Join Chiefs365 | Insider Forum with Josh Looney - Talk it up! | Looney Bin Archive

WWRD?
January 14th – 4:01 PM

WWRD…What Would Romeo Do?

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has found himself asking this question many times over the last decade, yet Romeo has never been in sight.

”I have told Romeo that even after we all kind of broke up there in New York there were many days that I was put in situations and I thought, ‘how would Romeo react to this, or coached in this situation?’,” Haley said.

Now, Romeo isn’t just a phone call away. He’s on the same sideline, headset frequency and coaching staff.

”You guys will see, those who haven’t been around him, Romeo is a great presence, has great leadership qualities and you can hear his voice,” Haley said.

Many people have misinterpreted the Weis/Crennel hiring, along with Scott Pioli’s presence, as Arrowhead turning into “New England West.” There is certainly a Patriots connection, but to discover the true coaching roots, all roads lead to the New York Jets of the late 1990s. Current Chiefs coaches on the Jets staff in 1998 that reside at Arrowhead in 2010 include Haley, Weis, Crennel, Maurice Carthon and Bill Muir. Pioli was in the Jets administration at that time, while current Chiefs coaches Richie Anderson, Anthony Pleasant and Dedric Ward were all players for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

Regardless of who was where at what time when they got there (say that five times fast), all of the above are now Chiefs.

”It is good to be back around those guys,” Crennel said.

STAFF EXPERIENCE BUILDS
January 14th – 2:21 PM

Adding Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel to the Chiefs coaching staff has given Kansas City a massive bump in overall head coaching and coordinating experience. As it stands now, here are the coaches on staff in Kansas City who have either served as a head coach or coordinator during their coaching careers.

Head Coaching Experience
Todd Haley - Kansas City Chiefs, 2009
Romeo Crennel - Cleveland Browns, 2005-08
Charlie Weis - Notre Dame, 2005-09
Gary Gibbs - Oklahoma, 1989-94

Offensive Coordinator Experience
Todd Haley - Kansas City Chiefs, 2009; Arizona Cardinals, 2007-08
Charlie Weis - Notre Dame, 2005-07, 2009; New England Patriots, 2000-04; N.Y. Jets, 1997-99
Maurice Carthon - Cleveland Browns, 2005-06; Dallas Cowboys, 2003-04; Detroit Lions, 2002
Bob Bicknell - Berlin (NFLEL), 2000-03; Cologne (NFLEL), 2004-05
Bill Muir - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2002-08
Pat Perles - North Dakota State, 2005-08

Defensive Coordinator Experience
Romeo Crennel - New England Patriots, 2001-04; Cleveland Browns, 2000
Clancy Pendergast - Kansas City Chiefs, 2009; Arizona Cardinals, 2004-08
Gary Gibbs - New Orleans Saints, 2006-08; LSU, 2001; Georgia, 2000; Oklahoma, 1981-88
Bill Muir - Indianapolis Colts, 1989-90; Idaho State, 1972-73; Rhode Island, 1970-71

“PHASE II” COMING SOON
January 14th – 1:48 PM

The Chiefs have taken a head-first dive in implementing “Phase I” of the 2010 offseason. This offseason is all about adding talent to the nucleus built during the 2009 season. “Phase II” is just a matter of weeks away.

2010 Offseason Plans…

“Phase I” - Continue to add talented coaches to coaching staff.

“Phase II” - Add tough, talented football players to 2009 nucleus.

“This was about adding good coaches,” head coach Todd Haley said. “That’s been the number one goal going back to last year at this time of year. You need players to win the big game and you need coaches. You can’t do it with just one or the other.

“If you just have good players and you don’t have coaches that are capable of getting the job done than you probably aren’t going to win the games you want to win,” Haley continued. “If you just have coaches, but you don’t have players than you probably get the same results.“

The Chiefs are looking to take care of both as the team moves forward into 2010. Thus far, Haley has spent the first two weeks of the 2010 offseason working on the coaching staff. Once free agency and the NFL Draft arrive, there will be yet another phase implemented in moving the program forward.

As for new defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, he says that coming to the Chiefs was a big-picture plan that has been in the works for quite some time.

“I had hip replacement surgery (last year) and when Todd talked to me about the possibility of coming he was willing to wait however long I needed,” Crennel said. “I thought it would be a disservice to him and this program for him to have to wait until basically June (because of recovery from hip replacement).

