A New Era

Posted: February 7, 2009

Well, the rollercoaster ride has finally come to a halt and it is official: former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley is the new head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, effectively ushering in a new era of Chiefs football.

We all know Haley's credentials. He grew up in a football family, with his father -- Dick Haley -- serving in the Pittsburgh Steelers front office during the Steelers glory years, which featured 4 Super Bowl championships. Haley would watch game film with his father and even served as a ball boy for the team.

Todd Haley began his NFL coaching career in 1995 with the New York Jets, where he began his relationship with new Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, who served as the team's director of player personnel from 1997 to 1999. Haley worked in the scouting department, served as assistant quality control coach, and was the wide receivers coach under offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Haley is widely credited for developing Jets receiver Keyshawn Johnson into one of the league's top wideouts.

Following his stint with the Jets, Haley moved to Chicago where he served as wide receivers coach for the Bears, developing Marty Booker into the Bears first Pro Bowl wideout in over 30 years. In 2004, Haley took over as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, catapulting the Dallas offense into one of the best in the league. Since Haley's departure, the Cowboys offense has shown a significant drop in production.

In 2007, Haley joined the Cardinals staff as offensive coordinator under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. Haley took over play calling duties late in the 2007 season and throughout the 2008 season, in which the Cardinals made their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Haley has received a lot of the credit for salvaging Kurt Warner's career and making him a significant Hall of Fame candidate in the future and leading wideout Larry Fitzgerald over the hump to become the league's top receiver.

The Cardinals offense supercharged the team to the Super Bowl this last year in one of the most memorable playoff runs in NFL history. Suffice to say, wherever Haley has gone, offensive success has followed.

Now Haley will be asked to revive a team in KC that is searching for its offensive identity and whose focus has been solely on defense during the conservative reign of former head coach Herman Edwards and GM Carl Peterson.

The dawn of a new era in Kansas City has come. Starting with the introduction of Clark Hunt as the new owner of the team, followed by the hiring of former Patriots executive Scott Pioli last month, and now the announcement of Todd Haley as the next head coach, the entire face of the Kansas City Chiefs organization has changed. With all this change, Chiefs are hoping success will follow.

Pioli's and Haley's respective track records speak for themselves. They not only want to win, they demand it. The Pioli-Haley ticket is determined to end the Chiefs playoff drought and bring the Lamar Hunt trophy back to its righful owners.

Up next on the Chiefs agenda is to form a coaching staff. We are expecting Chan Gailey to remain as the teams offensive coordinator, but whether he will be calling the plays in 2009 remains to be seen. Also, don't be surprised if Pioli calls on his old buddy from New England -- Romeo Crennel -- to step in as the Chiefs defensive coordinator. More news will likely service in the near future, but for now we should all just rejoice in the fact that change has arrived!

Nick Britt is a writer by hobby, not profession. He is a lifelong Chiefs fan and loves to play armchair GM. You can contact him at nick@kcredzone.com.