Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Joe Pendry will be the general manager for the new Birmingham-based franchise in the AAF.
Football fans already have plenty of news to follow as the National Football League nears training camp time for yet another season, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t the Alliance of American Football as the teams in the latest football upstart are coming together in preparation for the league’s debut next February.
One of the league’s newest franchises will be based in Birmingham, Alabama, and a familiar face for Kansas City Chiefs fans will be running the team’s front office in Joe Pendry. Pendry has reportedly accepted the general manager job for the as-yet-unnamed team after retiring back in 2010.
For his final years in coaching, Pendry served as Nick Saban’s special assistant for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2010. Before that, he worked for several professional teams including the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
Pendry will be familiar to Chiefs fans as Marty Schottenheimer’s first choice as offensive coordinator, a position that Pendry held in Kansas City for four seasons. From 1989 to 1992, Pendry coached the Chiefs quarterbacks and helmed the offense that propelled the Chiefs to three postseason appearances in those four years. Working with Steve DeBerg and Dave Krieg, Pendry was a key factor in helping veterans play some of their best football in K.C.
Pendry’s career is an incredible journey from being a wide receivers coach for the University of West Virginia in 1971 to the now-GM in a brand new football league—a career that will likely end up spanning 50 years.
The AAF will be interesting to follow as Chiefs fans for numerous reasons as several former players will likely try to keep playing in the new league. Former Chiefs coach Brad Childress is also the head coach in Atlanta.