“I decided that I would take that deep breath that he mentioned and I told him that I wasn’t available,” Crennel continued. “This year, after sitting out for a year, I’m available and that breath has filled my lungs. Enthusiasm is up, energy is up, there is no pain in my hip and I feel really good about coming in and helping to build this program.“

Crennel was in the building today finalizing things with the Chiefs before he heads to Orlando, FL tomorrow to begin prep-work for the the East-West College All-Star Game on January 23rd. Crennel will return to Kansas City and begin work for 2010 following his duties as the East head coach.

As for the Chiefs defensive staff, former defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast remains on staff. Haley did say on more than one occasion that there were a lot of “moving parts” surrounding Pendergast’s status. It’s logical to believe that Haley has given Pendergast the option whether or not to stay on staff.

“I want Clancy to be part of this staff, just like I did last year,” Haley said. “Clancy and I have had discussions and we’ll just have to see where it goes.“

Pendergast coached the Chiefs defensive backs, specifically cornerbacks, in addition to his role as defensive coordinator in 2009. That is where Haley expects Pendergast to remain if he indeed is on staff with the Chiefs for kickoff to the 2010 season.

Neither Haley or Crennel commented today as to whether Crennel would also coach the Chiefs defensive line. Crennel’s background is in coaching the defensive front and the Chiefs did not renew defensive line coach Tim Krumrie’s contract following the conclusion of the 2009 season.

“This is about adding a quality coach that I have a lot of respect for and that the league has a lot of respect for to our defensive staff to help make us a good team,” Haley said.

CHIEFS TO INTRODUCE CRENNEL THIS AFTERNOON
January 14th – 10:00 AM

Circle the wagons, Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has made it official with Romeo Crennel. He will officially be introduced to Kansas City via conference call later this afternoon. Stay tuned to kcchiefs.com for everything that Crennel and Haley have to say. 

Less than a week ago Haley changed the face of the Chiefs offensive system with the hiring of Charlie Weis as Kansas City’s new offensive coordinator. Today, he did the same on the defensive side of the football by replacing Clancy Pendergast with Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator.The Chiefs, however, have not removed Pendergast from the coaching staff as of this moment.

“Fit is the most important thing,” Haley has continually said over the past two weeks as rumors began to swirl involving the Chiefs place in the 2010 NFL coaching carousel.

When Haley hired Weis last week, that’s exactly what he went for – a “mutual fit.” The man calling the offensive shots may have changed, but the system already in place remains at its core. Everything that the Chiefs became comfortable executing offensively in 2009 will be built upon in 2010, rather than rebuilt. The same can now be said defensively.

Becoming excellent at something takes practice. Thus far, Todd Haley and the rest of the Chiefs have had 16 games of on-the-job training to implement their schemes on both sides of the football. Like any first crack at something, there were both highs (like Jamaal Charles and Tamba Hali) and lows (like no rushing TDs through the first eight games and 792 rushing yards yielded over a three-game December homestretch).

Now, Haley has taken the next step by adding another steady, widely-respected hand to the Chiefs coaching staff. Over a period of less than a week, Haley has added a combined 44 years of NFL coaching experience, 11 Super Bowl appearances and nine Super Bowl rings to his coaching staff.

Even better, however, might be the fact that both of the Chiefs new coordinators are coming directly off of stints as first-time head coaches. Most everything that Haley has seen, or will see, Weis and Crennel have experienced within the last two years.

Much like Weis, Crennel will take control of the defense and make it his own, in the mold of the 3-4 scheme introduced to Kansas City in 2009. His roots running this particular scheme date back to the 1970s when he landed a job as a defensive assistant under Bill Parcells at Texas Tech. From there, he went with Parcells to the pros, met Bill Belichick, and the rest has been written in the history books.

Crennel seems like the perfect elixir to what many Chiefs fans point to as the problem-area involving Kansas City’s defense in recent years – the defensive front. All defenders must be on the same page to run the 3-4 system effectively; it’s not as simple as a “shed and attack” approach that a 4-3 scheme carries.

Kansas City’s new defensive boss specializes in teaching the big men up front and getting them on page with play-making linebackers. To be consistent at the second-level, it all starts with the big boys being consistent on the first-level.  

New personnel acquisitions and existing player progression now become two primary focuses for the Chiefs defense for the 2010 offseason. In “year one” of the 3-4 scheme landing at Arrowhead, seven of the Chiefs 11 regular starters had been targets brought in to play the 4-3 scheme. Many of the players from the previous coaching administration were asked to do new and different things than they were accustomed to doing. The learning curve showed far too many times this past regular season.

Some “hold-overs” went through drastic changes and answered the call (such as Tamba Hali and his career-high 8.5 sacks), while others weren’t able to handle the transition as well (such as Turk McBride who never seemed completely comfortable as a linebacker and was subsequently released on September 15^th).

