Arrowhead anxiety: Turnover off the field causes concern

[Dr. Gigglepants]

Secrecy, intimidation, fear and a watchful eye have become hallmarks of working for the Chiefs, say some current and former employees.

BY KENT BABB THE KANSAS CITY STAR

Todd Haley walked into the public relations office at Chiefs headquarters on a Thursday in early December. Four days before he was fired as the team’s coach, he wanted to talk about what life was like inside this organization. But he didn’t know who else might be listening.

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http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/14...nover-off.html

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This article goes into a lot of detail on the changes that came into effect with the Pioli regime. Sounds like a shitty ass place to work now.

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by FAX

The core of the article has little to do with the Steelers. It's about the environment and conditions in which Haley was allegedly forced to work.

Forget the Steelers ... compared to the Chiefs, a Soprano crew sounds like a better career choice.

FAX

The press hates Pioli. They hated him from the first press conference where Pioli decided to treat the media like little children. They weren't professionals to him - they were a nuisance part of the job. He will talk to them, but when he wants, how he wants, in the manner he wants. He put up the huge veil of secrecy, etc.

The press wasn't going to come down on him when everyone was so happy the Peterson era was over, but you could bet they were going to open fire when things hit a rough patch, which they now have.

I don't know why Pioli hired the combustible and raggedy Haley in the first place. He doesn't fit the 'no wrappers on the floor' mentality that Pioli has, and that Pioli wants his staff to have.

Do I think that behind closed doors Pioli made it hard on Haley, yes. Do I think Haley did little things to poke his boss back, sure.

At the end of the day, for good or bad, or until I jump on the bandwagon of the team that drafts RGIII, as a Chief fan we are stuck with Clark and Scott. Let's hope the stories are untrue, or there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by petegz28

And while you can blame Piloli and Clark for Cassel and not signing depth you can't blame them for the way this team looked this year. From training camp on we looked lost. We never looked prepared. We were unorganized, couldn't get plays in and were not ready to play football. 9 of the 27 blowouts the Chiefs have suffered in their history came under Haley. That's 1/3 in 3 years time. We saw it with training camp this year. We saw the yoga vs. football mentality. We saw us unprepared and whipped on our home opener and again in the 2nd game. So while Pioli and Hunt share blame on personel it's the HC's job to have the players ready to play every Sunday and Haley fell way short of that this year.

We didn't look bad from training camp on. We looked bad for a few games then made a serious run. All behind a shitty QB and a negative running game. As I've said before, considering the major gaps we had at critical positions, especially at QB, this team didn't play bad in 2012.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

We didn't look bad from training camp on. We looked bad for a few games then made a serious run. All behind a shitty QB and a negative running game. As I've said before, considering the major gaps we had at critical positions, especially at QB, this team didn't play bad in 2012.

We played good against 4 shit teams then shit the bed in our own house to Miami and Denver.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

We didn't look bad from training camp on. We looked bad for a few games then made a serious run. All behind a shitty QB and a negative running game. As I've said before, considering the major gaps we had at critical positions, especially at QB, this team didn't play bad in 2012.

That's a shall we say homer perspective.

[petegz28]

The best showings we had after our 4 game run against the winless was Pittsburgh which was due to our D, Chicago which was due to Cutler being out, a fluke hail Mary pass for a TD and our D and the games with Orton which were of course post Haley.

We were playing for sole posession of 1st place at our house against a winless Dolphins team and not only did we get blown out you had a ton of players on offense saying after the game that Miami "did a bunch of stuff we weren't prepared for". Sorry that screams fail all over the HC.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by petegz28

We played good against 4 shit teams then shit the bed in our own house to Miami and Denver.

News flash, Miami and Denver were two very good teams. And no matter how you spin it, no coach should be expected to be a playoff team when Matt Cassel without Jamaal Charles is leading your team. And especially when your only option is Palko and Stanzi.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

News flash, Miami and Denver were two very good teams. And no matter how you spin it, no coach should be expected to be a playoff team when Matt Cassel without Jamaal Charles is leading your team. And especially when your only option is Palko and Stanzi.

Denver was a very good team? Tebow completed what, 4 passes that game or something like that? Miami was a better team but when you are in your house playing for 1st place against a winless team I don't give a **** who you are playing, there is no excuse to get blown out like we did and have players saying Miami did a bunch of stuff they weren't prepared for.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Brock

That's a shall we say homer perspective.

