Herm Speaks Finale

From the Truman Sports Complex

Herm Edwards met the media horde for the final time in the 2008 season. Like everyone else, he now waits for the hiring of a new general manager and a decision on whether he will remain as the team’s head coach.

Edwards won’t sit back and wait. He will approach the next several weeks in the only fashion he can: as head coach of the Chiefs. He’ll spend this week evaluating his players and coaches and he’ll then get prepared for the Senior Bowl and looking at college players in preparation for the 2009 NFL Draft.

As one might imagine, many of the questions to Edwards were about his situation. Here are the highlights.

ON WHETHER HE FEELS UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT HIS SITUATION AS HE WAITS FOR A NEW GM.

“Well, I just think the new guy is going to have the same vision that we started with, this rebuilding vision that we’ve been trying to do as an organization. I think that’s going to be a key too. He’s going to have to come in and evaluate players and then he’s going to evaluate what we’ve done to try and do this. I think that will be the criteria in hiring a guy like that too.”

ON WHETHER HE CAN MAKE A CASE TO THE NEXT GM ON WHAT HE’S DONE.

“I’m the kind of guy, and maybe it’s just my upbringing, but I’m not one to try and build cases. I let my work speak for itself. That’s the bottom line. I’m not big on promoting Herman Edwards, never have been and I’m not going to start now. I’ve been in this business too long and I think I try to do things the right way and try to do things right for this organization and this football team. I know it was the right thing to do. That’s all you can do. You do the right things for the right reasons. You don’t do them personally; you do them for what you know and you feel is right. At this point in time we knew we were going to be in this situation. We all accepted it. I’ve got to accept it as a coach. That’s where it’s at.”

WILL YOU HAVE TO SELL HIMSELF TO THE NEW GM

“I’m pretty sure if it’s a new GM who gets hired he’s going to know who I am unless he’s not in America. I’ve been in this league 30 years; what do I have to do? He’s got to make a decision on what he wants to do. He’s got to look at it and say is this guy the right guy and if he’s not that’s okay. That’s his decision. I’m okay with that.”

Comment: Sometimes it’s hard for fans and the media to understand one of the facts of life when you are in the coaching profession. That is simply this: if a coach hasn’t been fired yet, more than likely he will be before the end of his career. Whether it’s called relieved of duties, not retained, no contract offered, released or fired is semantics. The reality is you are out of a job. Edwards experienced that once before with the Chiefs, when Marty Schottenheimer did not retain him as secondary coach after the 1994 season. There isn’t a coach on the Kansas City coaching staff that hasn’t been fired at least once.

Coaches learn quite early that the only thing they control is the job they do. Spending time speculation or worrying about matters out of their control does nothing but create ulcers and sleepless nights. Coaches on a team with a 2-14 record have enough sleepless nights because of what happens on the field, without making matters worse.

Love him or hate him, you’ve got to give Herm Edwards credit for one thing: he’s done it his way. If that doesn’t work out, he’s going to be able to live with that. There are a lot of coaches who don’t have that kind of fortitude. Read More..

Herm Speaks 12/23

From Arrowhead Stadium

It may have been the shortest Tuesday session with the media horde that Herm Edwards has experienced during three years in Kansas City.

And, it wasn’t because Edwards lacked for anything to say or was in ill-humor. The media group was a skeleton crew at best and they’ve grown tired of asking the same questions week after week.

There were some good questions and some good answers from the head coach. Here they are.

ON WHETHER AFTER THIS TOUGH SEASON HE’S BURNED OUT?

“I’ve got a lot of energy and I think the thing that gives me the most energy is these young guys we have. Their ability to recover after a bunch of hard losses; we’ve been in a bunch of football games that we haven’t won this year and I think that will pay dividends with this football team next year. With youth, every time they show up after a hard loss, we go through film with them and they’re optimistic and they’re excited about the next week’s opponent. It’s a credit to the players, how they bounce back after a tough loss every week.”

Comment: I’ve been around Herm Edwards nearly every day since the season started way back in the last week of July in River Falls. I know there have been times when the season weighed on his shoulders. I’m sure with others around the team’s building who are his confidants he shared moments of anger and despair. But publicly, in front of his team, in front of his coaches and especially in front of the media, the frustration was buttoned up and it was always about the next game, the next day, that afternoon’s practice. “One of the greatest examples of leadership I’ve ever seen,” said special teams coach Mike Priefer, who saw leadership in a different forum than football when he was flying helicopters in the Navy. That the Chiefs bounced back from 10-0 last Sunday and made a game of it with the Dolphins was testimony to their pride. That pride has been grown by the way Edwards has handled himself and this season. Read More..

