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THE DEVELOPER
January 13th – 4:22 PM

Much emphasis throughout the season and into this offseason has been placed on the development of Chiefs QB Matt Cassel. With Charlie Weis guiding the offensive ship, the Chiefs not only have a proven winner running the offense, but a man responsible for developing successful quarterbacks regardless of age, style or level of football.

The numbers don’t lie. Quarterbacks thrive under Weis’ leadership. Below is a year-by-year list of the leading passers for each team that Weis has either served as head coach or offensive coordinator for.

Weis has coached a group of intriguing quarterbacks throughout his career. Take a look…

NO “YES MEN”
January 13th – 2:39 PM

With Todd Haley spending his first two weeks of the offseason targeting former head coaches to lead the Chiefs offensive and defensive efforts, it’s clear that he wants independent thinkers calling the shots. Confidence is key and the best results come from healthy debate between strong-minded (and bright-minded) individuals.

In other words, Haley isn’t looking for a bunch of “yes men.“

“I don’t want to be surrounded by yes men, so to speak,” Haley said yesterday on NFL Sirius Radio. “I want guys who say what they think and aren’t afraid to fight for what they believe in. I think that ultimately will be what helps make us successful.“

In this regard, a football team is no different than running a business. Surround yourself with a bunch of “yes men” and you’re already well on your way to failure. A culture of “yes men” leads to a culture of complacency, which leads to a culture of status-quo, which leads to a culture of comfort zones. Haley has gone on record plenty of times that he never wants his players or assistants to feel comfortable.

It all starts at the top and Haley seems to be building his brand with talented, experienced, individual thinkers.

Business Management 101: Say NO to “yes men.”

WHIRLWIND OF REPORTS
January 13th – 9:38 AM

The “Romeo Crennel to the Chiefs” storyline has been a roller coaster ride for the past 48 hours. Reports have been that a deal is all but done, to an offer not being extended and back to a deal being finalized. Conflicting reports, multiple reports, reports galore…seemingly every media outlet has jumped on the story in one way or another.

The only official word out of Arrowhead, to date, occurred yesterday when Todd Haley went on record by saying that he’s still in the process of evaluating the defensive side of the football (see below post from yesterday).

If/when Crennel officially signs his reported deal in Kansas City kcchiefs.com will let you know.

CHARLIE’S PSYCHE
January 13th – 6:16 AM

Yesterday, Chiefs head coach Todd Haley was asked an excellent question by Adam Schein on NFL Sirius Radio.

In a nutshell, Schein asked where Charlie Weis’ mindset stands after everything he went through at Notre Dame?

We’ll get to Haley’s answer in a moment, but let’s first take a step back into the past to see the highs and lows Weis experienced in Northwest Indiana over the past five years.

Typically, when a major hire is made in the college or professional football world there is one “catchphrase” that is taken and run with throughout the coaches’ tenure. Usually that sound clip, whatever it may be, becomes twisted and used against the man running the show if things do not go as planned. 
For instance, former Chiefs general manger Carl Peterson’s “five-year plan” was still used as a jab some two decades after Peterson’s initial press conference. Nearly a year ago, there was the alleged “two wins with 22 players off the street” associated with Todd Haley. In 2009, both Haley and Chiefs fans heard plenty of reference to that comment, even though it has never been confirmed as happening.

Those are just two specific examples relative to Kansas City, but taking a comment and running with it, when things aren’t going so well, is par for the course across the country in today’s sports climate.

For Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, that comment came in his introductory press conference when he stated that his team would hold a “decided schematic advantage” over its opponents. To be fair, Weis’ offense did just that; at least at the beginning of Weis’ tenure with the Golden Domers. Eventually, that comment was re-berthed over and over again by a lot of people with an inability to come up with original and though-based criticism.
Following yet another Super Bowl run with New England, Weis picked up at Notre Dame exactly where he left off in the NFL – an offensive force. The Fighting Irish would go on to win 19 games over Weis’ first two seasons (2005-06), which were the most wins ever by a coach over his first two years on the job in South Bend.

Offensive records were shattered one after another for the Irish. In Weis’ first year at the helm, Notre Dame set offensive records for yards (5,728) passing yards per game (330.2) and points (440). Weis’ hot start carried into his second season in 2006 when QB Brady Quinn set a new school mark for touchdown passes with 37.

