Covitz:Tragedy clouds job fates for Crennel, Pioli
 

Tragedy clouds job fates for Crennel, Pioli
The way the Chiefs coach and general manager dealt with last week could affect the decision on whether to bring them back.
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
A week ago, Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel displayed extraordinary leadership skills when he calmly led his team and staff through a horrific crisis.

Crennel’s composure and ability to hold together a heartbroken Chiefs organization in the hours after linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and himself captured the admiration of not just those in Kansas City, but across the country.

But now that the tears have dried and the business of football resumes, a dilemma hovers over the franchise. How does one separate sympathy for Crennel and general manager Pioli — who were courageous in trying to dissuade Belcher from taking his life and witnessed the suicide — from the frustration of a miserable season on the field?

Even if the Chiefs, 2-10, manage to win a few of their four remaining games, starting with today’s visit to Cleveland, 4-8, this season will rank as one of the most disappointing in franchise history.

Chiefs Nation, through protests on game day and failing to fill Arrowhead Stadium as in years past, is demanding a housecleaning. Fans want changes in the front office, coaching staff and at quarterback, though the tragic events of last weekend muffled the outcry as a show of respect for Crennel and Pioli.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt hadn’t shown any indication that changes were coming soon, or at all, during the team’s eight-game losing streak, a dismal slide that was snapped with last weekend’s improbable 27-21 victory over Carolina. And the timing for making a change now would be grossly insensitive, considering what Crennel, Pioli and the team have gone through.

It’s even possible that the manner in which Pioli and Crennel comported themselves in the eye of danger — and the way they comforted a fragile team in the aftermath — will convince Hunt to stay the course despite a 2-14 or 4-12 season.

“I don’t think anybody gets fired after one season,” said veteran defensive lineman Shaun Smith. “Anything’s possible. He’s still coaching us, he said he ain’t going to throw in the towel, and I believe him. That’s why I like playing for him, because he’s a fighter no matter what the situation is.”

It was just about a year ago — Dec. 12 — that Crennel took over as interim head coach in place of Todd Haley. He was promoted to head coach permanently after the Chiefs went 2-1 in their final three games, including an upset of then-13-0 Green Bay in Crennel’s debut.

But the Chiefs have been a punch line for most of this season, including their epic eight-game streak of failing to lead a game in regulation and a league-high 32 turnovers.

Crennel, 65, still has two more years left on his contract, which may give him some security, though he could be forced to make changes on his coaching staff to retain the job.

Pioli, it is believed, has one more year remaining on his original five-year contract. The Chiefs are 23-37 under his watch, and if Hunt decides to change coaches, it’s hard to see him entrusting Pioli to make a third hire in five years.

If the clamoring for change in Kansas City is affecting Crennel, he isn’t showing it — just as he didn’t show the strain of the nightmare he experienced last weekend.

“We can’t worry about who’s flying (anti-Pioli) banners or what other people think,” Crennel said a day before the Belcher tragedy. “You can’t please all the people all the time. You have to try to do your job the best you can do it, and hopefully on Sunday you can come out with a victory.”

But there’s little doubt he’s coaching for his future.

“When you get into coaching, you’re coaching for your career,” Crennel said. “Every game, you’re out front and you get evaluated, and that hasn’t changed since I’ve been in this game. You worry about the next game, that’s what you do.

“When you sign up to be a coach, you know your job is on the line. And it’s on the line every Sunday.”

The Chiefs are not the only franchise with club executives and head coaches sitting on the annual December hot seat. Big changes are certain to happen in San Diego, where general manager A.J. Smith and coach Norv Turner are expected to be dismissed; Philadelphia, where Andy Reid, the dean of NFL head coaches with one team, is on his way out; and Carolina, which dismissed general manager Marty Hurney in October. Coaches in Buffalo, Carolina, Dallas, Arizona and Cleveland are also on shaky ground.

