “I’ve heard from some. I haven’t talked to very many, to be quite honest, but I think there’s an excitement. I think we’ve got some hungry guys that want to succeed and want to win and don’t want to go through a year that they went through last year, at least I hope that’s the general feeling. I think that at least gives you something to work with.”

Q: How important is it for you to work with somebody like General Manager Scott Pioli?

HALEY: “I think it’s very important. I know these jobs are hard to come by, but as I said all along through the playoffs, I loved my job, love who I’m working with, loved where I was at. It had to take a situation that was attractive to me, and Scott was the number one most attractive part of the situation, along with the ownership and the fan base and what I had seen from the outside. That was a big, big part of the decision.”

Q: When you were working as a ball boy, did you dream of doing this?

HALEY: “I wanted to be a Pro Bowl quarterback but that didn’t work out. I can’t explain some of my decisions in the past, but I’m really for the opportunity, I’m grateful that Clark Hunt and Scott gave me this opportunity and I’m going to make the most of it and make them proud and make them feel like they did the right thing.”

Q: Can you elaborate on what drew you to Pioli?

HALEY: “I think early on in our careers we both learned under the same person and formulated a lot of what we saw as the best way to operate in this league, that gave you the best chance of success. To be honest with you, we were acquaintances over the years. Once we went our different directions, we’d run into each other and talk about philosophy and what was going on with our particular teams. When you have that base like we had in our early years together, then to see what they’ve done in New England over the years and how impressive what went on up there really was. It’s hard to win in this league, it’s hard to get to the Super Bowl and for them to do what they did, I knew right out of the gate that I want to be around guys like that. To have the opportunity to get back with Scott after a separation period where we kind of learned on our own and grew in a lot of different ways; I just think it’s a great situation for myself personally.”

Q: What kind of impact did working under Bill Parcells have on you?

HALEY: “It has a huge impact on Todd Haley. I know that I’m in the position that I’m in, a large, large part of that is because of Coach Parcells. As I’ve said all along, it’s not a coincidence that he has success most places he is. Although there’s a bunch of ways to do it, he understands the way that works best for him, and I was lucky enough to work for seven or eight years and to have known him now for a longer period of time than that. You can’t ask for a better mentor.”