Things were good at Notre Dame. In Weis’ first two years he had once again put a Notre Dame quarterback on the national map. Under Weis’ tutelage, Quinn helped Irish fans remember the golden days of All-America signal callers like Rick Mirer, Tony Rice, Tom Clements, Joe Thiesman and, of course, former Chiefs QB Joe Montana. 

The decade-plus run of musical chair games at the quarterback position – Carlyle Holiday, Matt LoVecchio, Gary Godsey, Arnaz Battle, Jarious Jackson and Ron Pawlus – seemed long gone under Weis. Quinn would go on to become a first-round pick and Weis’ tradition of molding young quarterbacks at every level was unquestionable. 

(Weis’ history of grooming young quarterbacks from Tom Brady to Brady Quinn never did stop as Jimmy Clausen is expected to be a first-round pick in 2010 - just another reason for Chiefs fans to be excited about Weis working with Matt Cassel in Kansas City).

But in 2007 Notre Dame hit a hellacioius band of turbulence and the program was never able to get the wheels back on track. The Irish began Weis’ third-year getting blown out by a Chan Gailey-led (Gailey was fired at the end of the year) Georgia Tech team 33-3 at home. Notre Dame went on to post a 3-9 season, making 2007 represent the most losses in school history.
Weis would go on to make major schematic changes over the next two seasons, both giving up his play-calling duties and then undertaking them once more. He worked relentlessly at getting the Irish back on course, but in both 2008 and 2009 Notre Dame suffered late-season collapses after beginning the year winning four of their first five games.

This past season, the spiral was too much to counter as Notre Dame, who had been projected by some as a BCS team, lost at home to Navy on November 7th, which triggered a four-game losing streak to end the season. Within only a span of six weeks, Irish fans went from participating in “Jimmy Clausen/Golden Tate for Heisman” talk to calling for Weis’ job. The team finished 6-6, but things had already begun to turn ugly.

It was widely reported that Weis was taking some heavy shots from not only the media, but from those around Notre Dame as well. Even his players, specifically quarterback Jimmy Clausen, had to deal with over-the-top riffraff in places they shouldn’t. In a seemingly short time at Notre Dame, Weis saw the high of highs and the low of lows. 

Many will say that an experience such as that will only make one a finer person (and coach), but the question of how Weis’ confidence looks coming out of that situation is a natural inquiry.

Here’s Haley’s take…
“I think that Charlie overall is no different than Matt (Cassel),” Haley compared. “He looked adversity in the face here over the last few years and Charlie is real tough mentally. He’s not going to be affected too much by that. His confidence is still there exactly the way that I remember it. He is excited to be a part of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I think he just wants to be a part of something special,” Haley continued. “I think that with Charlie in the mix and what we’re going to get done here in the offseason…this team was getting better and was going to get better if we stayed status-quo, but we made some real positive additions. We’re going to add players to the mix and with the nucleus that we’ve found of players through this difficult year we’ll have a chance to show marked improvement.“

It’s most definitely a fresh start for Weis in Kansas City. One that has Chiefs fans excited about Weis leaving college football and getting back into the National Football League.

ARROWHEAD ON THE INTERNATIONAL MAP
January 12th – 4:09 PM

Soccer fan? No? Even Chiefs fans who don’t follow “the other football” have to be pleased news coming out of the soccer world this afternoon. The place the Chiefs fans call “home” is officially part of the USA’s bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. If the US gets the bid, then The New Arrowhead will be on display to the entire world.

The USA Bid Committee announced Tuesday that Kansas City is one of 18 American cities included in the nation’s bid to Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup™. Matches in Kansas City will be played at newly renovated Arrowhead Stadium, with ancillary activities hosted on both sides of the state line throughout the metropolitan area. Each host city would receive a minimum of four World Cup matches, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy.

The USA Bid Committee will submit its bid to FIFA in May, with decisions on host nations for the 2018 and 2022 events scheduled for December of 2010. The Kansas City / USA Host City Bid Committee is cochaired by Cerner CEO and Wizards owner Neal Patterson and Kansas City Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt.

