Chiefs Officially Introduce Andy Reid As Head Coach

The Chiefs officially introduced Andy Reid as the team’s head coach this afternoon, ending a short search that brought the former Philadelphia coach to Kansas City within a matter of days. Now that the ink on Reid’s five year deal is dry, Chiefs fans can turn their attention to several burning matters that Reid must address.

For starters, Reid will have to decide who will be the team’s general manager, an integral piece of rebuilding the team’s roster. The Chiefs have the first overall pick in this year’s draft, and thus will have a pick at the start of each round in the draft as well. This provides the franchise with an excellent opportunity to instantly inject young talent into the roster, as the weak drafting by Scott Pioli was one of the leading causes to the downward spiral the team has been on over the past two seasons. Kansas City also needs to do a better job in free agency, as the team has badly whiffed on several signings while losing valuable veterans such as Brandon Carr.

While the GM is the first step to the puzzle, Reid also must decide how to assemble his new staff. The former Eagles coach was heavily criticized in Philadelphia for some extremely questionable hires at defensive coordinator, and the offensive-minded Reid will likely need to find an experienced coach he can trust to run the defense.

Finally, Reid must figure out what to do with the quarterback position. Reid has constantly had a good quarterback on his roster, whether it was Brett Favre while he was an assistant in Green Bay, or Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick during his tenure as head coach for Philadelphia. If the team does select a quarterback with its top overall pick, Reid and his staff will have to devout time and energy to helping the player develop. If the Chiefs decide to move in a different direction, Reid and his new GM will be forced to find a veteran who will provide a significant upgrade from Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn. That shouldn’t be hard to do, as there are several good veteran quarterbacks looking for a starting shot this offseason.

Reid has a lot of work to do, and Chiefs fans should be excited that a new era has begun in Kansas City. The next several weeks will be interesting to watch.

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Chiefs Fire Scott Pioli

After four disappointing seasons, Scott Pioli has been fired from his position as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. The move comes with the expected news that the Chiefs will hire former Eagles head coach Andy Reid, and that Reid will be choosing a GM.

Pioli was a massive flop for the Chiefs, who thought they were getting a top-flight GM when they acquired him from the Patriots. In New England, Pioli was a five-time NFL Executive of the Year and served as the top front-office assistant to head coach and general manager Bill Belickick.

During Pioli’s tenure in Kansas City, the Chiefs compiled a 23-41 record. Both of his coaching hires – Todd Haley and Romeo Crennel – didn’t pan out, as Pioli famously feuded with Haley during the coach’s final season. Pioli’s style also frustrated coaches and players, as he was accused of bugging phones in team offices and other secretive behaviors.

It was Pioli’s personnel decisions that were the biggest red flag during his tenure in Kansas City. Pioli made several ill-fated moves, most notably trading a second-round pick to the New England for quarterback Matt Cassel and then signing him to a $63 million contract. Pioli also made several other puzzling moves – he traded Kansas City icon Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta for a second-round pick that he used on Javier Arenas and signed several veterans such as Stanford Rout that were disasters. Pioli also drafted extremely poorly, and as a result, the team found itself with paper-thin depth the past couple of seasons.

It was obvious that Pioli had to go, and the Chiefs should have cut ties with the GM much earlier. Kansas City needs to find someone who can build the team through the draft and create a roster with depth at every position. Hopefully, the GM that Reid brings in will be able to get things turned around.

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Chiefs Interview Andy Reid, Interested In Keith Armstrong

Yesterday, we compiled a list of possible coaching replacements for the Chiefs, and it appears that the team has begun to conduct interviews and move forward in the hiring process. Yesterday, the team interviewed former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

Reid was not included on our previous article because it was widely believed that he was taking the vacant head coaching position with the Arizona Cardinals. Reid is still scheduled to interview with Arizona, but meeting with the Chiefs first may signal that the two parties’ interest in one another is strong.

Reid, who is 55, was the Eagles head coach for 14 seasons. In that time, Philadelphia won six division championships and made five NFC title games. Reid also guided the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance, where the team lost by a field goal to the New England Patriots. Reid’s tenure in Philadelphia ended on a sour note, however, as the team failed to live up to lofty expectations in 2011 and had an awful 2012.

