Mellinger roasts Pioli over an open flame

[Hammock Parties]

This didn't get posted? ****, best thing Sammy has written.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/12...his-share.html

Chiefs GM Pioli due his share of blame in Haley's failures

Scott Pioli brought this critical point in Chiefs history on himself, and now he must rise to it.

This can go one of only two ways. Championship or bust, waving from a parade or looking for work, remembered as the man who just needed to find the right coach or the general manager who repeatedly failed the men he brought on board.

Pioli fired Todd Haley, the only coach he’s ever hired. This is how their dysfunctional marriage had to end. A once-strong relationship deteriorated past personal differences and into professional obstacles.

The Chiefs could go nowhere with both Pioli and Haley in the same building, so in that way, the GM essentially pulled rank.

That was the easy part. Now we get to see, once and perhaps for all, whether Pioli is the golden-boy personnel guru from his Super Bowl-winning days in New England or just one more poser taking credit and fame off the glow of Bill Belichick’s star.

Because firing Haley is a meaningless delay tactic if Pioli doesn’t accept and reflect on his part of the Chiefs’ current mess.

We all understand that Haley made mistakes. The preseason plan was a disaster. Tyler Palko is still taking snaps long after he proved to be incompetent. An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against the Jets provided a sad image of Haley’s self-control, which, combined with a remarkably inconsistent and often uncompetitive season, made the Chiefs the magnetic opposite of what owner Clark Hunt wants them to be.

But if Haley failed, he followed Pioli’s example.

Because Pioli chose Haley, who coached the roster Pioli gave him. The Chiefs’ current state of disarray is as much an indictment of Pioli as Haley. The boss put the coach in a virtually unwinnable position: not enough support from either the general manager or the roster to do much more than hope for survival.

And this is where Pioli comes in. Or, more accurately, where he must come in.

Injuries to Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Matt Cassel and Tony Moeaki fundamentally changed what the Chiefs are capable of. But they also exposed so many of Pioli’s own shortcomings, and unless he takes this opportunity to stop creating self-assuring excuses to justify his ineffective status-quo style of management, there is no reason to believe the Chiefs can rise above NFL mediocrity.

One of Pioli’s great strengths is his thoughtfulness, his thoroughness, his steadiness. He isn’t reactive. He is measured. If he grows emotional, he has trained himself to put the decision aside until he’s calm. The most effective judgments, Pioli believes, are made with the brain, and not the heart.

This is part of what eventually led to fundamental differences with the man he hand-selected to be his first coach.

And more than just one of Pioli’s great strengths, this is also perhaps his greatest flaw … and a chunk of what is holding back the Chiefs.

Go back to the NFL’s truncated offseason. The whole thing lined up perfectly with Pioli’s sweet spot, set up to be won by the general manager with the best information and temperament to navigate what many inside the industry called the most hectic personnel period in league history.

Instead, Pioli treaded water.

He signed Steve Breaston (who shares an open and mutual man-crush on Haley) and Kelly Gregg while letting Ron Edwards and Shaun Smith walk. Opportunities to add a backup quarterback, or much-needed depth at other positions, floated by.

Pioli’s only personnel successes with the Chiefs are in the draft (Berry, Kendrick Lewis, Justin Houston) and contract extensions awarded to stars (Charles, Brandon Flowers, Tamba Hali). Notice the pattern here.

Draft selections come with inherent time limits. Negotiations for contract extensions have a predictable schedule.

Pioli is most effective when he knows what’s coming and can read the clock. He becomes tentative and hesitant among surprises and unknowns.

He wants control, over everything, and struggles in situations he can’t have it.

Nearly three full years after he took over, the Chiefs’ best players are still predominately holdovers from his predecessor, Carl Peterson, even as Pioli spends too much time and energy fixing what he sees as major holdover flaws from the previous leadership.

All of this means that Pioli is at the most critical point of his professional career in terms of how he’s remembered and thought of as a football man.

