ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter had a live chat today with readers and one of the questions he got was about the progress of the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator search.
Here is what Shefty had to say:
"Adam Schefter(2:46 PM)Anthony: No matter who the Chiefs hire as their OC, it still sounds like Todd Haley will call the plays. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Chiefs OC, but it’s really one of the more insignificant hires that will be made. The Chiefs offense will have Haley’s imprint all over it."
It sounds like Schefter is hearing that Haley plans to call the plays. Before you all start freaking out, hear me out after the jump.
Even if Haley does call the plays next season, don’t expect a repeat of the offenses 2009 performance. As long as the Chiefs actually hire a coordinator I think everything will be fine.
There is a big difference between Haley being the offensive coordinator and Haley simply calling the plays on game day. Part of the problem in 2009 was that Haley was stretched too thin, running around trying to be present in all the offensive meetings while also handling his head coaching duties. In 2011, Haley will likely have a coordinator who will be able to be present for all that stuff for him. The coach will work with the coordinator to put together the game plan and on game day, he’ll make the calls from the sideline.
As long as a coordinator is present, I am alright with Haley calling the plays. The Chiefs have now been working with his playbook for 2 years so the learning curve will only apply to new players and rookies. Haley proved himself to be a talented play caller in Arizona so I have no reason to believe he can’t do it again in KC.
As for his 2009 campaign calling plays, I think the problem had more to do with the players learning the system and not yet being able to execute it than it did with Haley’s choice of plays. As long as the Chiefs have the players that can execute Haley’s plays, the offense should succeed.
Now if you don’t think Haley is a good play caller, that is another story. However, if you are only worried that he can’t handle the load of head coach and play caller, try to take solace in that if there is a coordinator present, Haley should be able to manage the duties.
For now, Schefter isn’t offering up any proof so we have to take his words as speculation at this point. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what the Chiefs decide to do.