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Three Returning Award Winners and Three New Honorees Selected as Recipients of NFL 101 Awards for 2009 Season - For individual tickets and sponsor packages, call 913/681-6224

NEW RADIO PARTNERSHIP
February 3rd – 4:47 PM

If you’re here, than you certainly know by now. The Chiefs announced this afternoon on 101.1 The Fox and Sports Radio 810 WHB a new broadcast partnership effective immediately. If you’re looking for all the technical details, get it here. I’d also suggest you watch the welcome video that currently leads kcchiefs.com.

Here are some highlights of what the people involved in making this partnership happen had to say this afternoon.

Chiefs COO Mark Donovan: “It is a historic day. It’s not often that you can combine three very powerful brands in the market place. Our goal when we looked at this was, how do we created the strongest voice in the market place keeping that 21-year tradition with 101 The Fox, but expand that?

“Through a lot of hard work by a lot of very dedicated people, we were able to create a true partnership. I will say this, that it’s not very common to be able to put two different radio groups, two different ownerships and two different formats in the same market together. We discussed it a lot, talked about the pros and cons, and every time we walked out of a meeting with either one of the partners our team felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli: “I think it’s something that we talked about when we first arrived here, that we were going to try to create a championship organization not only on the field, but off the field. We’ve talked about finding different ways to reach out into the community not only in the media, but to the fans. It’s an exciting time.”

“Voice of the Chiefs” Mitch Holthus:”This is truly a historic day. Twenty-one years ago 101 The Fox made history as the flagship of an NFL team on a classic rock station with an FM frequency. That was a pioneer move in the day and Chiefs fans who have followed the last two decades have seen how that changed the entire National Football League. Now, that has become commonplace for an FM station.

“In a similar fashion, Sports Radio 810 made history when they became an all-sports station in the mid-1990s and changed the landscape of sports in this region. I think it’s interesting and somewhat symmetric that today (those two stations) are making a similar move with the Kansas City Chiefs to make a new multi-year radio partnership. This is truly a historic day.”

810 WHB Between the Lines host Kevin Kietzman: “We are very excited at Sports Radio 810. I would say to our listeners that what people really need to understand is that nothing you know about Sports Radio 810 changes. We’re still going to be reporters and we’re still going to provide information, insight and opinion.

“These are people that realize a big part of the sports entertainment industry is that people talk about sports. Sometimes with the team you love, fans boo players and sometimes they call into shows and express their opinion. Nothing is gong to change. We will have programming throughout the week that at times is produced by the Chiefs. Mitch is hosting that and we’ll have some other shows as well, but it won’t really change anything we do day-to-day.”

In the end, today’s announcement is all about creating a better day-to-day experience for fans to interact with the Chiefs.

“The best thing that it does is that it expands the opportunity to interact,” Donovan said. “Interacting our brand in a very informative, very accurate, very balanced and very entertaining way.

“The gameday broadcast is the same that it ever was,” Donovan continued. “Then, when you end the game on Sunday you’ll go to a post-game and then another post-game on 810. Then the broadcasting that we’ve developed with 810 will take you through the game week. Every single day there is more Chiefs, more information and more access. It’s something that we talked a lot about and are excited about.”

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PRESSER- QB’S COACH?
February 3rd – 11:19 AM

The Chiefs coaching staff is now complete, but one question mark still remains. Who will be in charge of coaching the Chiefs quarterbacks?

Officially, the team has not designated anyone as the club’s “quarterbacks coach,” but from reading between the lines during Monday’s press conference we can certainly connect the dots.

A year ago, its fair to say that four different men were in charge of the quarterbacks at various points and times during the season. Chan Gailey began the preseason as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and was ultimately followed by a mix of Todd Haley, (offensive quality control coach) Nick Sirianni and (assistant general manger) Joel Collier. This season, I’d expect Haley to return to his role as a true head coach, overseeing the entire operation (which Haley himself has deemed most efficient even before the arrival of Weis).

So, who coaches the quarterbacks in 2010?

From Monday’s presser, we take an extremely educated guess that it will be Charlie Weis with some assistance from Sirianni.

”I’ve been (in Kansas City) a little longer (than Romeo) so I’ve met some of (the players) in person and I’m wearing a couple of them out on the phone – one in particular,” Weis yielded.

Could that be the quarterback?

”I just said I’ve worn at least one of them out,” Weis smiled.

Touche Charlie, touche. You must not be new at this?

Weis coaching quarterbacks just seems to make the most sense for Kansas City. He developed two of college football finest signal-callers at Notre Dame in Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen and also has the pro background of grooming Tom Brady. This list goes on back to Vinny Testeverde with the Jets when Weis was serving as O.C., making Weis’ ability to coach quarterbacks a major selling point in joining the Chiefs staff.

