Mellinger: Chiefs need to make fixes, but not at head coach

[FringeNC]

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/01...ennel-and.html

Chiefs need to make fixes, but not at head coach
By SAM MELLINGER

The Kansas City Star

DENVER | They are chanting his name in the locker room, over and over and over, the second time in three weeks they’ve busted out in beautiful, spontaneous, united success for the man they overwhelmingly want to coach them next year.

RAC! … RAC! … RAC! …

Those Chiefs players will almost certainly get their wish, and very soon, as general manager Scott Pioli is expected to make interim coach Romeo Crennel the permanent leader of a roster already dedicated to him.

Crennel deserves it. He’s earned it, removing the most reasonable doubts by beating the Broncos 7-3 here on Sunday. That’s wins over two playoff teams in three games for a man who embodies most of the characteristics the organization wants to project.

Three respected Chiefs players — Tamba Hali, Steve Breaston and Le’Ron McClain — agreed that Crennel has “overwhelming” support from the players. So the Chiefs are best served with him as the head coach, but only under the following condition:

They don’t get fooled into believing the rest of the fixes from a disappointing season are in-house.

Early indications are good. The coaching staff will undergo major changes, almost certainly with a new offensive coordinator and new special-teams coach.

Crennel would have final say in hiring assistants, and that includes Josh McDaniels, with whom he worked four seasons in New England and will reportedly be fired as Rams offensive coordinator. Chiefs fans have spent a lot of time agonizing over McDaniels, but a Chiefs source said he was not and will not be interviewed for the head coaching job.

That’s a good start, but not enough. The players seem to understand this.

“Yeah, you need to bring in some guys,” says Hali, who with a long-term contract and universal respect is among the Chiefs who can speak most freely. “We need some younger guys. Guys like Derrick (Johnson) and I, we are aging in this game. I do believe you need to bring in some younger guys to help us.”

Hali goes on. He says that “we have to make sure that (quarterback) position is solidified,” and that “nothing against our old coach, but Romeo’s a little older, experienced, he knows what he’s doing.”

There is more, and it is echoed throughout the locker room, with a season now officially over and the players as honest and reflective as the NFL and Chiefs culture allows.

Breaston talks of being proud that his team played hard, when it had nothing to play for and the Broncos had so much. He thinks that’s equal parts Crennel’s influence and what he’s come to think of as a unique vibe within the Chiefs’ locker room.

McClain talks of hoping to be back next year, so he can see this thing through, only without an absurd string of injuries that hampered so much of what would’ve otherwise been possible.

Changes will be made, of course, mostly because changes are always made in the NFL, but also because changes need to be made with the Chiefs.

Injuries have become a crutch for apologists, and this is counterproductive if it allows anyone to believe that a near-historic number of blowout losses can be fixed by a doctor.

The offensive line was perfectly healthy, for instance, and it stunk for most of the season. Same with the defensive line, though Allen Bailey’s emergence is encouraging.

The Chiefs’ decision-makers seem to understand this. You get that sense through private conversations, anyway, though there is enough deliberate ambiguity within the organization that it’s hard to tell for sure.

One of the most dangerous temptations is to believe that the Chiefs are this close to the playoffs because they weren’t eliminated until last week.

You can even point out that if Dwayne Bowe hadn’t dropped a touchdown pass against the Raiders, or if Ryan Succop had made one of those field goals, the Chiefs would be in the playoffs.

Except that’s not a reason to be comfortable; it’s the opposite. The Chiefs came within a game of the playoffs because the AFC West is worse than chicken pox. Failing to take advantage would be a shame — a fireable offense.

Realistically, the Chiefs quit against the Jets and Dolphins, lost by 27 or more points five times and actually got pretty lucky with a schedule that gave them a string of failing quarterbacks (including the Chargers’ Philip Rivers fumbling away a win on Halloween) and breaks in Chicago.