No, the homer perspective is to throw your ex-coach under the bus and defend the administration for an abortion of a decision at the QB position, and the absolute inability to field enough depth on the roster to the point where you have Sabby Piscitelli, Palko/Stanzi, Thomas Jones/Jackie Battle as starters at three not just key but critical positions.

People are whining about losing games, nevermind that we were trying to win games with a roster that wasn't all that good.

[petegz28]

And let's not forget the Haley temper tantrum in NY. I agree we got ****ed on consecutive calls but a HC has to maintain his composure. That was the most embarassing thing since the Monday night meltdown.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

No, the homer perspective is to throw your ex-coach under the bus and defend the administration for an abortion of a decision at the QB position, and the absolute inability to field enough depth on the roster to the point where you have Sabby Piscitelli, Palko/Stanzi, Thomas Jones/Jackie Battle as starters at three not just key but critical positions.

People are whining about losing games, nevermind that we were trying to win games with a roster that wasn't all that good.

If we were trying to win games Orton would have played sooner than he did as well as Stanzi. When Haley refused to put Stanzi in at NY it showed he was just a dumbass.

The fact is Haley did some good things on this team but he managed to run off 2 OC's in as many years and promote probably the worst choice there was in his 3rd.

I for one don't want Cassel as our QB but I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see him and the rest of the offense post Haley.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Denver was a very good team? Tebow completed what, 4 passes that game or something like that? Miami was a better team but when you are in your house playing for 1st place against a winless team I don't give a **** who you are playing, there is no excuse to get blown out like we did and have players saying Miami did a bunch of stuff they weren't prepared for.

It doesn't ****ing matter that Miami was winless. It matters what Miami looked like when Matt Moore took over. The week before, in Moore's first start, he took the Super Bowl Giants team deep into the 4th quarter before the Giants finally pulled ahead, and then Moore led the team to plenty of victories after the Chiefs' game. The reason they caught the Chiefs by surprise is because they completely changed philosophies. And yes, Denver was a tough team when teams hadn't yet figured out how to scheme Tebow. In both cases, the Chiefs caught the front end of a team completely changing philosophy. By the way, even though the Chiefs exposed Tebow the second start, they still won by only a hair under a much better QB.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by petegz28

And let's not forget the Haley temper tantrum in NY. I agree we got ****ed on consecutive calls but a HC has to maintain his composure. That was the most embarassing thing since the Monday night meltdown.

I didn't even care about that, but I did nearly throw up when I saw a formation without Bowe, Breaston, or Baldwin on the field. I was like "I get it, he WANTS to be fired".

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by petegz28

If we were trying to win games Orton would have played sooner than he did as well as Stanzi. When Haley refused to put Stanzi in at NY it showed he was just a dumbass.

The fact is Haley did some good things on this team but he managed to run off 2 OC's in as many years and promote probably the worst choice there was in his 3rd.

I for one don't want Cassel as our QB but I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see him and the rest of the offense post Haley.

Bullshit. Starting Orton against Pittsburgh after being with the team a few days would have been reckless, especially given the way Carson Palmer got grilled a few weeks earlier. And you couldn't have expected Orton to play against New York. The only game I thought Orton should have absolutely positively started was against Chicago, a game where he did end up getting subbed in only to hurt himself (and a game which the Chiefs ultimately won).

The OC decisions were an embarrassment. But we still don't really know who made the call on any of the three--I still believe that he definitely had no say in Gailey and had limited say in Weis.

To your final point... I don't know why you want to see Cassel post-Haley, but did it ever occur to you that Haley deserved a chance to show what offense he would run post-Cassel?

[FringeNC]

Damn. It was obvious Gretz felt this way, but I didn't think he had the guts to put in writing.

Originally Posted by ChiefsandO'sfan

Getting Away, Going Home … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs




February 1, 2012 - Bob Gretz |

Comments (25)



Over the weekend I learned former Chiefs head coach Todd Haley would be visiting with the Pittsburgh Steelers about their offensive coordinator’s job that came open last week with the firing of Bruce Arians.

That visit went down Tuesday in Pittsburgh and the results remain unknown. By the time you read this, a decision yeah or nay could already have been made. Late Tuesday evening, things appeared all quiet on the eastern front.

I can tell you this, never have I rooted for a coach to get a job as hard as I’m rooting for Haley to land with the black and gold. I’m always the first one to say be careful what you wish for because you might get it. I know that Haley would like to spend his 2012 season back home with the Steelers, the team that was so much a part of his youth. There’s almost a magical feel to the mere possibility.