It’s been 10 years since an NFL season has gone this long without an in-season coaching change. Club owners have probably learned there’s little to be gained by firing a coach during the season and elevating an assistant on an interim basis.

Such a move usually provides a short-lived spark to a team — as it did for the Chiefs last year — before it reverts to the form that led to the coaching change in the first place.

The prevailing feeling around the league is that, come Dec. 31, the day after the regular-season ends, pink slips will fly across the NFL.

The Browns are under new ownership this season, after Jimmy Haslam bought the club from Randy Lerner for $1 billion. Haslam immediately replaced president Mike Holmgren with CEO Joe Banner, who may want to bring in his own general manager and head coach. Browns coach Pat Shurmur, 8-20 in two-plus seasons, is under fire, even though his team, with 17 rookies and 10 others with less than two full years’ experience, is riding a modest two-game winning streak.

“My concerns are always for our team and our coaches moving forward,” Shurmur, 47, told reporters last week. “I really believe in this group we have and I really believe this is the foundation of something that could be really good. Even though I say that and believe in it, until we start winning football games, that’s what shows it. That’s really my concern.

“Some of the other stuff about me personally — what more can they say about me (on sports talk radio)? Right? I mean, really, think about it. I don’t listen to it, but I’m told frequently about it. I think that’s where the thick-skin part comes in.”

Herm Edwards has been in this situation. With two games remaining in the 2008 season, Carl Peterson, the club’s chief executive for 20 years and a mentor to Edwards, parted company with the Chiefs, who were 2-12 at the time and would finish 2-14.

Though Hunt had signed off on a youth movement that contributed to six losses by seven or fewer points in 2008, including two one-point losses and one in overtime, the feeling was that Peterson’s successor would bring in a new coach, no matter what the Chiefs did in the final two games.

“The key is don’t get caught up in that,” Edwards said of the uncertainty of the final games preceding his dismissal. “The hard thing for you as a coach is to make sure everyone else is focused is on the plan … the team you’re going to play that week. You have to make sure the focus is on the job at hand, and that’s to win a football game.

“Saying that is easier than doing it. You have coaches concerned, you have players sitting there thinking, ‘Coach is going to be out of here, and we’re going to be playing for a new coach,’ and they’re thinking, ‘Who’s going to be the guy …?’ The assistant coaches are having to go home and deal with their wives and saying, ‘You know what, we’re probably not going to be here.’ ”

Sure enough, Pioli, hired in mid-January 2009, dismissed Edwards. And after the Super Bowl, he hired Haley, a former offensive coordinator at Arizona.

“This is the part of coaching cycles,” Edwards said. “At some point in your career, you’re going to deal with it. When you’re not sitting in that seat, and you see other coaches of other teams that you know are sitting in that seat, you better realize, if you stay in this game long enough, you’re going to be in that seat, too. It’s just a matter of time.”

Edwards, who has been an analyst with ESPN since leaving the Chiefs, tried putting on a brave front for his staff, players and everyone else in the building.

“For me, it was simple,” Edwards said. “I’m going to be upbeat, energetic, and I’m looking forward to trying to win a football game. Because you know when you win a game … the feeling of winning, it puts everything else secondary.

“The thing I learned about it is you don’t take it personally. It’s part of the game.”

Much to Crennel’s credit, it’s hard to tell whether this Chiefs team is 2-10 or 10-2. The players practice enthusiastically and chat and banter in the locker room while going from practice to meetings.

Certainly, there is an undercurrent of doubt about the future, but there’s not a feeling of having to “Win One for Romeo.”

“Everyone in this locker room, especially the guys who have been around, know it’s a bottom-line business,” said offensive tackle Eric Winston. “If I’m a guy evaluating … you don’t want to get caught up in a moment, whether it’s good or bad.

“They’ll sit back, look at the totality of things that have happened, and they’ll make their decision. Romeo has a lot of great attributes for a head coach. It’s not my place to say whether he stays or goes. I’m going to do everything I can to win, and usually wins means he’s going to stay.”