Just by virtue of medical technology, the Chiefs will be the AFC West’s most improved team if Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry and Tony Moeaki fully recover. There is no way to plan for a similar stack of injuries next year, but only fools would rely on duplicating the remarkably injury-free season of 2010.

Hali understands this. He talked for about 10 minutes as the locker room around him cleared out for the last time this season. He talked mostly about his coach, and about how Crennel is one of those “special people … almost like your father” whom players want to make proud.

“You know our league,” he says. “Some guys buy in, some guys don’t. It seems like a lot of guys have bought into Romeo. His philosophy and everything he wants to get done, we’ve bought into it.”

The Chiefs need to make that matter. But they also need to understand that to capitalize on a beautiful opportunity next year, many of the other needed changes must come from outside the organization.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Omega

[/FONT]

Hey, sounds like the locker room loves Cassel.

How do you know it's not Orton?

[Carlota69]

Originally Posted by Bo's Pelini

How do you know it's not Orton?

Because The Defense hasnt spent the entire game on the field the last 3 games?

[Carlota69]

Some dude on NFLN just said Muir is going to retire. Good.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by Carlota69

Some dude on NFLN just said Muir is going to retire. Good.

Awesome.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Carlota69

Because The Defense hasnt spent the entire game on the field the last 3 games?

Right, he is awesome between the 20's...

If we can fix his career long issue, you might have a Stopgap Mediocrity QB...

[Carlota69]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Right, he is awesome between the 20's...

If we can fix his career long issue, you might have a Stopgap Mediocrity QB...

Agreed. I wonder if the players like Orton more than Cassel. I would imagine so, but maybe thats just me liking Orton more.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

We are so ****ed. RAC is going to be a terrible head coach. A perfect example is this last game. Meaningless worthless game yet he won't start Stanzi, Powe or Hudson to give them some seasoning. When asked about it in the press conference he said I'm going with the players that got us here.

Thats all I need to hear. We need someone with some balls and some vision for blending in rooks and getting them some playing time.

Lol. You mean like playing guys like Bailey, Baldwin and Houston? Or how about all of our 2nd and 3rd year players like Amon Gordon?

....dude.....dumbest post you've ever made.

[Dexter Manley]

"Hiring Pioli is his biggest sin, and that is something 95% of this place was ecstatic about. "


Bill Belichick is still ecstatic about it...

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

So what has Hunt done besides make Pioli the highest paid GM in the league and have one of the highest paid coaching staffs in the league?

Sign DJ, Hali, Flowers, JC, Succup (lol), etc......

You are going to say Hunt is cheap because he didn't sign x-players.

Who are those players? You think a RT or center was going to cost a fortune? $ wasn't the issue there, Pioli is.

You going to say they didn't want to pay a back up QB? Then they gave $2.6MM to Orton for 5 games?

You are entitled to your opinion but what has Clark ****ed up recently that doesn't point directly back to Pioli?

Hiring Pioli is his biggest sin, and that is something 95% of this place was ecstatic about.

Cheap owners let key players walk rather than paying them, I haven't seen that happen one time since Clark took over. I hope it doesn't happen with Bowe.

This.

All this "Clark is cheap" crap is nonsense.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Carlota69

Agreed. I wonder if the players like Orton more than Cassel. I would imagine so, but maybe thats just me liking Orton more.

it would be like liking aids or cancer more...

Neither speak will for your long term future...

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

So what has Hunt done besides make Pioli the highest paid GM in the league and have one of the highest paid coaching staffs in the league?

Sign DJ, Hali, Flowers, JC, Succup (lol), etc......

You are going to say Hunt is cheap because he didn't sign x-players.

Who are those players? You think a RT or center was going to cost a fortune? $ wasn't the issue there, Pioli is.

You going to say they didn't want to pay a back up QB? Then they gave $2.6MM to Orton for 5 games?

You are entitled to your opinion but what has Clark ****ed up recently that doesn't point directly back to Pioli?

Hiring Pioli is his biggest sin, and that is something 95% of this place was ecstatic about.

