Should a HC call his own plays?

The argument has been that Haley showed his arrogance and inexperience in firing Chan and taking on OC duties last year.  Further, for those who subscribe to this periodical(regular installments abound in chiefs nation), he got in way over his head and FAILED as the Chiefs HC.  Some have even gone so far as to intimate that Haley made mistakes in game situations that even casual football fans wouldn't have made.  I couldn't disagree with this more.  There were reasons behind every decision he made last year including going for fourth down conversions.  It is now apparent that Haley has indeed made strides in installing a new offense while he was calling those plays.  It has recently been reported that Chan Gailey, the new HC of the Buffalo Bills, will call his own plays.  He plans on employing an OC but will retain the play calling duties.  What?  Just exactly what would that OC do on game day?  Fill in the colored boxes on Herm's old clipboard?  Get the HC his favorite flavor of gatorade?  More after the jump.

Some would argue that Gailey, with his years of experience, is more suited to handling this extra responsibility while being Head Coach.  Indeed, Chan called his own plays while in the director's chair in Big D.  Didn't Jerry Jones fire him shortly after giving him the job?  I guess that didn't work out too well.  Hey, I'm not bad mouthing Chan Gailey here, his record and experience stands on it's own.  He has quite a resume and deserves the respect that goes with it.  He did call plays in a couple of SBs(although Haley can put that on his sheet too).  That level of respect, however, does not exempt Gailey from being the problem variable in the Haley/Gailey equation that resulted in Chan's removal.  Haley catches hell for being arrogant here and I beg to differ.  I think Gailey was the ego. 

This little tidbit about Gailey, would seem to support the idea that Gailey wants play calling control.  He announced it larger than life shortly after accepting the HC position in Buffalo.  Why is that important right now?  Couldn't that decision wait until a few months have passed and the coaching staff is more solidly in place before it had to be made?  Wouldn't that be in the better interests of the team?  It just resonates to me like someone who is making a statement about being the right choice at play caller.  Why else was this news at this time? 

It is my opinion that Haley wanted an OC but Chan was too inflexible in his game plan(or unable to grasp what was needed)to follow Haley's wishes.   Both of these guys have run the EP offense so knowledge of it should not have been an issue.  How to employ the offense was most likely the bone that had to be picked.  Again, Haley was and is the HC.  Whether his plan is right or wrong it is the plan.  Chan's inability to get on board got him the hatchet, not Haley's arrogance.  Haley simply believed he had no choice if he wanted to move forward.  I would assume further that Chan's level of experience probably worked against him here, he had run this offense different ways and had his own preferences.  That doesn't mean he was necessarily wrong, it just means that it wasn't what Haley wanted.  

Haley is reportedly the first coach to run the Erhardt-Perkins with a zone blocking scheme.  That's pretty heady stuff for an arrogant idiot like Haley to implement, right doubters?  It took a year, but we have seen improvement on the o-line.  In fact, combining Charles with this offensive blocking scheme could be considered genius.  I mean, leading the AFC west in rushing and only starting half a season while setting records for yards gained in fewest carries says something about that combination doesn't it?  Letting LJ take the beating while it was in it's infancy has to at least be considered intelligent. 

You know, it is quite possible that Haley really is the boy genius that some of you want desperately not to believe.  Horror of horrors!  What shall we do?  I really don't understand that attitude because if he is, what a wind fall for our beloved team! He is innovating things and marshalling support for those innovations.  Could there be a better choice than Charlie Weis to assist Haley with this?  Given their common background and knowledge of each others styles, it is difficult to argue otherwise.  Can you imagine how much fun it will be for Haley/Weis to sit in a meeting and work on an offensive scheme and develop plays that have never been run before or in quite the same way? 

So should a Head Coach call his own plays?  I don't know.  I think the answer lies in the availablility of competent and compliant OCs to properly assist the HC.  The real ax I grind is using Haley's decision to do this as proof that he is arrogant when it comes to his job.  It's time to get rid of the arrogant label given to Haley by the local media in KC that has been reinforced in the national media.  The further down Todd Haley's "Road to the Playoffs" we get in Kansas City, the more it looks like that dog just won't hunt.