“Clark and I are very proud of the efforts of our city and region, and are honored by today’s selection as a USA Bid City,” Patterson said. “Our quintessential American City has wonderful amenities, world-class facilities, and most of all, our citizens’ famous ‘can-do’ attitude. We will keep promoting Kansas City until we are named a Host City for this great event.”

This is great news for all Kansas Citians and Chiefs fans, whether soccer is your cup of tea or not.

WANT TRUMPS NEED
January 12th – 2:53 PM

For once, a want carries more weight than a need. This is the case with new Chiefs offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.

Weis doesn’t need the Chiefs (although some may argue that the Chiefs needed him). Fresh off the trail of a lofty buyout from Notre Dame, Weis is beyond comfortable from a financial standpoint. He could have very easily decided that taking a year off on some beachfront property next to a golf course would be more appealing than reporting to work before dawn in the arctic circle known as Kansas City in January.

Even if Weis isn’t the “vacation” type of guy, there still certainly wasn’t any need to make Kansas City his next landing spot. Reportedly, both the Bears and Patriots (among probably countless others) were interested in bringing Weis on board. There is no doubt that Weis had options outside of Kansas City both in and out of the coaching world.

The man certainly had his choices.

“There were plenty of places,” Weis said last week. “There were plenty of places that were out there that were opportunities, but you want to know something, I think sometimes when you really look at what presents itself, there are things that really intrigue you.

“Right from the start, Kansas City was a place that intrigued me,” Weis continued. “Knowing Todd and knowing Scott and guys on the coaching staff and players on the team, there were just so many things that intrigued me. Once Todd pulled the trigger and offered me the opportunity and my wife and my son signed off on it, I couldn’t have been any happier to be coming on board.“

The best part about adding Weis to the staff isn’t his knack for developing quarterbacks, four Super Bowl rings or 32 years of coaching experience. What’s best about Charlie Weis joining the Chiefs is that Charlie Weis WANTS to be a Chief.

“Right now I just want to do all I can to help the Kansas City Chiefs get better,” Weis said. “That’s all I want to do. I just want to put all my time and all my energy into trying to help us get better.“

Weis certainly didn’t need the Chiefs, but an entire organization and excited fan base is happy that the Chiefs decided that they needed him.

“The ability to add a great offensive mind couldn’t have worked out better for us,” Haley said today.

There’s that whole “mutual fit” thing once again.

HALEY TALKS ROMEO
January 12th – 10:44 AM

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley was on NFL Sirius Radio this morning with former Chiefs QB Rich Gannon and host Adam Schein. Naturally the discussion was dominated with talk of Kansas City adding a new offensive coordinator in Charlie Weis and the potential of Romeo Crennel joining the staff on the defensive side of the football.

Haley didn’t break any news regarding the defensive side of the football this morning, but he did offer an update as to what is going on at Arrowhead regarding evaluation on that side of the football. He also said that things should become a bit more unclouded within the next week or two.

“We’re in the midst of that evaluation,” Haley said regarding the status of his defensive staff. “The offensive side was a simpler task of moving fast because I was ultimately in charge of the offense and was able to put a lot of thought into that, even during the year.

“I’m in the process of this defensive evaluation,” Haley continued. “We made a bunch of progress on defense from the year previous, but it’s not where we want to be. We have to get better. We need to add some players to help us improve and we need to get better coaching. But I’m in the middle of that and we’ll kind of see how it plays out in the next week or so.“

As Haley said, the Chiefs certainly did make a handful of progress defensively from 2008 to 2009. Specifically, Kansas City improved their NFL ranking in three-and-outs from 31st to 8th and allowed fewer passing yards per game (28th to 22nd), TD runs allowed (seven fewer), recorded two more INTs, more than doubled its sack output (10.0 to 22.0) and allowed fewer first downs. Still, despite that progress, the reality is that the Chiefs ranked 30th overall in total defense.

Much like Haley said last week regarding Weis, he has a deep respect and admiration for Crennel as a coach as well.

“Romeo is a guy no different than Charlie and a guy that I’ve worked closely with for three years and have stayed in touch with,” Haley said. “He’s a guy that I consider a friend and also a mentor.