Some will expect him to close his eyes, cover his ears, la-la-la out all the criticism, and keep pushing the Chiefs in the same misguided direction.

That would support the narrative of Pioli as Ego Gone Wild, and almost certainly ensure that the Chiefs waste a championship window that will close along with the primes of Charles, Hali, Flowers and other stars.

A consequence of Pioli’s decision to speak publicly as little as possible is that it’s virtually impossible for anyone outside a small circle to know his motivations, perspective or fears.

If they did, they probably would see as much insecurity as ego. Part of his hesitation on personnel moves comes through second-guessing. Part of his focus on signing the team’s inherited stars is admitting he can’t find anyone better.

And if Pioli handles it the right way, part of firing the coach will be a very public acknowledgment that he — not Haley, not Hunt, not anyone else — made bad decisions that turned the Chiefs from division champion to disorder one year later.

How Pioli makes it through this very personal inner conflict will decide how his time in Kansas City ends. On Monday, he portrayed humility, saying he needed to do his job better.

That’s good, but ultimately irrelevant if he doesn’t do his job differently.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

They did, but the most important thing is, it didnt translate to WINS.

Also, the offense(what Haley was known for) was a complete failure under him. In 3 seasons the only time it was good and consistent was when Weis was here and really only for about an 8 or 9 game run during the middle of last year.

Cassel isnt a huge talent (thats on Pioli) but other coaches have proven you can get at production out of him at times. Haley never got anything out of him.

Yeah, other coach has proven that with Wes Welker, Randy Moss, a spread offense operated entirely from the shotgun, and overall a roster that won 18 games the previous season... with that cast he can be mediocre.

He can also be mediocre against terrible teams.

Cassel blows. Haley got more out of him in 2010 than I ever thought Cassel was capable of.

[Okie_Apparition]

"Do you feel you gave Haley the players he needed to be competitive?"

That covers Cassel just fine

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by FAX

No evil genius gets it right all the time.

FAX

Wile E Coyote self proclaimed genius. His failures time and time again have come from the use of ACME products. Even as a genius he never learned from his mistake of the usage of a product that crushed him or made him fall off of cliffs in his maniac obsession to catch the ever elusive Road Runner.

[boogblaster]

anyway ya look at it .. its another 3 years before we can compete .. HC OC QB .......

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by boogblaster

anyway ya look at it .. its another 3 years before we can compete .. HC OC QB .......

No reason for that.

This team has talent. The ****ing idea we don't is proposed by those who make excuses for HC's.

Our talent is is pretty impressive. We have 2 of the top 15 corners in the league. We have a top 10 pass rusher. We have 3 WR's that can take it to the house.

Even with injuries our front 7 is learning how to crush on the QB.

With injuries, and this schedule, this team should be 8-8.

With a HC who could take what he has and MAKE IT BETTER (the main point of a HC) we could have won this division.

I might be going out on a limb here but perhaps John Fox is that type of HC and THAT'S why they're looking at a division crown.



We won't, and this year we don't deserve to. We need to see some fail so we recognize when a real HC steps in and finds a way to truly elevate the team.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Rausch

No reason for that.

This team has talent. The ****ing idea we don't is proposed by those who make excuses for HC's.

Our talent is is pretty impressive. We have 2 of the top 15 corners in the league. We have a top 10 pass rusher. We have 3 WR's that can take it to the house.

Even with injuries our front 7 is learning how to crush on the QB.

With injuries, and this schedule, this team should be 8-8.

With a HC who could take what he has and MAKE IT BETTER (the main point of a HC) we could have won this division.

I might be going out on a limb here but perhaps John Fox is that type of HC and THAT'S why they're looking at a division crown.



We won't, and this year we don't deserve to. We need to see some fail so we recognize when a real HC steps in and finds a way to truly elevate the team.

John Fox is not that type of coach. His panthers underachieved all the time.