Smith, the Chiefs defensive lineman, also played for Crennel in Cleveland in 2007-08. He said the coach can’t be blamed for players dropping passes or committing penalties, two of the biggest culprits in the Chiefs’ poor record this season.

“I’ve been with him when we won 10 games in Cleveland and the next year we didn’t have a good year,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we can win these last four games of the season, and we’ll be 6-10. That’s better than two-and-whatever.”

But only Hunt knows if that will be enough for Pioli and Crennel to return in 2013. That answer probably will come the week of Dec. 31.

**** you covitz. It hasnt clouded a damn thing. You trot out cassel or pioli next year and arrowhead is going to be a ghost town.

I think a large portion of the fan base has endured enough fail over the last decade to finally be done with you if we dont fix things once and for all. I myself am done with the chiefs if we dont go full bore with a #1 qb.

Its hell or high water time

“We can’t worry about who’s flying (anti-Pioli) banners or what other people think,” Crennel said a day before the Belcher tragedy. “You can’t please all the people all the time. You have to try to do your job the best you can do it, and hopefully on Sunday you can come out with a victory.”

What?! Who the **** is pleased about being 2-10?

yep, its not about pleasing someone all the time, its about putting a competitive ****ing team out there.

Romeo, hasnt and shouldnt be pleased with ANYTHING this year. There has been nothing positive out of this season. Its a wasted season plain and simple.

Thats why for the first time in my 30 years of watching football i dont care if my team wins. I think the bigger win is the number 1 draft pick and im rooting for that. If that makes me a bad fan, then so be it. Winning 6 games this year does absolutely nothing but puts us higher in the draft.

I completely agree.

Hilarious.

Any person would have done the same.

If Clark retains him after this season of crap, I will start questioning my fandom. AT least at that point there will be no doubt about where the cancer of this team is. The Hunts.

We suck because our franchise inside Arrowhead is delusional more times than not. Unless they are putting their positive faces on like Herm did, they have to know they have really f**ked up this season and a lot of seasons (outside of 2010).

I'm glad though that Covitz did bring this article up and reminding everyone and the Chiefs that the cloud that hangs over the Belcher ordeal is passing and the Chiefs fanbase hasn't forgotten the sh*tty State we are in as a franchise! You got your week free pass, now we are back to reality.

clark: "Scott, you are the worst GM and person in the NFL"

fatt scott: "Belcher blew his brains out"

clark: "Here's a new 40 year contract and my wife's gross vagina"

What a bunch of crap. Good leadership for a week during tragedy does not over rule 4 years of fail.

If they aren't gone, I am gone.

Sadly I can't disagree with all of the article.


Would it shock anyone if Clark brought Pioli back after the Belcher situation? I wouldn't be...it'd be the final straw tho...

If Pioli comes back, banners should start to target Clark.

"Clark, sell the team to someone who cares"

This...

Herm's awesome feeling of winning a game got him Glenn Dorsey instead of Matt Ryan. I hope it was worth it. If we had Ryan, he may still have a job here

Tragedy of poor play clouds our outlook since 1993.
- Chiefs fans

No, no, no!


Don't even crack the door open on this subject. To keep your job because a player went nuts would be idiotic.

This is the Chiefs, though.........

If Pioli is back next season its because he's already been extended and Clark doesn't want to take the financial hit. Belcher doesn't get you extended, if anything it reiterates that it would be in everyone's best interest to move on and seek a fresh start elsewhere.

This.

And Covitz was so good to SOC too. These past two articles of his have been utter ****ing bullshit.

**** you, Covitz. Get AIDS.

If they would have talked Belcher out of shooting himself, that would have been a much greater show of leadership then what actually transpired

No doubt.

Or, "Clark, the gleam of the silver spoon truly blinded you."

Let's see...4 years in and the organization is terrible on the field, a joke nationally, and the bane of local fans because Pioli is terribly unlikeable.