Herm Speaks 12/16

From Arrowhead Stadium

It would have to rank as one of the more interesting Herm Edwards weekly press conferences during his time in Kansas City.

With Carl Peterson’s resignation not even a day old, and wide spread speculation about his future as the team’s head coach, Edwards trudged through the snow to his Tuesday meeting with the media horde.

Here are the more interesting passages of the 21-minute session.

ON WHETHER HE FEELS HE WILL HAVE TO SELL HIMSELF TO THE NEW GM

“I’m not going to sell him on anything. I don’t think I have to. I’m going to be what I am and I’m going to coach the team the way I coach them. I think we all agree that this is the right direction to go. That’s why we chose to do this last year. Did we think it was going to be this painful? No. But I think we all agree that it’s the right direction and we’re going to stay on this course after this season and the years to follow. We’re all on the same page. That’s great. We’re not going to change the direction of this organization.”

Analysis:
A new GM is either going to want to keep Edwards, or he’s going to want to have his own man running the team. At this point, there really isn’t anything Edwards can do about that. Sure, finishing up with two victories would be helpful. But it won’t change what this season has been: a rebuilding effort that was a lot harder than anybody thought it would be.

DO HE THINKG THE CHIEFS WILL BE A MORE COMPETITIVE TEAM NEXT YEAR?

“Yes. When you tear down something you have build a base and our base was going to be the draft. That’s what we did. We built a base for this football team. Now, you’re going to have another draft this year of seven players and from there you can go into free agency and pluck a few guys that you feel will fit in spots. That was part of the plan when we decided to do this. Now, it will come to fruition this year for us. We have some money under the cap and we can go get some quality guys but they’ve got to fit. You can’t make a mistake on them. You really can’t. Because I think not only do they have to be good players; they have to be good leaders, because again, they’re walking into a team that is fairly young, the youngest team in football.”

Commentary: The Chiefs will be active in free agency, but they will not be so active as to satisfy those fans who think signing half-dozen free agents is the ticket to the playoffs. On a long-term basis – in the NFL that’s say five years – free agency works only as an opportunity to plug in empty spots on a depth chart that the draft did not fill. More cap dollars and more cash dollars have been wasted in the NFL on unrestricted free agency than anywhere else. Read More..

Herm Speaks 12/9

From Arrowhead Stadium

There were a lot of questions and a lot of answers in Herm Edwards weekly Tuesday press conference.

A lot of that questions and discussion centered around the offense and the future of Tyler Thipgen.

Here are the highlights.

ON THE FUTURE OF THE SPREAD OFFENSE WITH THE CHIEFS

“We’ve got three weeks to decide. Me personally, I’m kind of leaning towards the way it’s going. I kind of like it, because we are able to control the clock and we are able to run the ball. That’s the whole key. You still have to run the ball in this league. I think we can still run the ball pretty good and we haven’t turned the ball over a lot. We’ve turned it over four times and that’s a good sign.”

Analysis: If the head coach is leaning towards keeping the spread, then what else do we need to know? Nobody is going to overrule Edwards. The Chiefs offense has turned the ball over six times since the Jets game when they went to the spread, that’s four Tyler Thigpen interceptions and two fumbles (Thigpen and Jamaal Charles.) There’s no question that Thigpen’s control of the football has made all the difference in the world. The moment this offense starts turning the ball over, the Chiefs will go back towards a more conventional attack.

The next three weeks are crucial for the future of the spread offense with the Chiefs. First, it’s the weather; all three of the final games will be played in cold weather. To survive, a team must run the ball and can’t rely just on the pass. Second, now that they’ve played in the spread for seven games, there is plenty of tape for opposing teams to watch. There are fewer and fewer surprises for the opponent. Three, that’s especially true for San Diego, the first Chiefs foe who will see the KC spread for a second time. It’s one thing to watch it on tape; it’s another thing to have experience against the offense in person. Read More..

Herm Speaks 12/2

From Arrowhead Stadium

It’s always easier for a coach to talk coming off a victory. It was a nice change from the previous seven weeks on Tuesday when the media horde met with the head coach.

Herm Edwards took all the questions. Here are the highlights.

