KANSAS CITY, Mo. — I’ve been working in Kansas City and at FOX 4 for 26 years now, and am now getting ready to cover my eighth Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach. From Mackovic to Marty, from Gunther to Gansz. I really liked Herm, but never really got to know Todd Haley. Dick Vermeil had a lot of success in the regular season, but he ran out of magic dust when it came time for the playoffs. Oh yeah, he only made it to the post-season once in 5 years.
Seven head coaches in my more than a quarter century in Kansas City, and the Chiefs are still a franchise lost in the desert looking for the burning bush.
They fired Todd Haley on Monday, one day after another embarrassing loss in a season full of them. Five times this season the Chiefs have lost by a mile. Five times they have lost by at least 27 points, which is almost unheard of in the NFL, a league geared toward giving every team an equal chance to win.
Parity is the name of the game in the National Football League, but the Chiefs continually get left out of the mix. I was lucky enough to be on hand the last time the Chiefs won a playoff game, back in January of 1994. That was 17 YEARS AGO. 17 YEARS without a playoff win! It makes you wonder. Is this team snake bitten? Why can’t the Chiefs ever win at NFL Bingo? Seems every other franchise does. The Saints. The Cardinals. Heck, even the lowly Buffalo Bills have been to four Super Bowls during my stay in KC. Tampa Bay used to be terrible, but even the Bucs have Super Bowl rings.
The Chiefs fire Todd Haley and now have to reset the clock. Back to square one in a lot of ways. Sure, they have a great stadium, an even better fan base, and a lot of building blocks on a football team that is desperate to win. All the Chiefs need is the right mix of management and coaching to go along with all that first round talent who can’t seem to get hooked up with the right mix of leadership. It starts at the top with Owner Clark Hunt and GM Scott Pioli. It’s up to them to find the right guy to come in and take over and get the job done.
The Chiefs need another head coach, folks. They go through them like candy at Christmas time. I love Christmas. But I sure don’t like the thought of another head coach who’s not going to work out. I’ve already had 26 years of it.
