Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel previously coached with the Cleveland Browns.
We talked with Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature to gauge the fans feelings on Crennel two years after he's left Cleveland.
Crennel seemed like a good guy and seemed to possess the knowledge of a good defensive coordinator, but he was a terrible head coach. He never showed any emotion on the sideline, unless the Browns kicked a game-winning field goal or something. He always seemed to have something against the thought of playing younger players. It was ridiculous -- the Browns would be out of contention by Week 12, and yet he'd still be playing a veteran who was ready to retire instead of the younger players who were starving for playing time. That really hurt the development of some of our draft classes during his reign, and most of those players are now gone because they never received the opportunity to shine.
There were other things that bothered me about Crennel as a head coach: his indecisive to name starting quarterbacks, his horrible timing on challenges (wouldn't challenge a fumble in a close game, but would challenge a 10-yard pass near the sideline against our defense in a 30-0 blowout), and the fact that the 3-4 defense never really took off under him. I think he is at his best when he focuses exclusively as a defensive coordinator, and I'm happy that he was able to find a role with the Chiefs.
I found it interesting that they said he shows no emotion on the sidelines. A recent Kansas City Star article suggests Crennel is now a little more animated on the sidelines. Ah, well, the frustrations of a head coach....