ON THE CHIEFS LOSING SEVEN STRAIGHT IN DENVER

“I think the first year I was here we played small ball. We lost our starting quarterback on opening day and then went to Denver and played as close as we could play it. We had a shot and we lost 9-6, I think it was. Then the next year we went in there and turned the ball over a bunch. Last year we turned it over and the game got away from us in the first half and that’s what kind of happened historically to us even before I got here: turn the ball over, they score real fast and you get down by a couple of scores and then never recover. That’s been the way it’s been there. We’ve got to understand that when we go play them and stay away from that.”

Analysis: Look at the Chiefs seven-game losing streak at Invesco Field and the problems are very apparent. Only twice in those seven games did the Chiefs have a lead at half-time, once by three and the other time by four points. In the other five games they trailed by 17, 17, 10, 14 and four points. The total score in the seven games is obviously in Denver’s favor, 210-104. At half-time, the total score was 102-37. In those five games, the Chiefs had two real chances to win: 2001 and 2006. They were down by four and lead by three points at intermission in games they lost by 14 and by three in overtime.

DEFENSING THE QB BOOTLEG WHICH HURT THE CHIEFS THE LAST 2 GAMES

“It’s real simple, it falls on two people: our defensive end or our linebacker doing their jobs. Generally when he gets outside like that somebody didn’t quite do what they were told to do. There have been a lot of defensive ends played for us the last couple weeks and linebackers. That might have something to do with it too. Hopefully, we can get that clarified this week because they are a big boot team, they do a great job with the boot. We’ve got to get it stopped. That’s when it’s dangerous when he gets outside the pocket and they do a great job of adjusting their routes and getting open and he has a strong arm and can throw it anywhere on the football field. He buys time; it’s hard to get this guy down. He is very dangerous when he gets outside the pocket because he makes a lot of plays on the run.”

Comment: The Chiefs instability at defensive end kills them on the little things, like playing proper defense against the boot. These guys are so zeroed in on stopping the run and then trying to get after the quarterback, they fall victim to a good play fake by the quarterback. Jason Babin got fooled on this several times in the Raiders game. Turk McBride and Derrick Johnson did a good job on the boot in the first game. McBride’s gone to the IR list, but D.J. is still around and needs to make sure he’s making the right kind of plays. Read More..

Herm Speaks 11/25

From Arrowhead Stadium

Herm Edwards had his best line of the season to date on Tuesday when he met with the media horde for his weekly press conference.

Edwards was asked about silly rumors that have floated this week that have connected him with the now open San Diego State head coaching job.

“I’ve got a college team right now and I’m coaching it,” Edwards said with a smile.

At least the head coach hasn’t lost his sense of humor. Despite the 1-10 record and the seven-game losing streak, the questioning was rather benign this week.

Still, there were some points of interest.

ON WHETHER HE’S IN COMMUNICATION WITH CLARK HUNT

“Yeah, we talk all the time. He knows exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re all on the same page. That’s what’s great about this. You have to be on the same page. There is no gray area. Everyone signed off on this. We all signed off on this. This is what we’re going to do. You’ve got to have guts to do it and that’s why everyone doesn’t like doing this because it’s hard. Do you anticipate it being this hard? No. Are there some factors involved in this that maybe you didn’t expect? Yeah. You’re playing with your third-string quarterback, who all the sudden he’s developing. You lose two quarterbacks on the way and lose a couple of other players. That’s not an excuse but you can’t anticipate that. But it happens. Everyone is on the same page, everyone knows what the direction we are going in and at the end of the day we’ll be able to evaluate the football team and say OK, here’s what we need to do to continue to get better and improve.” 
Read More..

Herm Speaks 11/18

Another week and another session with the media horde for Herm Edwards. At this point in a 1-9 season, there’s only so much he can talk about.

We pulled the best from the 20-minute session.

ON WHAT HIS TEAM NEEDS TO DO NOW

“It’s just a matter of making the play. It’s the little plays, the little things that you do that get you off the field on defense or continue the drive on offense. It’s not always the obvious play. It’s plays that happen along the way that don’t get done. We talked about it Monday. We went through the last game and what took place and it wasn’t the obvious plays, it was the plays that go unnoticed that you kill drives with … penalty, dropped balls, missed tackle, those things that creep into the game that you can’t allow to happen if you are going to win, especially for us. We don’t have a lot of room for error.”

Analysis: The Chiefs youth, inexperience and injuries cut their chances of victory every week. It becomes a very fine line the team must walk to have a chance at winning the game. That’s a line that few teams can travel without falling down. Former NFL head coach Chuck Knox talked about the six plays that decide football games that nobody remembers or talks about. He always felt his team had to win four of those plays to win the game. Last week, the Chiefs were probably zero-for-six on those plays. Read More..

