Chiefs Interview Brad Childress & Doug Pederson

New Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has begun the process of filing out his staff, and it appears that he may be offering some positions to several former coworkers. Reid has talked to former Eagles assistants Doug Pederson and Brad Childress about joining him in Kansas City.

Pederson could be in the mix to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach. He has served as an assistant for the Eagles for the past four seasons, earning a promotion to quarterbacks coach before the 2011 season. In his playing days, Pederson served as Brett Favre’s backup QB in Green Bay for several seasons, and found brief playing time for both the Eagles and Browns later in his career.

It is unknown what role Childress would hold on Reid’s staff, but he doesn’t appear to be in the mix for either the offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach positions. Childress worked with Reid for seven seasons in Philadelphia, three as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator. He was hired by the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 to become the team’s head coach, a position he held for nearly five seasons. Childress spent last season as the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns.

Earlier, it was believed that former Browns’ head coach Pat Shurmer would be a candidate for the offensive coordinator position, but it appears that he is no longer being considered. Shurmer served as an offensive assistant for Reid in Philadelphia for 10 seasons before taking the Browns’ head coaching job in 2011.

It shouldn’t be surprising to Chiefs fans that Reid has been interviewing coaches he has worked with in the past. However, it is important for the new head coach to also consider what kind of team he will have and be willing to hire coaches he doesn’t have a prior working relationship with. The Chiefs will be looking to rebuild through the draft, and it is important that Reid hire coaches that excel at developing young players, especially at quarterback.

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Who Will Be The Chiefs' Next General Manager?

Now that Andy Reid is officially the Chiefs head coach, the team has turned its focus on hiring a new general manager to replace the recently-fired Scott Pioli. So far, three prime candidates have emerged, and the team will likely make a decision relatively soon.

John Dorsey, the director of football operations for the Green Bay Packers, may be the hottest name at the moment. Dorsey has been a part of the Packers’ front office for 21 years, a span in which Green Bay has won two Super Bowls and has perennially been one of the strongest organizations in the NFL. Dorsey has worked under Ron Wolf, the GM who turned the Packers from a laughingstock into a juggernaut in the 90s, and Ted Thompson, the Packers current GM that has assembled a deep and talented roster. The Packers have routinely drafted well and found pro bowl caliber undrafted free agents, two key areas the Chiefs must be effective in while rebuilding.

Dorsey is also a top candidate for the vacant GM position with the New York Jets; however his wife is a University of Kansas grad and an attorney with a law firm based out of Kansas City. Hopefully, this could be enough to sway Dorsey to come to KC if he gets offers from both the Chiefs and the Jets.

Tom Heckert is the other main candidate for the position. Heckert served as Cleveland’s GM for the past two seasons, and did a good job of adding young talent to a struggling franchise. Heckert found himself without a job when Jimmy Haslem bought the team this year and cleaned house, suggesting that Heckert hasn’t been working in the most ideal situation over the past two years. Heckert spent several years in Philadelphia as well, and already has a strong relationship with Reid. His previous experience as a GM and ability to work with Reid make him an attractive candidate.

Tom Gamble is also in the mix, although many think that he is third on the Chiefs’ list behind Dorsey and Heckert. Gamble has worked in scouting and personnel for the Colts, Eagles and 49ers, and has a knack for finding talent in the draft.

The Chiefs have strong candidates for the position, although they will have to compete with the Jets as they are also searching for a new GM.

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Kansas City Police Vehicles Burglarized

Seven vehicles were burglarized yesterday, including six police vehicles, in the area of east 76th street and Breckenridge Avenue in southeast Kansas City.

Kansas City Police Major Anthony Ell, who lives in the neighborhood in which the vehicles were located, suspects that the thieves were after police radios, bullet-proof vests, uniforms and weapons. The Kansas City police department has not released what was specifically taken from the vehicles. The thieves were able to burglarize the police vehicles by smashing out the windows.

Ell stated that it would be difficult for the thieves to use the stolen radios and computers without the proper police codes. The primary concern for the police department has to be any missing weapons and uniforms, as the thieves can now impersonate an officer.

Four unmarked Kansas City police cars were also burglarized; however the KC Police Department has stated that no weapons were taken from these vehicles. The seventh vehicle that was broken into was a civilian vehicle.

For those that are forced to park their car outside of a garage, this crime spree should serve as a reminder to never leave valuable items in your car overnight. The police department must also bear some responsibility – police cars are stocked with weapons, uniforms and other items that cannot fall into the wrong hands, and officers need to take further measures in regards to securing their vehicles. Police cars will always be a main target of thieves, especially when they parked sitting in a dark neighborhood and unattended.

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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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