Cheap owners let key players walk rather than paying them, I haven't seen that happen one time since Clark took over. I hope it doesn't happen with Bowe.

Giving Orton 2.6 for 5 was a WTF move for damn sure... Allowing the Chiefs not to address the QB position in the offseason of last year was a WTF move... Allowing Pioli and Haley to keep Palko was a WTF move. Then allowing Pioli and Haley to menstrate with each other...

But hey, $30 for parking and would you like some nachos?

Hunt cares about one thing. Keeping the stands full. Its been beaten to death here...

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Giving Orton 2.6 for 5 was a WTF move for damn sure... Allowing the Chiefs not to address the QB position in the offseason of last year was a WTF move... Allowing Pioli and Haley to keep Palko was a WTF move. Then allowing Pioli and Haley to menstrate with each other...

But hey, $30 for parking and would you like some nachos?

Hunt cares about one thing. Keeping the stands full. Its been beaten to death here...

Lol.

Hunt allowed a GM to do a GM's job, like most of the owners in Pro Sports. There is only one Jerry Jones in the NFL. Sounds like that's what you think teams need to make SB runs. How well is that working out for Dallas? Or Washington?

You're bitching just to bitch.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

Does everyone forget that Romeo was the D coordinator with some of the worst blow-out losses in the history of the franchise and now some want him to have even more control?

It doesn't help your defense when your offense can't get a ****ing 1st down, let alone score more than 10 points.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Giving Orton 2.6 for 5 was a WTF move for damn sure... Allowing the Chiefs not to address the QB position in the offseason of last year was a WTF move... Allowing Pioli and Haley to keep Palko was a WTF move. Then allowing Pioli and Haley to menstrate with each other...

But hey, $30 for parking and would you like some nachos?

Hunt cares about one thing. Keeping the stands full. Its been beaten to death here...

Not one thing you have mentioned directly points at the owner. It all points at Pioli but feel free to blame Hunt. Didn't adress the QB position? Hunt gave Cassel $60MM because Pioli told Clark he was the guy.
Failure to solidify the #2 QB position was not a money issue. If it was who did they not pay they should have? Who did we not get because we didn't want to pay them the $? It was a shit ass personnel move that left Palko sittng at #2. Thats on Pioli and Haley.



Its easy to point at ownership and say well there is the issue when the team hasn't won in so long.

But then when you try to break down what Clark has ****ed up there is not a damn thing there except hire Pioli which was highly endorsed as being the correct hire.

You hire they big $ GM I think you have to trust his decision making at least to begin, if you are just going to step in and make the decisions for him why hire him and pay him?

I say again, Hunt hired Pioli so that is on him but Pioli was not cheap so the whole Clark is cheap crying ass BS is exactly that. BS. Hiring someone like Pioli is exactly opposite of what Lamar would have done IMO. Lamar would have went with one of his old school cronies or kept Peterson around until we were all dead.

Complain you want to see some different behavior from ownership, Clark steps out of the box and hires Pioli and you still bitch.

If you want to blame someone blame Pioli, I do.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

If the players want him THIS bad, there is NO WAY you hire him. None.

This story does not end well.

I remember when Bill Parcells left New England, and they hired "Pom Pom" Pete Carroll. The players talked about how great it would be to have a "players' coach". At the press conference, one of the Patriots defensive players had his arm around Carroll.

And I also remember last year's epic collapse by the Boston Red Sox, with players eating chicken and drinking beer in the dugout while the team had the biggest September collapse in MLB history under another "players' coach", Terry Francona. Just before the September slide, after a victory no less, Francona tried to grow some balls and had a meeting with the players where he said he didn't like things that were going on; they responded with the biggest choke job in baseball.

Now, this all does validate your point somewhat but, the thing is, we don't know why the Chiefs players want/like Romeo. Is it because he's a great coach? Is it because he's coming up with unique and victorious plays? Those are great reasons to like him, and keep him. But if it's because he "isn't as mean as Haley", then, yeah, this could be a bad thing.