Herm Speaks 11/11

Injuries topped the discussion topics as Herm Edwards met with the media horde for his weekly Tuesday press conference.

Here are the passages of importance, with analysis, commentary and translation.

ON THE INJURIES THAT HAVE COME DOWN ON HIS TEAM AND THE EFFECT ON GAME PREPARATION

“The backup guys are going to have to go in and play. What gets you a little bit when you get down to these numbers is practice. It’s not the games so much as it’s practicing because the guys have to take more reps in practice. That can have something to do with it too. You have guys that are wounded and you have only so many guys on your roster and to get through practice guys are taking double reps and that always puts a strain on guys, especially this time of year. There are some things we will have to do to adjust during practice.

“When you go through a practice on a Wednesday there are probably about 120 plays run, being split both ways, 60 on offense, 60 on defense and then there are the special teams. Well, when you lose a group of guys at a certain position all of a sudden the guys that were the look team are not available because the first string guys are gone and all the sudden the look guy is now the first string guy. So instead of taking 60 reps he might take 80 or 90 reps; that’s what happens to you in practice. You have got to be careful. That can sometimes affect guys if they have to play a lot in the football game. So we have to look at that a little bit.”

Analysis: Edwards and his coaching staff are in a bind here. Unlike a veteran team that has been through football wars, this team is dominated by young and inexperienced players. Practice is very important and gearing things back at this point in the season is counter-productive. But the Chiefs may not have a choice because of the injuries. For instance, last week in preparation for the Chargers, the Chiefs needed to use two tight ends quite a bit in practice because San Diego’s offense generally has two tight ends on the field. That meant rookie TE Brad Cottam not only got plenty of snaps with the first team offense, but he had to take quite a few snaps with the scout team. In September, that’s not such a big deal. In November, the number of plays adds up and pushes some players closer to injury. It’s a vicious circle the Chiefs are in right now. Read More..

Herm Speaks 11/4

From Arrowhead Stadium

By the time that Herm Edwards got done going over the Chiefs roster moves with the media horde at the start of his weekly Tuesday press conference, he was almost out of energy. That’s the type of season it has been for this team.

But as always, Edwards had enough left in his tank to answer questions and here are some of the important passages and our commentary, translation and analysis.

ON MOBILE QUARTERBACKS LIKE TYLER THIGPEN

“If you get a quarterback who just drops back or is a pocket passer, he’s easy to rush because he’s always in the same spot. If he can move, then you are worried about containing the guy, about him getting outside and throwing on the move. That’s when the train is delayed. It’s the quarterback that can make the play when the train is delayed, who can run around, buying himself some time … that’s what the guy from the Bucs (Jeff) Garcia did. He bought some time, got outside the pocket; he threw it here, threw it there and made some big plays. That’s what Tyler can do. He has the ability to do that. Now that being said, he can also throw it to the other guy doing that. There is some risk and some reward in that.”

Translation: The reason Thigpen is still the Chiefs starter comes down to one thing in the head coach’s mind and that’s his lack of interceptions in the last two games. The moment that Thigpen starts throwing the ball to the other team, we will see Quinn Gray taking snaps and running the Chiefs offense.

ON THIGPEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE TEAM THE LAST TWO WEEKS

“The quarterback helps the whole team, the defense, he helps everybody. We have played more consistent on defense the last two weeks because the quarterback has played consistent. Our offense has played and moved the ball. It’s always that way and he hasn’t turned it over. If you do that, you have a chance to be competitive. If you look at the games where we had our troubles, we gave up some big plays on defense and we turned the ball over on offense. Right now, we are plus-seven in the last two games in turnover ratio … and we lost two games. That doesn’t compute but we have to continue to play that way.”

Analysis: Settling the quarterback position is the No. 1 priority for the franchise from this point until the start of the 2009 season. Not establishing a quarterback, whether a youngster or a veteran, creates too much uncertainty that filters down and affects the rest of the roster. It’s too early to make Thigpen the guy, but right now he’s in the driver’s seat. If he can keep the car on the road, his opportunity improves every week. Read More..

Herm Speaks – Volume #7

For once, Herm Edwards’ Tuesday session with the media horde was about football. Oh, there were questions about Larry Johnson for sure, but the head coach swatted those away because it’s all out of the team’s hands right now. Johnson’s immediate future rests with the league.

The Chiefs immediate past is 1-6 and their immediate future is the Tampa Bay Bucs, coming to town this Sunday.

