Didn’t say that women in Oklahoma lacked nice racks. :)

If Herm (or anyone else) gets fired, he deserves to hear it firsthand, not at a press conference.

And no, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell Herm’s back…Pioli will take a look at the record, meet with Herm, wish him well, set him on his way, then let the press know. That’s just the way professional organizations are supposed to handle things.

You can see by how he answers questions that he came from the recent NE

If how the Patriots handled things are indicative of Pioli’s temperament, I get the impression that he’ll either give pretty honest answer in response to a question or no answer at all. Peterson always came off like he was trying to sell you a used car with bald tires and a bad alternator and that you should be happy he chose you to be his customer.

Anyone who’s been paying attention to what happened to Jason Garrett’s rep over the last year should realize that.

Pioli’s never going to have a better opportunity to put his plans in place than he will this offseason, because his credibility will likely not be as high unless he gets the Chiefs into the playoffs next year. This is the year he’ll have his pick of candidates so he’s best served by grabbing the person he wants now.

If you had, you’d know that I’m not worshipping at the altar of Herm. I’ve ripped him, and in a more more thoughtful manner than the bulk of the crap I see posted here: “Herm sucked for the Jets”, for example. Guess what? Mangini sucked for the Jets, too. “Herm Sucked under Perterson”. Like anyone olse has succeeded under CP? I done laid it out.

My point is, that this is about far more than pleasing fans, r polishing reps. Pioli, IMO, is here to build a Winner. Every ove he’s gonna make will be in aid of that goal. He won’t get there by mindlessly sh1t-canning Herm to please us idiots. He’s going to evaluate Herm, and see what he’s got to work with. Meanwhile, he’s gonna survey the available talent. If The Hire isn’t there, he’s gonna probably do the smart thing, and string Herm along until he gets the Right guy. If Coach Right is out there, then Herm’s interview is a courtesy call, and no more. Likewise if he decides after the interview that he can’t work with Herm (doubt it – Herm managed to suck up and soldier for 2 years of Carl, before he went over Carl’s head. Herm can do one more year without blinking.)

But if you think my defense was of Herm, you’re delusional. I’m defending Pioli: he’s the guy, now. Presumably, he knows what he’s doing, and I’m not gonna hang Herm as a fan deal-breaker over his head. I don’t know you? I know you better than /you/ know Pioli.

If Pioli’s a weak sister who hid underBelichick’s skirts, or he’s the next Carl, or he’s gonna guide us to the OPromised Land, we won’t know until 2010 at the earliest, whoever’s the HC next year.

“The first thing in building a team is that it’s not necessarily the best 53 players, it’s the right 53 players,” he said.

“We’re going to build a big, strong, fast, tough, disciplined football team. We’re going to start from the ground up and build a foundation and move ahead and touch every part of the football operation. The patience I know Clark has told me he’s going to show is going to be rewarded.”

The /right/ 53 players. You tink he’s not going to apply the same philosophy to his coaches? If not, why not?

I refuse to believe that a man with that mindset is going to dump Herm and commit to 3-4 years of “best available”, rather than finding the right fit at HC. Grabbing a somewhat-better HC would be wortse for Pioli than keeping Herm one more season and extending the search. Money aside, he /can’t/ go through HCs like fresh undies. Can’t. The next HC needs to know he’s got the backing of the GM. If Pioli can’t find the fit, then another year of Herm will go a long ways to say “Hey, I’ll back you if things don’t go as planned”.

UC, you can help out DJ here: Post your list of potential (acutally /hireable/, not pie-in-the-sky) HC canidates that Pioli knows, trusts, believes in, and can put in place fast enough to make 09 work. (Yes, that’s loaded, since neither you nor DJ (nr I) know what’s in his head.)

But as far as reputations go, I can’t think of a better way for a newbie like Pioli to sculle his own than to start burning through Head Coaches the way Al Davis does – and look at what it’s done for Al. After Herm, Pioli’s stuck for the bulk of the next contract. He’s gotta get it right, or his rep is toast. The second-worst thing he could do to himself is to be the /next/ Carl Peterson: /almost/ good enough to win in the postseason.

But to repeat myself: if he’s got Coach Right on tap, and can get him here fast, then bye-bye, Herm. Been real, been fun, but it ain’t been real fun.

And I won’t shed a tear.

Planet “Put Up Or Shut Up” as it were.

Making the playoffs in four of his first six years isn’t ‘some success as a head coach’ … ?

When you combine that with a losing overall record at both of his jobs, then no…not really. Two playoff wins in eight years doesn’t really do it for me.

Winning the AFC East in the midst of the New England Patriots ‘dynasty’ years isn’t ‘some success as a head coach’ … ?

Neither does winning a your only division title in a three way tie at 9-7. Or having a season best of 10 wins. Or winning less than a third of your games over your last three years as a head coach.

Chan’s only two Bowl wins in the NCAA were the Humanitarian Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl. He’s lost every other bowl game he’s been to and he’s never been to a BCS bowl.

And how many bowl games did Herm win or get to?

Nice apples-to-oranges comparison.

Chan is a great offensive coordinator, but he hasn’t won an NFL Playoff game. Herm has. Two of them.

Gailey’s also got a better winning percentage than Herm and just as many division titles in two years as a head coach as Herm’s won in eight.

There was speculation — and, likely accurate speculation — as to who Pioli’s choices for Head Coach were. Both of those guys are unavailable.

So what? Pioli’s not keeping Herm. And you’ve got the same insight into Pioli’s preferred hires and thought processes that I and 99.99999% of the people on this board do…none.

Hunt likes Herm and made it clear that he’d prefer to keep Herm.

He also didn’t say that Herm was definitely coming back next year, so apparently he doesn’t like him enough to guarantee him a job next season or to extend him.

Pioli’s a smart enough guy to figure out that it’s about finding the right guy.

Which is likely a guy who hasn’t lost more than 2/3 of his games the last three years.

If his ‘right guy’ isn’t available, there’s no harm in giving the owner’s ‘right guy’ one more year.

Unless, of course, your goal is to get the Chiefs back to winning as soon as possible and put butts in seats, in which case retaining a coach who’s won 6 games in the last two years who’s alienated a large portion of the fan base is probably a really bad idea for a GM looking to build credibility.

Herm’s getting fired.

I suspect Peterson would have been here until his contract were up. I think Clark Hunt wants to do things a little differently than his dad did.