Todd Haley Keeping It Classy
Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE
Former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley had his up-and-down moments while in KC but now that he is the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, he is keeping things classy when asked about his old team.
Some (me) have theorized the Haley would like nothing more than to run up the score on the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, perhaps hammering the final nail in embattled GM Scott Pioli’s professional coffin. After all, it is no secret that Haley and Pioli didn’t get along. In fact, former Kansas City Star beat reporter and columnist Kent Babb has gone on the record as saying that Haley was worried that Pioli may have bugged his office and potentially even his car and personal cell phone.
Still, despite all the apparent bad blood, Haley says he just wants the Steelers to win.
“Really, I think I’ve moved on,” said Haley, while talking to the Pittsburgh media. “I’m really happy to be a part of this great organization and really what is a tight-knit family. It’s a unique environment that I think is hard to find. I know the Chiefs have moved on and I have a lot of fond memories and am proud of things that were accomplished. I think we came a long way in three years from where we started. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of fond memories of a lot of my players from that time and think a lot of them.”
Haley also said that he was proud of his time in Kansas City.
“I’m very proud, number one, of the things myself and the players were able to accomplish,” said Haley. “I thought we made a lot of progress. Even taking the 2010 division win out of the equation, last year was probably the year I was most proud of because in difficult circumstances, losing three really good players early in the year, and starting as poorly as we did, we battled back and won four games in a row, which is hard to do in this league. We hung in there and beat Chicago on the road playing with really our third team quarterback at that time. I’m proud of my players from that time and have a lot of really good feelings towards all of them. They’re good memories.”
Speaking of good memories, Haley definitely has some good memories of Chiefs OLB Tamba Hali.
“He’s really something,” Haly said of Hali. “He is a warrior in every sense of the word. He’s a guy that does not stop. You cannot get out-tempoed by him. He can beat you with speed, quickness and power. He’s a relentless worker in the offseason, regular season and training camp. In between every period, he’s working on his craft non-stop, and it shows. He’s one of the elite outside backers in the league in my opinion and a player that you definitely have to pay attention to and handle as best you can or he can disrupt the game in a negative way fast.”
Let’s hope Hali can prove Haley right on Monday by upping his sack total.
Haley isn’t saying anything here that I wouldn’t expect him to say. But as any Game of Thrones geek will tell you, words are wind. You won’t convince me that Haley doesn’t want to stick it to the Chiefs.
Unfortunately, if the Chiefs continue their horrible play, Haley may not even have to try to run up the score.