Also, it just meets the precedent established when Haley first took the Chiefs job. The O.C. coaching QBs is exactly how the Chiefs were structured when the head coaching and offensive coordinator roles were separated last spring and summer. Plus, Sirianni works with quarterbacks and we already know that he islearning the demands of perfection which Weis seeks.

”I know one of our young coaches, Nick Sirianni, just with Charlie’s presence, I know what he’s going through right now, and it’s a grind,” Haley said. “But that’s an important part of getting this team to where we all want it to be.”

We probably won’t see this become official until the first day of OTAs, but Weis coaching the quarterbacks seems like a foregone conclusion.

NATURE OF THE BEAST
February 3rd – 6:01 AM

When one becomes an NFL head coach, they’ve reached the pinnacle of the football coaching world. There are only 32 such jobs, with each and every one of them coming widely coveted (yes, believe it or not, that includes Oakland…kind of).

Successful college coaches have left the best of settings for the NFL pastures. Some have even done it twice.

Former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier exited the helm of Gator Nation in 2002 after winning a National title, six SEC championships and five SEC Coach of the Year awards. The lure of a five-year, $25 million contract with the Redskins (the most lucrative coaching contract in the history of the NFL at the time) was enough to pry him away from the Swamp.

Just a few weeks ago, we saw Pete Carroll leave USC after guiding the Trojans to a 6-1 record in BCS bowl games and two National Championships. He had an opportunity to get back to the top of the pro game, opting to part from one of college’s most coveted jobs in order to do so.

“I am so fired up to be here,” Carroll said to the Seattle media in his introductory press conference on January 12th.

Spurrier and Carroll are just two examples of many men who have left excellent and secure coaching situations (both in college and pro) to become the front man of an NFL franchise.

There are two sides to every story.

Take a look a former Buccaneers head coach John Gruden. Most believe that “Chucky” will return to the sidelines at some point, but he sure seem to be enjoying that Monday Night Football gig a bit too much right now to return to wearing on-field headsets.

Former Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards may never be an NFL head coach again, but he could certainly join a number of staffs in some sort of role. He’s not exactly flying out of Bristol for to chase that prospect either.

The ability to sit back and relax seems to be the mode that most former NFL head coaches choose. After enduring incredible amounts of stress and responsibility, the tuned-down duties are anything other than a head-coaching job seem to be a welcoming experience. Bill Cowher is another perfect example.

NFL head coaches fight and claw their way to the top. Once it’s all over, most of them don’t immediately rush back. It’s interesting to say the least, and a bit ironic.

The Chiefs newest coordinators are no exception. Romeo Crennel spent last the last year out of football, partly due to hip replacement surgery, following his termination from Cleveland. Charlie Weis, on the other hand, is back to work following his head coaching stint with a collegiate program which carries an NFL-like spotlight. The new role, however, is much different.

Both Crennel and Weis, like so many others who came and went before them, seem happy to be stepping away from the role of head coach.

“I think all coaching jobs in pro football are hard,” Crennel said. “I don’t think very many transitions are easy. Transitions are difficult until you can get your feet on the ground and start running.

“It might be easier because I don’t have the whole scope now, I don’t have to worry about everything and everybody,” Crennel continued. “All I have to worry about is the defensive side of the ball. We’ve got competent people to worry about the offense, special teams and then the overall picture, so it might be easier from that respect.”

Weis concurs.

“I definitely think that’s the one thing that when you move into this position, just like the loaded question you asked Todd before that we all got a kick out of, really you’re asking him and not me and that’s why I’m smiling while you’re asking it,” Weis said following a suggestive question asked by a media member to Haley. “I’m glad you’re asking the question to somebody else other than me.”

Both Weis and Crennel have been through the grind within the past two years. They’ll both be very valuable assets to Haley on and off the field in 2010, but they’re also both happy that Haley is the one who has to deal with the “everything else” situations that come along with being a head coach.

“It will be kind of nice to just worry about football,” Weis admitted. “One of the things as coordinators in football, it’s a really fun position. You get to study your personnel; you get to study their personnel, their schemes and game plan whereas there are a lot of hats the head coach wears that you don’t have to wear. At this point in time, I’m glad that we have a head coach to take care of that and I’ll just worry about my job.”

The NFL head coach wears so many hats. Each one is examined and debated by media, fans and sometimes even friends and family. It’s a stressful job; a job that is both difficult to attain and difficult to retain.

The situation in Kansas City is the definition of a “mutual fit” when it comes to the trio of football minds at the top of the Chiefs coaching staff.