Thus, to see anything positive, one must believe in the bullshit cliches that Pioli is so ready to disseminate, such as "The Right 53," which many used to believe. To this end, Belcher ended these fantasies.

Therefore, Clark is facing a call, and he better have the balls to play the hand correctly because he has the cards.

While everyone is going to disagree with keeping RAcioli, Covitz is right that it adds another factor into the decision making.


I still don't see how they can stay.

I'm a big RAC hater, but you have to admire the job he did in holding his team together. As I said before, he's a perfect coach for that situation. And that's what scares the shit out of me. I could see the Chiefs rallying behind him the rest of the year while on an emotional kick. That's what players coaches do. And then I could see us extending him because we got late season momentum, just like we did last year when RAC won a few games while emotions were still high because of the Haley firing.

Sadly, when you're a fan long enough, you just come to expect certain things to happen.

It's ****ing ridiculous that this team has to be ABSOLUTE 100% failures in everything for them to get fired. It's as if being only 98% failures isn't good enough to warrant the firing.

Clark will do the right thing, I believe. He has to.

What a mouth-breathing fool Shaun Smith is.

This isn't Romeo's first rodeo and he's making the same mistakes over, and over, and over. The guy sucks as a HC.

Smith will continue to deep throat him because Crennel is literally the only coach in the league who will give him a job.

And if he doesn't play it correctly, fans are folding.

They both need to go based on terrible job performance. This does not need to be the Chiefs Hurricane Sandy incident...

It's times like these that I think some asshole shits something out in an article just so they can be the ones to claim they called it.

Clark isn't stupid. One terrible situation should have absolutely no baring on RAC/Pioli staying or going.

Clark is holding 4 Aces.

If he folds he needs to be executed on the spot.

This article makes it pretty clear that the SOC banner SHOULD be flown for the last home game.

WE STILL NEED CHANGE - SAVEOURCHIEFS.COM

The Chiefs are literally being laughed at in the national media. There have been memes made to chronical their sucktitude.

Sack up Clark. You're losing one of the best fanbases in sports.

Well, in defense of CHunt, his wife's vagina is the best money can buy...

What right would Pioli have to cut players if sympathy is used to keep his job? That would be hypoctrical on the franchise part & bull shit. Fire Pioli make changes this offseason with coaches and draft QB with our top pick.

It would be dumb on CLLLLLLLLLarks part to keep PioLLLLLLLLLi after this season.

Chiefs Insider focusing solely on the great leadership displayed by the staff last week.

:clap:

Yep. Next home game should be a multiple banner event.

SOC must get right back on message, including a "Fire Pioli" banner.

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One moment of trajedy does not excuse 4 years of failure.

does Clark have the balls to replace them...that is the question.

I know I am in the minority here, but I am anxious to see how these last 4 games play out... for Crennel and Quinn. Not for Pioli at all.

I am of the mindset that Pioli has been stripped of some of his power, and that Crennel is now able to play the players he wants to play.

And it may just be me, but I do believe this team is playing better. Not just last week against the Panthers, but the week before against the Broncos as well.

If Quinn continues to perform as he has the past two weeks, I really think we are going to win more games... hell, maybe all of them. And honestly, I am fine with that.

Cassel and Pioli, or Pioli and Cassel IMO are the two that have been holding this franchise back. Not Haley, and not Crennel.

Now if these last 4 games are the same shit fest we have had to watch the past couple of years, then yes, everyone must go.

I think the tragedy of the hangover will be over by then. I agree -- still need to pressure the front office in some way.

G. F. Y.

this 1000 X.

It was probably a wise move on your part to turn rep off.

**** YOU RANDY COVITZ

for the sake of the Fans, we better hope so.

I get the feeling the decision is made that they will stay. Its like Covitz was fed a PR talking point list.

This is mega neg repable

I see why you have your rep turned off. This is suicidal to keep ANY of the 3 stooges and to go into next season with Quinn as your QB hope is absurd.

