Kansas City Chiefs fire Todd Haley but still hope to reach playoffs – NFL News
After the Kansas City Chiefs plummeted to the bottom of the AFC West going down to 5-8, Todd Haley lost his job. Haley had failed to repeat his last season’s performance of leading the team to the AFC West title.
The decision was made by the team on Monday morning which will now see Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel take over as the interim coach for the remainder of the three games.
However, the Chiefs are still looking forward to making it to the playoffs this season. This was confirmed by the Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli who said that they were not looking towards 2012 and “mathematically” there was
still a chance for them this year.
Pioli talking to reporters shrugged aside news of having any sort of differences with Haley, saying Haley was still respected by the team. He said that he had a good working relationship with Haley.
"I didn't get that sense," Pioli said. "I saw a team that competed pretty hard, week in and week out. I don't think he lost the football team."
Haley had quite a hard job to accomplish with key Chief players, Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles, Tony Moeaki and Eric Berry falling prey to season ending injuries. Even Pioli recognised that the current team was not good enough to
score wins but said that the team needed firmness which they could not manage with Haley.
"I don't perceive Todd Haley as a mistake," Pioli said. "Todd Haley is a good football coach. I'll say that. What we need to do is figure out what direction we're headed in and how we're going to continue to make progress, how
we can get some consistency back."
Pioli said that Crennel knew how to move ahead with things and was very much similar to Haley having many of the former coach’s qualities in him. Pioli also indicated that Crennel may be considered for the next season. Despite
Pioli’s denial, there were reports already circulating that he did have some differences with Haley.
Haley has worked as an assistant coach for the New York Jets, Chicago and Dallas. He has also spent some time as the offensive coordinator for Arizona and helped them win the NFC title in 2008. He became the Head Coach for the
first time with the Chiefs and now leaves with a 19-27 record. Under Haley the Chiefs did storm the AFC West title but recently the team’s performance did drastically fall especially in the offense line.
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