FanPost

Repeating the Past

As Chief fans, we have had a history of bad decisions and poor football leadership over the years. How many ex-Chiefs went on to play in or win a Super Bowl? (I can think of three off the top of my head. Gannon, Smith, Pollard) Some of our less successful HC's include Wiggins, Machovic, Gansz, Cunningham, Edwards, Hailey and Crennel. Then there were times we picked the right HC, and let him go too soon (Levy). Throughout the years, I have learned that teams that have leadership continuity, are successful. When the Chief's practice this, they too saw success. (Stram, Schottenheimer and Vermeil) I would like to be optimistic and talk about the good times under good football coaches.

I like Hank Stram the most, and think he is one of the top 3 coaches EVER. Read any biography on Hank and see all the innovations he brought to game, including Gatorade. :) Most impressive was that Stram coached all those years and had that much success without an offensive, defensive or special teams coordinator. Hank was the Chiefs’ first coach. He was an assistant coach at Purdue when Mr. Hunt hired him. The AFL, in those days, did not get the top coaches (or players). Hank took over the expansion Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1960 and coached them through 1974, moving with them to Kansas City where they were renamed the Chiefs (by the fans) in 1963. He led the Chiefs to AFL titles in 1962, ’66 and ’69 and two Super Bowl appearances; the very first Super Bowl, a 35-10 loss to Green Bay, and the fourth, a 23-7 victory over Minnesota in 1970. It could be said that the Chiefs won two championships that season. Folks, that Super Bowl win was historical. The AFL were second class citizens. The AFL was looked at, much like the USFL was. That win gave the AFL respect. Stram compiled a 124-76-10 record with the Chiefs and in 17 seasons as a head coach was 131-97-10 in the regular season and 5-3 in the postseason.

Marty Schottenheimer came to us after the Browns got tired of just making the playoffs. He guided the Chiefs to seven playoff berths and three division titles during a 10-year reign from 1989-98, when he posted a 101-58-1 record. Marty was undone by playoff failures. No coach who hasn't been to a Super Bowl has more career victories than Marty, who had a 5-13 playoff record. In 20 years as a HC, he went to the playoffs 13 times. That is quite a feat. Marty was predictable, good and bad. His teams were pretty consistent every week. I remember calling the next play before it happened...and be right most of the time. The teams (Chiefs included) that dumped him because of his playoff record, spent years trying to return. The problem was the league sort of passed him by, and he didn't adapt.

Dick Vermeil, was probably the worst successful coach we have had. He retired after his Super Bowl victory with the Rams, but un-retired to coach the Chiefs. He barely had a .500 career record. His coaching stints would start off poorly, peak, and decline. I can understand the poor starts because of rebuilding, but his teams always peaked and then lost ground. I attribute this to three things. One, Vermeil rarely played rookies, almost always had a veteran team. Two, he ran with that team until they were too old to compete. And three, he was loyal (to a fault) with his coaches. He was successful at every level he coached, being named Coach of the Year, from high school football to the NFL. With all the winning and offensive stats, he never guided us to even one playoff win. (That offense was fun to watch though) All we needed was some resemblance of a defense.

Which brings us to our current coach, Andy Reid, and really, John Dorsey also. Reid came to us from the Eagles and the competitive NFC East. He led the Eagles to five NFC championship games, including four consecutive appearances from 2001-2004, and to a Super Bowl in 2004. Reid inherited the Chiefs after we finished with the worst season in franchise history and led it to a 9-0 record to start the next season. (Tied for the best start) I know, we didn't play nine quality teams. First, good teams beat who they are suppose to beat. Second, we didn't have 2-14 quality players, Reid deserves credit for changing the losing attitude. You know that attitude, where the players wonder how they will lose this game. It is the one I was quite used too, watching our Chiefs. Continuing, the Chiefs finished the season with an 11-5 record, before bowing out in the ...(well you know) What lead to Reid's downfall in Philly were numerous; unorthodox coaching changes, heavy doses of free agents and quarterback juggling to try to get over the hump to the Super Bowl. Their loss is our gain, truly. All those things, won’t happen here because Mr. Dorsey is the GM, and Reid learned his lesson. "About a year ago, I found out what I wasn’t good at because [I was] out the door," said Reid, 'I went back, and I looked at it, and . . . I drifted away from the thing I love doing most, and that was coaching." Andy Reid has many of the good qualities that the HC’s mentioned above have. A great offensive mind, history of building a winner, good draft history drafting QB's and RB's and longevity. Andy will be with us for the long haul. Is he as loyal as Vermeil? (Cough, cough Mr. Sutton) Reid has his warts though, like clock management. But, all in all, we have a quality HC.

John Dorsey came to us from the Packers. Any Bio of Dorsey contains a lot of' 'college scouting', 'Director of College Scouting'. Of course the proof is in the pudding. Along with Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have drafted a number players that have become mainstays on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Maybe you have heard of some of them. LB A.J. Hawk, WR Greg Jennings, NT B.J. Raji and LB Clay Matthews, WR Randall Cobb- all drafted under the watchful eye of John Dorsey.

I like to think we have a good combination. (leadership, coaching, player evaluation and they both have the respect from their players and the league.) (They aren't leaving candy wrappers around) One area that I have concerns with is managing the salary cap. Some recent signings, such as Bowe and Colquit, were signed to player friendly contacts. This, I’m sure, is making the negotiations with Smith and Houston a little more difficult. On a positive note, Dorsey managed to extend JC without adding too our salary cap problems. The best part, the process was done with class, no back and forth in the media, just professional. Each player, Smith and Houston come to mind, have to feel like they will be taken care of in due time. As a leader of Soldiers for many years, if the Soldier knows he will be treated equitably, and with respect by his leader, he will walk across hot coals for you.

The portion of the article above was to preface this: The Chiefs are transitioning into a Dorsey/Reid team. Both have good track records of doing what we want, building a winner that will have a tradition of winning. There will be some decisions made in the future, that you and I might not make or like (releasing Flowers). There are some quality players/men, that might not be with us come next year. (DJ, Hali) But, I do believe our future is bright. We have proven professionals running this team now, just like in the past. Go Chiefs!!


This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.