Chiefs Make Muir Offensive Coordinator Promotion Official

Just minutes after ESPN.com’s Chris Mortenson tweeted that the Chiefs would promote offensive line coach Bill Muir to offensive coordinator, the team released an article on KCChiefs.com announcing the move.

The article is chalk full of quotes from Todd Haley and Matt Cassel praising Muir. It does not say whether or not Muir will be calling plays but I highly, highly doubt he will.

Here is what Haley had to say on Muir:

"“We are very fortunate to have someone of Bill’s caliber take over the role of offensive coordinator,” Haley said. “Bill’s depth of experience, his championship success as a coach and as a coordinator is widely respected around the league, and he will serve our young and veteran players very well and provide critical continuity as we continue to develop on offense.”"

And from Matt Cassel:

"“Coach Muir has been a big part of what we’ve been able to do as an offense, so I’m excited about him taking over the coordinator role,” said QB Matt Cassel. “As a quarterback and as an offense, continuity is important, and having someone with Coach Muir’s experience will help us continue to move forward in the right direction.”"

Muir may not be the sexy pick but if the Chiefs aren’t going to bring in another play caller than promoting a veteran like Muir is a smart move. My guess is that Muir will basically act as Haley’s eyes and ears as he goes about his coaching duties. Muir will sit in on offensive meetings and report back to Haley so that the head coach doesn’t get over extended. Muir has had pretty much steady work in the NFL since 1978 so he has no lack of experience. He was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under John Gruden but Gruden called the plays.

Chris Mortenson over at ESPN is reporting that Haley is unsure whether or not he will call the plays. Don’t believe that crap for a second. There is no way the Chiefs are going to let Muir, who was born in 1942 for heavens sake, call the plays. All that this means is that nothing is changing in KC except for the departure of Weis and Muir taking on some more responsibility in offensive meetings.

Mortenson also reports the Chiefs are considering bringing in a QB coach for Matt Cassel. While Mort says the Chiefs may still be one to two weeks away from making that decision, he claims one of the leading candidates is former NFL coach Chris Palmer who is currently the head coach of the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League.

Again, I expect it will be Haley running things. The offense will be Haley’s show. If the offense struggles or succeeds next season, the blame or accolades will go to Haley.