Clark Hunt: Romeo Crennel fired; Scott Pioli's future still uncertain

It's officially official: Romeo Crennel has been fired by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Also official: the Chiefs have not yet made up their minds on GM Scott Pioli's future.

The team confirmed on Monday morning that Crennel was done. This comes less than a day after widespread reports emerged that Crennel would not make it and that the Chiefs would fire him.

Here is the Chiefs statement from Clark Hunt, who says he was "embarrassed" by the Chiefs play this season:

"I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Romeo, both personally and professionally," Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. "He is an accomplished coach, a man of great character and he helped guide our football team through some extremely challenging circumstances this season.

"However, I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction. I will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the Chiefs. The entire football operation will remain under review, and there may be additional changes to come. No final determination has been made at this point on the future of General Manager Scott Pioli.

"Finally, I want to personally apologize to our fans for our performance this season. We are blessed to play for some of the best and most passionate fans in the National Football League and they deserve better than what we gave them this season. I want our fans to know that I will do everything I can to provide them with a dramatically better team - both next season and in the seasons to come - and our entire organization appreciates their support."

Crennel joined the Chiefs in 2010 as the defensive coordinator, a position he held until becoming the interim coach after Todd Haley was fired in December 2011. Crennel took over the head coaching job, leading the Chiefs to a 2-14 record this season.

The next question is whether GM Scott Pioli remains. Multiple reports have indicated the Chiefs are likely to retain Pioli, who is finishing up his fourth season as the Chiefs GM.

Pioli was the hottest name on the market when he was hired in January 2009. He had led the Chiefs to a 24-40 record over the last four seasons.