My friend Nick Wright broke national news Thursday, with his report that Todd Haley was going to be fired had he lost against the Indianapolis Colts. This news got me exited, because I'm not a fan of Todd Haley the head coach. I expressed my opinion via twitter and subsequently lost 7 followers. In my debates on twitter I agreed somewhat with people. I too love many of the qualities Todd Haley brings to the table. Unfortunately for the most part they were talking about a coordinator, while I was talking about a head coach.
This distinction is important in respects to my opinion of Todd Haley. The man is what he has always been. He has fire in the pit of his stomach, he gets the best out of his players, he is a brilliant offensive mind, but a head coach he is not. I don't base this off of scruffy beards, Lil Wayne concerts, or filthy hats like more accomplished men in the national media do. I base this off of how this team is constructed. Going on 3 years into the Haley/Pioli tenure we still don't know what Todd Haley is as a head coach. This is important because knowing who you are determines everything that you do on the field and in the offseason.
The best coaches of all time are defined by their legacies. Sure Bill Walsh won Superbowl's, but it's the Mike Holmgren's, Green Bay's and Andy Reid's West Coast principles that truly speak to the greatness of Walsh. Those principles are used by nearly every coach in the NFL. On the flip side the Steelers have had 3 coaches, which all shared same principles. Without knowing the x's and o's we all have an idea of who the Steelers are. Even when Chan Gailey, and Mike Mularkey coordinated the Steelers offenses they were going to knock teams in the mouth. Gailey moved on and did his thing in Kansas City, yet still we attempted to punch teams in the mouth with LJ carrying the rock 400+ times. If the Chiefs want sustained success the most important thing is determining who they want to be.
Through the Haley era we have seen a team try to be smashmouth with the corpse of Larry Johnson. Then changed to a zone blocking horizontal offense with Jamaal. During the course of games we are a team that will have two distinct game plans. Against Detroit we ran draws, screens, and hitches. Against San Diego we ran downhill right at them. The last two weeks have been a tale of two halfs. Both games we started with horizontal passes and draws. Only to end up running down hill and passing vertically. Defensively we are much like the offense. If I charted the snaps this season I wouldn't be shocked if we were in the sub package as much as the 3-4.
The blame for not establishing a philosophy falls on Clark Hunt, Scott Pioli, and Todd Haley. In one offseason we acquire Mike Goff. At his best Goff was a mauler for San Diego. For years he was one of the better interior lineman in terms of run blocking. Part of the success of LT can be attributed to the philosophies of San Diego's approach offensively. The next offseason we acquire Ryan Lilja. Ryan Lilja played in Indy for a passing team. Goff and Lilja are on opposite ends in terms of skill set yet the Chiefs acquired both with the thoughts of playing key roles. That is a clear sign that the offensive philosophy isn't established.
Another example would be our drafts. If you were to determine who we are as a team by looking at our drafts there would be no consensus. Our drafts have also reflected signs that this team does not know what it's identity is. Jon Asomoah was an inline run blocker in college for Illinois. His acquisition should have signaled that the Chiefs were going to go to more in line blocking. This past draft we acquire Rodney Hudson who was a athletic, zone blocking, finesse Center. Both are tremendous acquisitions but both have very different skill sets. To the naked eye this isn't important but scheme can determine wether a guy like Kendrell Bell is a rookie of the year in Pittsburgh or flames out in a 4-3 as a Chief.
This is the root of my frustration with this staff. We draft based on the skills of a player with the thought of developing packages for them. We should draft based not only on talent but who fits the system the best. A team should always have something that we can go to. The Chiefs only have things they can go to if the given team allows it. Our identity is that of a chameleon, ever changing for what we face. We spend a first round pick on a receiver that is a 5 step read, without addressing the RT position. Which in turn gives us two primary reads in Bowe and Baldwin that are #2 WR (in terms of route development and fits), and Barry Richardson having to 5 step protect if teams want to play man. This team constantly drafts specialist. Over the last two drafts we have spent picks on guys that have no shot at a starting spot. We have spent picks to address special teams, sub packages, and offensive trick plays. That's what we are building, that's our identity.
We can't run a west coast offense because our receivers can't get consistent releases against man. Sure Bowe will shine with teams like Indy and Minn. giving him free releases, but what happens later against man. Those reads develop later, making Richardson and Lilja protect longer. We can run with Jackie Battle against the worst run defenses but what happens when that is no longer an option with the better run defenses. Cassel hasn't faced a blitz in 2 weeks, what happens when he is forced to make checks. This team is the best in the NFL at adjustments, but the games that matters comes down to being good at what you do. Quite frankly nobody can tell me what the Chiefs do, and until we can we will never be able to sustain success on our own terms.
As a Chief fan we are now entering a potential 5th coaching change that will bring entirely different philosophies. From Marty/Gunther, to Vermiel, to Herm, and to Haley. Not one of those HC shared similar philosophies, and it shows with the lack of veterans on our roster. I am for a change, because I know the way that we are doing it will not bring sustainability. We may fail in the next hire, and I hope we do because rarely does a GM get a shot at a 3rd coach. If the Chiefs are ever going to build a consistent leader then it starts with a concise vision on how to build. I love Haley, unfortunately he is not the man for this job. With the report from Nick Wright, I wish the Chiefs had lost that game. As a fan it brings me closer to leadership that can potentially give us a winner. As I have said I like Haley but I am convinced that neither him nor Pioli can ever give us the team that can compete on it's own terms.
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