THOMAS IN PERSPECTIVE
February 2nd – 4:16 PM

Kansas City’s new defensive backs coach is Kansas City’s all-time leader when it comes to interceptions. Thomas’ 58 career INTs sound like a lot, but they lose perspective when paired against today’s NFL.

The fact that Thomas was able to notch 58 INTs during an era of football far different from the five-wide, shotgun spread of today, is absolutely incredible. Thomas spent the first four seasons in Kansas City as a player in the American Football League. He owned 17 picks BEFORE the NFL merger.

What Thomas was able to accomplish was absolutely incredible during its time. Deion Sanders, for example, turned in five fewer INTs (53) than Thomas despite playing one more season during an era of pass-happy football.

Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Maurice Leggett, Donald Washington and the rest of the Chiefs young cornerbacks will be learning from the best. Hopefully he’ll be tutoring the man who will one day break his franchise-record 58 INTs.

SHIELDS IN RARE COMPANY
February 2nd – 2:54 PM

Former Chiefs All-Pro G Will Shields was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s this past Sunday evening, and rightly so. Not only is Shield a sure-fire bet for the Chiefs Hall of Fame, but he’ll likely find a settling place in Canton, OH as well.

Shields was one of four Chiefs to make the NFL’s best of the 2000s team along with T Willie Roaf, TE Tony Gonzalez and KR/PR Dante Hall. There’s no doubt that those four individuals will leave a legacy behind them both in Kansas City and for their position in the NFL as a whole. For Shields, he’s represented that same professionalism that made him the ultimate guard off the field as well.

Largely lost upon the big news of Emmitt Thomas’ return to Arrowhead is that Shields is only one of 10 NFL All-Decade team members (there are 55 total on the all-decade team) to take home an Ed Block Courage Award for his respective team as well. Shields was voted by his Chiefs teammates Kansas City’s Ed Block winner in 2005.

The Courage Award is named after Ed Block, the longtime head athletic trainer of the Baltimore Colts who was a pioneer in his professionalism and a respected humanitarian. The Foundation’s efforts are endorsed by the NFL and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS). The inaugural Ed Block Courage Award was presented in 1978 to Baltimore Colts’ defensive end, Joe Ehrmann. Following the Colts departure from Baltimore in 1984, the scope of the Award expanded to include one player from every team in the NFL.

QB Brodie Croyle is the Chiefs Ed Block Award recipient for 2009.

MENTOR/MENTOREE
February 2nd – 10:37 AM

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley talked a lot about mentorship during yesterday’s press conference. Emmitt Thomas spoke of playing the role of mentor as well. Then, Charlie Weis pitched in about the importance of a guiding figure.

It appears that coaching football is no different than any other form of business. To succeed as a new person on the job (regardless of age), one is likely to be far more successful if there is some sort of mentorship established. Mentors can be formal or informal, but they all help in keeping business both efficient and rewarding.

”That’s part of the developmental part of this,” Haley said yesterday of the Chiefs new additions. “I know one of our young coaches, Nick Sirianni, just with Charlie’s presence, I know what he’s going through right now, and it’s a grind. But that’s an important part of getting this team to where we all want it to be.”

I have and mentor and you likely have a mentor as well, even if it’s something that you have to sit back and reflect on.

For the Chiefs coaching staff, the mentor/mentoree relationship appears to break down as follows…

D-Line: Mentor = Romeo Crennel; Mentoree = Anthony Pleasant

QBs: Mentor = Charlie Weis; Mentoree = Nick Sirianni

WRs: Mentor = Todd Haley; Mentoree = Richie Anderson

DBs: Mentor: = Emmitt Thomas; Mentoree = Ronnie Bradford

O-Line: Mentor = Bill Buir; Mentoree = Pat Perles

(special thanks to Brad Kuhbander on staff here at Arrowhead for driving the conversation that led to this list)

All of this “mentor talk” likely stems from Haley’s early days as a mentoree with the N.Y. Jets. He certainly can reflect on the importance of what a mentor did for him and his rise to become one of only 32 NFL head coaches.

”By the time I left (New York) there you could see he was kind of on one of those meteoric rises,” Weis said of Haley. “When I first got there, he was a film breakdown guy and when I’m leaving there, he’s coaching WRs Keyshawn (Johnson) and (Wayne) Cherbet and all those other guys on a daily basis. For somebody to evolve that quickly in this league, there are a number factors that come into play and one of them is their own confidence.”

A quick Google search of “mentor quotes” turned up these non-football results.

