The Kansas City Chiefs have acknowledged for the first time that Charlie Weis is leaving the organization to assume the offensive coordinator position at the University of Florida. Head coach Todd Haley was asked about the reports following Sunday's 31-10 loss to the Oakland Raiders.
The two key points to remember -- Haley confirms Weis is leaving and confirms he will remain with the team through the playoffs. Here's what Haley said:
"I'll cover that now, I'll address it now. Ill ask, with all due respect, I understand everyone has questions and those things, but I'm going to address this and I will let you know I'm not going to talk about it anymore. The players are not going to talk about it. Our focus has to be what's coming up here -- whether it's Saturday or Sunday, I don't know.
"Charlie Weis is moving on. He's going to go to the University of Florida as a coordinator. There was obviously a lot of speculation on that. Charlie and I, the Chiefs, we had a bunch of real productive conversations this weekend -- really productive. This is a bitter sweet deal for me, as the head coach, because Charlie was someone I was obviously really excited to have in here.
"With that being said, Charlie is a family guy. He has a situation, a family situation, where he can go to Florida and be with his son, who is going to get into coaching. Without talking personally about Charlie, this is a great situation for Charlie. And I respect it 100 percent and we respect it 100 percent.
"Again, I was really excited to get Charlie here. Charlie's been a big part of what we've done this year and he's going to continue to be a big part of what we do this year.
"Charlie is a professional. He's been through a similar situation back a few years ago where there was some potential distractions that could have been distractions that he, being a professional, did his job to the fullest and helped the team win a Super Bowl. I have the utmost confidence that that's what will go on.
"What I will ask you all out of respect and understanding, is that there is a lot you who want to ask and know, if you understand our guys and our players are focused on one thing. They've put this game behind them already and they're focused moving forward to give them a chance to take advantage of the regular season we've had. And that's what the regular season is all about -- to get yourself into the tournament to play an extra game or two, or three or four. That's the bottom line. We're going to get at least one of those at home and we're excited about that. "