There is now a full season of game and practice film involving the Chiefs defensive personnel. It becomes Crennel’s job to shuffle through the tape, determine what role each will play (if any) and lead the Chiefs defensive future.

“On good teams it’s very important that guys understand their roles and have a role they fit,” Haley said. “The key to having a winning team is having good competition with guys that are here and guys that are coming in.”

Crennel’s seen this setting before. When he took over as Cleveland’s head coach, Crennel made the switch to the 3-4 defense with 4-3 personnel. Between year-one and year-two the Browns focused on setting their personnel properly, particularly up front.

The Chiefs newest coordinator’s specific craft has always been building and teaching the defensive front. He has a difficult task ahead of him in taking over the league’s 30th ranked defense, but it appears Haley has found a man capable of steering a turnaround.

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” – Chiefs fans have been asking for nearly two weeks.

Fear not, Romeo is in place at Arrowhead.

LONG-STANDING PARTNERSHIP
January 14th – 6:22 AM

Nearly every media outlet has jumped on the news surrounding the Chiefs and Romeo Crennel over the past 24 hours. As of this morning, the Chiefs have yet to make any official announcement welcoming Crennel to Kansas City. If/When that announcement is set to be made, you’ll know about it here on kcchiefs.com.

With that said, there is still plenty of interest and excitement among Chiefs fans about the prospects of 2010. With Charlie Weis already landing in Kansas City, it only seems natural that Crennel be mentioned in the same sentence. The two have spent the majority of their professional careers with one another, albeit on opposite sides of the football.

The Crennel/Weis partnership began with the New York Giants, under Bill Parcells, in 1990 and spanned the better part of the next two decades. It was in the late 1990’s the each came associated with Chiefs head coach Todd Haley as part of the New York Jets organization.

Both Crennel and Weis left each other following New England’s Super Bowl XXXIX championship season. As the lead assistants, both were offered major coaching opportunities and accepted – Crennel with the Browns and Weis with Notre Dame.

Five years later, both coaches became “unrestricted free agents” in the coaching world and, of course, seemed to have found their way into the same sentence once more.

Let’s take a look at the Crennel/Weis partnership through the years and the results that came from it…

2004 – *New England Patriots (14-2) – DC/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 9th (310.8 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 7th (357.6 ypg.)

2003 – *New England Patriots (14-2) – DC/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 7th (291.6 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 17th (314.9 ypg.)

2002 – New England Patriots (9-7) – DC/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 23rd (336.1 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 21st (317.8 ypg.)

2001 – *New England Patriots (11-5) – DC/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 24th (334.5 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 19th (305.1 ypg.)

1999 – New York Jets (8-8) – D-Line/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 21st (336.2 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 25th (297.0 ypg.)

1998 – ^New York Jets (12-4) – D-Line/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 7th (293.7 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 4th (357.2 ypg.)

1997 – New York Jets (9-7) – D-Line/OC
NFL Defensive Rank – 24th (332.5 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 22nd (295.4 ypg.)

1996 – %New England Patriots (11-5) – D-Line/WRs
NFL Defensive Rank – 19th (331.6 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 7th (335.6 ypg.)

1995 – New England Patriots (6-10) – D-Line/RBs
NFL Defensive Rank – 28th (360.3 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 12th (341.1 ypg.)

1994 – ^New England Patriots (10-6) – D-Line/Tes
NFL Defensive Rank – 18th (325.4 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 4th (361.0 ypg.)

1993 – New England Patriots (5-11) – D-Line/Tes
NFL Defensive Rank – 13th (299.8 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 12th (316.6 ypg.)

1992 – New York Giants (6-10) – D-Line/RBs
NFL Defensive Rank – 18th (315.2 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 22nd (276.4 ypg.)

1991 – New York Giants (8-8) – D-Line/RBs
NFL Defensive Rank – 2nd (287.5 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 7th (306.8 ypg.)

1990 – *New York Giants (13-3) – D-Line/O-Asst.
NFL Defensive Rank – 2nd (262.9 ypg.)
NFL Offensive Rank – 17th (300.3 ypg.)

*Super Bowl Champs/Conference Champs
%AFC Champs
^Playoff Team

In 14 years associated with one another Crennel/Weis teams have won four Super Bowls, five conference championships and made seven trips to the playoffs. Overall, those teams have combined to post a 136-87 (.610) record while allowing an average of 315.6 yards per game defensively and gaining an average of 320.2 yards per game offensively.

In 2009, the Chiefs allowed an average of 388.2 yards per game (30th) and gained an average of 303.2 yards per game (25th).