Would Reid be a good fit in Kansas City? He is an offensive-minded coach who has developed several Pro Bowl quarterbacks, which may be exactly what the team needs at the moment. However, the way the Eagles massively underachieved over the past two seasons has to be a giant red flag, and Reid will not have the talent at his disposal that enjoyed in Philadelphia for most of his time there.

In other coaching news, Falcons’ offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has announced that he will be remaining with the Falcons. Koetter was rumored to be high on the Chiefs’ list. Kansas City apparently is interested in one of Koetter’s coworkers – Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong.

If the past couple of days are any indication, it looks like Clark Hunt is open to both former head coaches and top coordinators. It will be interesting to see which candidates the team brings in for an interview in the near future.

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Who Will Be The Next Head Coach Of The Chiefs?

Now that Romeo Crennel has been fired, Chiefs fans can focus on who will be leading Kansas City next season. Several coaches lost their jobs this past Monday, which means there are several open positions across the league.

It is important to note that while the Chiefs still have not made a decision on the fate of maligned general manager Scott Pioli, chairman Clark Hunt will be directing this coaching search. Hunt has stated that he would like to find a younger coach who could be with the team for a long time, and many speculate that he will try to find an offensive-minded coach, especially if the team drafts a quarterback with its first overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. Hunt’s control of the situation also likely eliminates coaches that Pioli has ties with, such as Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and New England’s Josh McDaniels.

One name that has surfaced is Bruce Arians, and while he doesn’t fit Hunt’s desired age range, he would be a strong fit for the Chiefs. Arians performed well as Indianapolis’ interim head coach this season, and he helped develop Andrew Luck. Arians has also worked with the likes of Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Other offensive minded coaches include Mike McCoy, the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos, Dirk Koetter, offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, and Jay Gruden, offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals. Washington’s Kyle Shanahan could also be in the mix, however Hunt may be concerned with how young he is (only 33) and the fact that he is the son of the man who coached the rival Denver Broncos to two Super Bowl victories.

If the Chiefs decide to go with a defensive-minded coach, Perry Fewell of the New York Giants would be a great fit. Fewell has routinely developed one of the top pass-rushing attacks in the league, and could help Kansas City’s young defensive lineman develop and find ways to maximize the talent of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. Cincinnati’s Mike Zimmer may also be a possibility.

The hottest name from the college ranks has to be Oregon’s Chip Kelly, who has developed one of the most lethal offenses in college football history and could be a Jim Harbaugh-type that wins big both in college and in the NFL.

There is a deep pool of head coaching candidates this offseason, however the Chiefs will have to compete with several other franchises that all finished with a better record this past season. The team may not get its first pick, but Hunt will certainly have plenty of options.

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Chiefs Fire Crennel, Pioli Safe For Now

The Chiefs have fired Head Coach Romeo Crennel, but General Manager Scott Pioli is safe for now. Many Kansas City fans have called for Pioli’s head after a string of disappointing seasons, bad personnel decisions and poor drafting, but for the time being, only Crennel is out.

Crennel’s dismissal isn’t at all surprising, considering how poorly Kansas City performed this season and his past history as a head coach. The Chiefs finished 2-14, and were routinely blown out. Crennel was a disaster as a head coach in Cleveland, which suggests that the Chiefs simply gave the reigns to someone who is not cut out for the job. Crennel has a strong track record as a defensive coordinator, and he seems to a great guy. He handled the Jovan Belcher murder suicide with extreme class, and Kansas City fans will not forget that. He just isn’t cut out to be a head coach in the NFL.

The Pioli situation is more puzzling. The Chiefs’ GM hasn’t drafted well and has failed to build a deep roster that can withstand injuries and compete for a championship. Even worse, Pioli is the man who hired Crennel and famously feuded with former coach Todd Haley, who led the Chiefs to a division title and playoff berth and had appeared to have finally won over the locker room.

The Chiefs have said that “no determination” has been made regarding Pioli’s fate, but the team needs to cut ties with the failed GM. Kansas City has the number one pick in next year’s draft, and will be picking at the top of every round. More than ever, the team needs a GM who will make the right decisions, and assemble both a roster and coaching staff that can turn the Chiefs around.

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