More than anything, it would be the perfect antidote for Haley to recover from what he lived with over his final two seasons as head coach of the Chiefs.

We’ve all heard so much from Clark Hunt about how he wants his organization to be like the Steelers, and then he turns around and does things that are completely opposite of what would happen with the Rooney family. Maybe if this job works out, Haley will actually get a taste of the Steelers Way.

It’s become more and more apparent that even though he was named coach of the year by some outlets in 2010, won a division title and got the Chiefs into the playoffs with a lineup far from championship caliber, the organization wanted to dump him after that season. Unfortunately, neither Hunt nor GM Scott Pioli had the guts to pull the trigger and make the move, so worried were they about the public reaction to firing a coach that made the playoffs.

Instead, they kept him on board and went about making his life as head coach as miserable as possible. Second guessing of decisions to his face, to others in the organization, to friendly media types began almost immediately. Hunt would have preferred the Chiefs have kept Charlie Weis as offensive coordinator and gotten rid of Haley, but that’s not how things worked out.

There was constant harping at Haley about little things. The head coach went to a Lil’Wayne concert on a Monday night in August with some of his players and word spread out of the Chiefs offices around the league that Haley was a slacker, unwilling to work hard. There were snide comments in the national media, passed down the pipeline from the Chiefs front office about his mental stability and his supposedly uncontrollable temper. There were willing partners in the local media who were fed this pabulum as well, and they repeated it almost with glee.

There was the talk of how he dressed; his raggedy hat, his shaving habits, his sweatshirts and the like. Those last items really infuriated the home office in Dallas. The talk out of Hunt Central was that Haley did not represent what an NFL head coach should look like. Wonder if Bill Belichick has ever had Patriots owner Robert Kraft walk into his office and question him about his choice of hoodie with cutoff sleeves for his sideline apparel?

One of the things that gnawed at Haley almost immediately upon his arrival in the building was how little things became big things, the old making a mountain out of a mole hill. Plus, there was the inability of the organization to move quickly and pull the trigger on various situations. There were constant conversations, back and forth between the offices and Dallas, more meetings and still sometimes a decision couldn’t get made.

For the last two seasons he was the head coach, Haley was one man in the boat with a single oar. There was nobody rowing in the same direction. I don’t buy a lot of conspiracy theories on any subject, but more and more it seems like the team’s unwillingness to spend money on new players going into last year when there were so many possibilities may have had motives other than saving a buck.

As has happened frequently with the powers in charge with the Chiefs, anything that happens even after a person leaves the building is blamed on the absent. The Kansas City Star story on the toxic environment around the team has been blamed on Haley around the bigwigs at team headquarters. Now, there’s talk that the team is not going to pay him the last year of his contract, because they fired him “with cause.” Cause was never a word that Hunt or Pioli used when they announced Haley’s firing on December 12.

Eventually, the Chiefs will pay Haley the money they owe him, even if he has to go to league arbitration and the court house to get the check. It will just be a continuation of the hapless behavior of a franchise that has become an NFL laughingstock. At the Senior Bowl last week there were 800 NFL team employees in Mobile. I didn’t talk to 800 or 400 or even 200. But over five days, I bet I spoke to 100 head coaches, assistant coaches, GMs, front office employees and scouts. Almost to a man, they wanted to know about the Star story. It seems that everyone in the league has read the toxic tale and not a single one of them made a comment to indicate they thought Haley was out of his mind for thinking his office was bugged and his phone tapped. Most of them were not surprised.

If Haley can jump to the stability that is the hallmark of the Rooney family and their operation of the Steelers, it will help wash away the last two years in the toxic soup of the Chiefs organization. In Pittsburgh right now, things are not perfect. Their early departure from the playoffs was not what’s expected each year. The team’s offense has been spotty and has drifted too far to the passing side, with not enough running game. Arians was fired and that has made quarterback Ben Roethlisberger unhappy. It seems like Roethlisberger is continually hurt, because he holds onto the ball so long and takes so many hits. They badly need to rebuild their offensive line, which has had massive injury problems over the last few seasons.

But, compared to what Todd Haley’s had to live with the past two years, it would be a day at the coaching beach, where he could coach and not have to constantly look over his shoulder.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Brock

I didn't even care about that, but I did nearly throw up when I saw a formation without Bowe, Breaston, or Baldwin on the field. I was like "I get it, he WANTS to be fired".

They were doing this after Haley got fired too. Baldwin was off the field a ton once Romeo took over. Even more so, in fact.