More On Haley, Boldin

First off, I want to touch on what Peter King wrote earlier today about the Chiefs hiring Todd Haley. A lot of people bag on King, but he knows everyone (including Brett Favre so well it makes the rest of us uncomfortable) and definitely knows his football. Here’s something that stood out from the SI.com column:

I know this: If I’m the rest of the AFC West, and I see Scott Pioli and the son of Dick Haley with $45 million in salary cap room, and with the third and 34th picks in the April draft, I’m getting a little nervous.

If Al Davis is still coherent at all, he’s crapping his Depends right now. Alex Spanos and Pat Bowlen can’t be too happy either.

As you know, we’ve kind of got that team of rivals going on around here. A couple of staff members blasted me in the comments section about me allegedly claiming that I was right on Todd Haley, which I never even did. All I said is that in the end I got what I wanted. That even confused some people, since I had Josh McDaniels and Steve Spagnuolo in the first two versions of this year’s Blueprint. King, however, explains everything pretty well here:

For Pioli, it’s likely he would have wanted to hire Josh McDaniels before the Broncos scooped up the New England offensive coordinator, or Steve Spagnuolo before St. Louis hired the Giants’ defensive boss. But maybe Pioli got lucky. In Haley he’s getting a very smart game-planner, a guy who can command a room, and a former personnel man with scouting in his genes.

Remember, my Blueprints are a combination of what I want the Chiefs to do and what I think is plausible. Basically, they’re half speculation, half wishlist. I was high on both of those guys, and I knew Pioli was, too. In the end, however, I ended up being a bigger fan of Haley than either of those other coaches. I think Pioli is probably in the same boat.

If Haley gets himself a good defensive coordinator, there are no worries. Other than an apparent lack of extensive defensive expertise, Haley seems to be a great combination of McD and Spags. He’s not quite as young as McD, but still young. Plus, I think he’s just as innovative offensively. He’s not quite as experienced as Spags, but he’s experienced. Plus, I believe he shares Spags’ no-B.S. temperament.

I also really like what ESPN’s Matt Mosley wrote about him. Mosley’s been a contact of mine for some time, and I’ve been reading him for even longer. He’s one of the most honest sportswriters in the game, and he definitely knows all things Dallas Cowboys. Here’s what he had to say about the hire over on ESPN:

When Jones interviewed Haley for his head-coaching position after the 2006 season, the young assistant told him he would never be able to win big with Terrell Owens on his team. That story has spread throughout the league, and I think it helped Haley win a lot of respect from his peers.

Haley’s lack of playing experience in college has always caused him to work that much harder to earn his players’ trust. For those of you who didn’t know, Haley played college golf at the University of Florida with PGA Tour star Chris DiMarco. He was brought up as a Steelers fan because his father, Dick Haley, was such a huge part of the organization.

Now he’ll join Scott Pioli in trying to turn the Chiefs around. I think the late, great Lamar Hunt would be very proud of this hire.

I love that T.O. story. Just love it. What balls on this guy. One suggestion, though, Todd. When we fly potential free agents in and you take them golfing, do us a favor and let them win.

I think those were my two favorite bits on Haley that I read this morning.

The other thing I want to comment on is the Anquan Boldin situation. Apparently, there’s been a change since just this morning. “Quan is now saying that the chances of him returning to the Cards are “very slim” because the relationship is irreparable. His agent is Drew Rosenhaus, so there could be a bit off a dust up down there in the desert before this thing gets settled. We’ll keep an eye on it.

That’s it for now. We’ll keep you posted…