Listen, I haven't always been a Chiefs fan. I mainly attribute that to my youth; however, I would watch my hometown team every Sunday/Monday and cheer for the red and gold, but never put much of my time and effort into it. Things have changed though due to my transition to college and I have found myself falling deeper and deeper into a whirlpool of recent Chiefs history; in addition, i would find myself studying the names of every player on the Chiefs roster during training camp, the position of those players on the depth chart, the optimism of local sports journalists (sans Whitlock), and the continual bashing from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports, among others.

I developed predictions of the Chiefs development that was uniquely my own stating that I knew the Chiefs were going to miss the playoffs, but I stood firm on the belief that the Chiefs would be better than portrayed by the national sports media. I figured we squeeze out 5-11 with a number of our players showing a number of signs of progress. Names like Dorsey, Charles, Cox, Franklin, D. Johnson, the Brandons, and a possibly a few unknowns continually have their names flash across the screen. (Secretly, I would watch Branden Albert with my new found appreciation of LT's thanks to the newly heralded praise of Joe Thomas, and because I played LT in high school; quitting because i felt i did not get the recognition i deserved, but i digress.) 

My expectations are still very attainable. If we achieve 5 wins I do believe we have succeeded this season and have thankfully progressed far from the Vermeil Ideal of instant gratification. Unfortunately I, and the few others sharing my opinion, are the minority in the belief in gradual progression; that being said, I do believe that Clark Hunt will terminate the contracts of Carl Peterson starting a new era that already has the foundation of young players needed for a championship-caliber team. 

Whom might step in to fill these shoes? 

Many of you have stated that you long for the return of Bill Cowher to the Chiefs organization. Now be mindful of my youth, but isn't Bill Cowher also an advocate of the Power Run Offense? Where would this take us? In addition, there are a number of problems that might arise from hiring "Brut" Bill Cowher, such as his love for the 3-4 Defense. We would need to make sure he would continue our already fortified Cover 2 defense. 

Regardless of our future desires, we need to get through this year before. We can not give up on this season already because VICTORY is just as important to young players as playing time. You need to develop some confidence within the players so they can start to develop that swagger. 

Now I could give you a hundred of ideas to possibly get a victory for our young players and I have before, so I will restrain from creating another one of those beloved lists of possible solutions for the Chiefs Organization to establish because I am not in the Chiefs Coaching Staff and most likely never will. (I'm just a History Major.) BUT, I am going to give you, a Chiefs fan, a list of what we can do as fans to help our team win.

1. "Stick with it!" no matter how frustrating the game is or how much you despise Herm's game plan.
2. "Band around Brodie!" because we can't band around Damon and Pigpen is not ready yet.
3. "Go to the Games!" or atleast watch them on TV. Prove to the opposition that no matter how pitiful we look we are still Chiefs. And if you can't agree with that then you can at least start to get an idea of who we should draft in the next few years to make our team better. 
4. "Wear more Red!" Baby blue went out of style in '85. 
5. "Keep on Blogging!" Knowledge is necessary for better fans and if not that you can impress your friends with the amount of Chiefs info you know.