Tebow is a terrible QB who is insanely popular. He doesn't play well, but his team just happens to always win close games.

I'm calling shenanigans.

[Beef Supreme]

Our offense can't even make a first down. ****ing everyone is on my shit list, Pioli is just at the top.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Wow.

Just heard the clip from yesterday's presser where Gretz asked Pioli if hiring Haley was a mistake.

"Uh, um, um, uh, uh....uncomfortable stammering"


Why can't Pioli just admit that he made a mistake?

[FAX]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Wow.

Just heard the clip from yesterday's presser where Gretz asked Pioli if hiring Haley was a mistake.

"Uh, um, um, uh, uh....uncomfortable stammering"


Why can't Pioli just admit that he made a mistake?

Honestly, Pioli didn't come across as an "in control", "confident" guy in that presser. Not at all.

FAX

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by FAX

Honestly, Pioli didn't come across as an "in control", "confident" guy in that presser. Not at all.

FAX

Do you think part of the meeting with him and Clark was Clark telling Pioli he's on thin ice?

[doomy3]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Wow.

Just heard the clip from yesterday's presser where Gretz asked Pioli if hiring Haley was a mistake.

"Uh, um, um, uh, uh....uncomfortable stammering"


Why can't Pioli just admit that he made a mistake?

I don't think that really means anything at all. He was careful not to throw Haley under the bus during the presser and I think this was just a continuation of that.

He would have looked like a serious asshole if he would have said hiring Haley was a mistake. Rarely will you see a GM do that. About the only time I can really remember that is when Al Davis was throwing his coaches under the bus when he fired them.

When a guy gets fired, the GM is admitting it didn't work as he hoped it would. The question is kind of a stupid question really.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

Do you think part of the meeting with him and Clark was Clark telling Pioli he's on thin ice?

Hopefully.


Would have loved for Hunt to turn to Scott and say " Todd was the first to go, you've got 3 years, Lombardi or bust".

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

Do you think part of the meeting with him and Clark was Clark telling Pioli he's on thin ice?

I have no idea as I am no longer invited to their meetings being as how I was a pro-Haley guy, and all. However, I should like to speculate out the ass like unto Mr. SensibleChiefsfan ...

After what several Planeteers mentioned regarding the presser, I went back and watched it again paying special attention to both physical and facial clues that indicate discomfort and falsification (as you know, Mr. Chiefnj2, I am a student of such things).

I determined that Clark felt far more "in control" and calm than Pioli. Clark did not outright lie during the conference, and even though he did dance around answers, he did so with composure. Pioli, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable throughout and was either extremely ill-prepared or downright discombobulated. Pioli also resorted to lies regarding his relationship with Haley and the reasons for the dismissal at this time.

In summary, Clark is pissed off and desires a course correction that does not involve technical fouls on the HC and lots of curse words. Pioli appears to have been doused with a jug of Humility Juice.

The thing I thought that was most telling was Pioli's comment that "I have to do a better job" in reference to the roster. I think it was Gretz who posed the question ... "so ... was it coaching or talent?" that caught Pioli completely off guard and off balance. It's clear to me, at least, that Pioli is embarrassed by something ... it could be that his ass was kicked by the man sitting next to him ... or it could be that he was simply cowed by the fact that his HC choice didn't work out.

FAX

[Rasputin]

After listening to the press and if I didn't know better? Sounds like they want to hire a twin duplicate of Haley? It was like there was nothing wrong with Haley at all & nothing to warrent the fireing of him so they just fired him any ways.

I'm happy with the canning of Haley, but left with less than desirable thrill of Pioli as GM. He says things to make himself sound good or smarter than the average Joe. He said had nothing to do with Palko and the determination that Palko should be the guy under center. They repeated the idea that we are mathmatically in the race. What hogwash is this? I don't care about the guy who gives us best chance to win a game. I want to see the guy or players that have the potential to be on this team that wins championships.

[Chief Faithful]

Mellinger has gone full Whitlock.