“I was lucky that I met the right mentors and teachers at the right moment.”
-Conductor/Pianist James Levine

“I’m proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer.“
-Singer/Songwriter Michael Bolton (insert hair or Office Space joke here)

“And I’d watch George C. Scott from backstage. He was one of my mentors.”
-Actor Jeffrey Tambor (most recently played “Sid” in The Hangover)

You get the point. Mentorship is an important way of learning and an important gateway to success.
 

“PHASE ONE” A HOME RUN
February 2nd – 6:07 AM

A new decade of Chiefs football has opened with a hit. The Chiefs front office keeps swinging for the fences in 2010 and has continued to connect. It’s like home run derby is being held at Arrowhead rather than across the parking lot.

First the dismantling of Denver, then the hiring of Charlie Weis, followed by Romeo Crennel and now a Kansas City legend returning to his roots. “Phase I” of the Chiefs 2010 offseason plan just continues to get better and better. It’s been such a fun ride over the past month that I’m sad to see it come to a close.

“The coaching staff is in place and finalized,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said yesterday after announcing the additions of Emmitt Thomas, Bernie Parmalee and Otis Smith to the Chiefs coaching staff.

“It’s been a two-year process as late as I was hired in the year last year,” Haley continued. “I knew that it was going to take some time and I’m just really fortunate and excited with the way things have fallen into place.”

Isn’t this how it’s supposed to feel? “Phase I” continued to grow and produce both suitable and tangible results. Today officially marks the first day of “Phase II.” Finding players via draft and free agency is where the real fun lies when it comes to offseason football. Unfortunately, (actually…fortunately) “Phase I” turned out to be an extremely tough act to follow.

“Phase II” better be on top of its game following an act like that.

“I think that’s a big part of when I said this was going to be a process, when you get hired in late February, you have guys on your direct radar and you have guys on your wish-list radar and as things have developed here, there was an opportunity with all these guys and the other guys mentioned to improve and get better,” Haley said.

“That is what this is about: getting as many bright football minds with experience like these gentlemen have to make us better and put us in a position to succeed,” Haley continued. “I will again say what I’ve said before, you can’t do it with just one. If you have the greatest coaching staff in the world and you don’t have the players and you don’t have the players, you’re going to have a hard time winning what our goal is to win. And if you have the greatest players and you have a sub-par coaching staff, then you’re not going to be able to it that way either. It’s all part of the puzzle and I just feel like today, we were able to put a bunch of pieces from the coaching side of it together.”

Right now, the table is lopsided. The Chiefs currently boast a coaching staff with numerous accolades and an immeasurable amount of “real-time” game and practice experience, but the on-field product is young and largely inexperienced. A nucleus of young, talented players was identified in the struggles of 2009, but it will take more offseason additions to see those pieces fully mature.

“Phase II” of the Chiefs offseason plan isn’t exactly like the offseason process that Weis experienced at the collegiate level at Notre Dame, but then again, it’s not that different either.

“There are still two aspects to recruiting in pro football,” Weis said. “One of them is pro free agency, that’s one aspect. Right after the Draft, there’s another aspect of recruiting where you’re filling up your roster with undrafted free agents. Although it’s not nearly the same time commitment, there are still two aspects that you get involved with and I’m looking forward to helping any way I can when it comes to those two aspects.”

The tides keep changing in Kansas City. Keep in mind that Haley has yet to serve a full calendar year on the job as Chiefs head coach. On this day a year ago he wasn’t even 24 hours removed from Super Bowl XLIII. There are still a lot of moving parts to this version of the chiefs, but just now the footing is beginning to stabilize.

Facts are facts. This is still a team that has won four games or less in each of the past three seasons, but things could also be a lot worse. In fact, things could very easily be spiraling downwards in a hurry, but just the opposite is occurring.

“I think there’s some talent here on the team,” Crennel said. “I think every team in the NFL has talent, that’s why it’s so close and so competitive week-in and week-out. The thing that we have to do is focus on improving the guys on this team, adding pieces to the puzzle so that we can improve and get better. The sooner we can do that, hopefully the better we will be.”

The Chiefs 2010 offseason plan still features a lot of unchecked boxes on the checklist, but these recent additions just may make jotting an “x” next to a task completed a bit easier. No task is marked complete until it’s truly been accomplished. The faster those “x’s” are marked, the quicker and more frequent “W’s” will come around.

Yesterday’s media scene at Arrowhead resembled an epic mantle of NFL knowledge, experience and success. Four men sat at the front of Arrowhead’s media room owning 12 Super Bowl rings, 823 NFL regular season wins, 39 professional playoff appearances and 102 years of NFL experience. Oh yeah, and one of those men also owns a Pro Football Hall of Fame bust.

Holy crap. Check that off the list.

I’m ready for “Phase II.” Are you?