I don't give a shit if the team plays lights out all four and Quinn's average QB rating is well over 100.

RAC must be fired, and I'd be happy to retain Quinn as a backup to our newly drafted starter.

I think Coogs post is misguided, but isn't worthy of scorn.

I've been on the Cassel's got to go bandwagon for some time. Been on the Pioli must go too after Orton made this team look decent... and Pioli forced Cassel back on the team. And I really don't think all the apples in the barrel are bad, just 2 of them. One has been taken out... Cassel. The other appears to at least been found and the bad parts stripped away.

I don't do the rep thing either. Don't understand it... but I really haven't tried to either. Got a lot of respect for a lot of people here, and I hope they just know that without me giving them the rep thing.

That not why my rep is turned off. I just don't do the rep thing. :shrug:

I'd positive rep that too.

This franchise is laughable at best....

They come back and it will be the ultimate F you to the loyalty of this fanbase... We will see what Clark thinks about this fanbase after the end of the season...

Does he care about KC or not, Guess we will see...

This team played with a focus last week that has been lacking since Todd Haley was fired.

That total lack of focus is on Romeo Crennel and the coaching staff.

Covitz assigns blame to the players for lack of execution, but the coaching staff has failed to hold these guys accountable.

**** Pioli and his force feeding us The Matt Cassel.

If Haley and Crennel both had their hands tied on coaching decisions by Pioli... which appears to be correct, then you really can't evaluate their true coaching abilities.

I'm not ready to give up on RAC just yet. I'll have my opinion after these last four games.

I think they played well against Denver too. I've said all along I thought Cassel was the reason the whole team was not performing to the level they shoud have been... and I am sticking to it.

Outside of Pioli, RAC is demonstrating some of the same problems he had as HC in Cleveland.

Yes you can. RAC FAILED in Cleveland too. He picked Daboll as OC AGAIN. RAC is a good DC and NOT a good HC. Much like Wayde Phillips. When people show you who they are - believe them. He's shown you who he is...

The defense goes the way of DJ -- when he plays smart the defense looks decent, when he plays like an idiot, this team cant stop anyone from doing anything. The last two weeks have been DJ's best of his career. I think he has finally figured out how to play defense and how to play in this defense.

RAC should of never been hired as the HC... As atrocious as he is as a DC he is ****ing god awful as a HC...

I want nothing to do with this Defense or him as a HC....

This...

Cheaps pre-game show beating the drum of keeping Crennel and Pisoli

Have :)

You can look at Crennel's performance this year and compare it to his time with Cleveland and see that this team has the same issues on the field as those Browns teams did.

He is simply a piss poor excuse for a head coach.

His teams struggle with with execution and discipline, and his game day decisions are hed scatchers, at best.

**** those dickbags

besides being fat and stupid, what has RAC done to impress you?

and why would winning a couple of meaningless games at the end of a disaster season impress you?

Right. Which is why I don't fault Smith for sticking up for the one coach in the league that believes in him. Of course Smith is going to defend Crennel.

How? What possible case could they make?

Trajedy?

Oh the hoomanity!

I didn't say I am impressed. He came out in support of Orton. He was squarely in Orton's corner... as were some players. Pioli squelched that.

Pioli has lost some power. I want to see what happens down the stretch. Nothing more.

Doesn't matter. If Pioli is fired, RAC will be replaced by the new GM.

How many times does RAC literally have to say that he doesn't have a clue for us to take him at face value? For me, the answer was twice.

He got one mulligan, and then I recognized him as the honest, inept coach that he is.

Went right on the keyboard when I should have gone left.

RAC and Pioli are literally the only road block from getting a first round QB in the draft next year

as long as Pioli is still here and his stupid Pats/Browns ego philosophies you can kiss that first round QB goodbye and hello to some crappy 5 tech from LSU lol

it's the ONLY road block. these two bumbling idiots

EVERYBODY needs to be fired. ALL the coaches.

Trainers, equipment personnel, scouts. ****ing everyone.