“I really looked up to Romeo as a young coach at his ability to coach players,” Haley continued. “He’s a strong, strong presence and somebody that I look up to and look to periodically for advice. I’ve done that throughout my career because he’s a guy that I have such a great amount of respect for.“

Full audio of Haley’s appearance on NFL Sirius Radio we’ll be posted on kcchiefs.com later this afternoon. We’ll also talk about what he had to say today on Chiefs LIVE at 12:00 PM (CST) right here on kcchiefs.com.

GLASS HALF WHAT?
January 12th – 5:29 AM

Glass half full: A person views the situation optimistically or hopefully. (For example, Chiefs fan Dan sees an electric play-maker in Jamaal Charles, the addition of Charlie Weis as offensive coordinator and a shutdown corner in Brandon Flowers as major building blocks in the Chiefs taking the next step in 2010).

Glass half empty: A person views the situation pessimistically or hopelessly. (For example, Chiefs fan John saw what he believes was a 6-10 team turn in a 4-12 record in 2009 with critical holes to fill on each side of the football going into 2010).

Either you’re excited for the Chiefs in 2010, or you’re not (or maybe you’re still undecided). It just depends on what kind of drink you enjoy. That’s fine. The two sides can wage debate all day with extremely valid points to back statements.

2010 is an entirely new year for the Chiefs, a new decade for that matter, one which seems to have started off on the right foot with the Chiefs big win in Denver and Jamaal Charles’ record-setting second-half of the season. For the first time in nearly a decade it seems that there is a set plan in guiding the Chiefs future that has been implemented with both a sense of urgency and big-picture thinking in mind.

As a result, and with the addition of Charlie Weis (and maybe others) to the coaching staff, many fans are beginning to already ask if it’s okay to get excited for the 2010 season? “Cautious optimism” would be a good way to describe it considering the reality is still that the Chiefs won just 25% of their games in 2009.

With that said, let’s look at the way the Chiefs finished 2009 compared to the way the team completed each season of the past decade.

2009 – Chiefs end the season in blowout fashion over rival, Jamaal Charles is the tops and Charlie Weis is brought on board to guide ship (Romeo Crennel is in the mind of Chiefs fans too).

2008 – New administration is expected to take shape at Arrowhead, but whoever is hired might need to be a miracle worker coming off the worst record in franchise history. Massive improvements needed on both sides of the football.

2007 – The Chiefs widely-impressive offensive run seems to be coming to an end with an aging roster and nine consecutive losses to end the season.

2006 – Playoffs are a nice treat, but they’re just that. Chiefs backdoor their way into the playoffs on the final day of the season and are handled easily by a far superior Colts team. Will Shields retirement only adds more questions to the Chiefs offensive line, which lost Willie Roaf to retirement during training camp.

2005 – Chiefs run up the score against the Bengals JV squad to send out Dick Vermeil on top, but a 10-win season without a playoff game doesn’t feed fans’ hunger for another crack at playoff redemption.

2004 – Team must win four of final five games to salvage a 7-9 record despite a solid cast of returnees from a 13-win season the year before. Same questions asked a year later after turning in the league’s 2nd ranked offense, but 29th ranked defense.

2003 – The 13-3 season of gold is a wild and exciting ride, but it ends badly in the “no punt” playoff game against the Colts. Home field advantage goes for none. How will the Chiefs address a defense to compliment the game’s most explosive offense?

2002 – Shutout by the arch-rival Raiders in a sewage game at Oakland. Back-to-back last place finishes in the AFC West wasn’t how the Vermeil era was expected to begin.

2001 – Tony Gonzalez suffers knee injury in season finale as team doesn’t record at least seven wins for the first time in Carl Peterson’s 13-year tenure as general manger. Team digresses across the board in wins and offensive/defensive production from the year before.

2000 – A lackluster performance in the season finale against a mediocre Atlanta team ends Gunther Cunningham’s two-year tenure as Chiefs head coach.

As you can see, there have been major questions and frustrations surrounding the conclusion of each season over the past decade. Where does today stand compared to the January’s of the past 10 years?

Is your glass half empty or half full? Maybe you’ve yet to even fill your glass with liquid. Whatever the case, we’ll all sit back and see what’s to come during an already active Chiefs offseason.

At a minimum, something seems to feel a bit different about both the immediate and long-term plans of this football organization as we begin this offseason.