Here’s some of what the coach had to say.

ON TAMPA BAY AND ITS DEFENSE

“Defensively, they’re back to playing Buc-Ball, as we called it. They don’t give up a lot of big plays, not a lot of big runs or a lot of big passes. They hold you to about 15 points a game. They can rush the passer. They tackle real well. They’re built for speed, very aggressive that way and can blitz you a lot. They blitz a lot on third downs, bring pressure and put it on the quarterback. They played in a one-score game last week. They held Dallas to one touchdown. It is going to be a test for us – probably one of the best defenses we’ll play all year. Tennessee was very good and these guys are right up there with Tennessee. Not as big, but just fast; that’s how they were built.”

Translation: Oh, how Herm wishes he had a defense like the one that’s coming in to Arrowhead. Just run down the things Edwards said about the Bucs D and the Chiefs have just the opposite. They don’t give up big plays … they hold opponents to 15 points a game … they rush the passer … they tackle real well … they are very aggressive and blitz a lot on third down. His description is what the Chiefs coach dreams of for his defense and right now, it’s the exact opposite. Read More..

Herm Speaks/Volume 6

Most of Herm Edwards weekly gathering with the media horde was a discussion on a guy who didn’t play last Sunday and probably won’t play this coming Sunday: Larry Johnson.

Always, the media wants to talk about those who contribute the least.

So here are some of the important passages of what Edwards had to say about his wayward running back and his current situation.

ON LARRY JOHNSON’S STATUS FOR THIS WEEK

“Right now, Larry will come to work tomorrow (Wednesday.) The decision on that will take place when it has to be made. I don’t have to make the decision on who’s starting and who’s not starting. So that’s kind of where that’s at. Whatever I do, I think hopefully you know me by now, people know me by now, I’m going to do the right thing for the football team, and that’s where it stands with me.”

Translation: I don’t want to put words in Edwards’ mouth, but what I hear him saying is enough. He’s had enough of L.J. and the way he approaches the game and his team. He’s taking a stand and if the NFL is going to be part of that stand, that’s OK with the head coach.

There’s more from Herm on that angle: Read More..

Herm Speaks: Vol. 5

It was an unusual Tuesday for Herm Edwards weekly meeting with the media scum. The looming trade deadline and the possibility of a deal involving Tony Gonzalez had the coach pushing back the start of his press conference. Then, the conference started with no news, as Gonzalez wasn’t traded so there was little to speak of on that situation.

But of course that’s the only angle the media horde wanted to address. There was little or no discussion on Brodie Croyle returning to the starting lineup.

Here are some of the highlights, with again my comments, translation and analysis.

ON WHAT HE EXPECTS FROM GONZALEZ:

“He’ll be like he always is. He’s a professional football player. He’s a pro. One thing about Tony, he will prepare himself this week to play well. That’s what we expect out of him.”

Comment: That was Herm talking about what he hopes happens with Gonzalez. What he does not need is another pout session like what happened after the Denver game when Gonzalez did not get his record. He needs his veteran tight end to show his young players how to deal with adversity, a concept they are struggling to learn. Read More..

Herm Speaks Vol. 4

From Arrowhead Stadium

There were a few more smiles from Herm Edwards as he met with the media horde on Tuesday for his weekly press conference.

It always helps coming off a win, but like most head coaches, Edwards has moved on from the Denver victory. A tough Carolina team is ahead and his focus is on that. But obviously, the media has other agendas and naturally there was a lot of talk yesterday about Tony Gonzalez.

Here’s what Herm had to say about that, and several other items that caught my fancy. Read More..

Herm Speaks Vol. #3

From Arrowhead Stadium

Herm Edwards remains committed to what he started with the Chiefs. As he met with the media on Tuesday, carrying a 0-3 record, there was no panic in his voice or manner.

The Chiefs head coach believes the team’s plan to rebuild the franchise is sound and he won’t be knocked off-course.

No real news from the press conference other than it sounds like Damon Huard will replace Tyler Thigpen as the team’s starting quarterback this Sunday against Denver.

Here’s some Herm speak: Read More..

Herm Speaks: Vol. 2

From Arrowhead Stadium

Herm Edwards was his usual cool, calm, collected self for his weekly Tuesday press conference.

News items of note: CB Pat Surtain is out of this Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. It’s the same for QB Brodie Croyle. Nobody else has been ruled out. A starting quarterback will be named tomorrow between Damon Huard and Tyler Thigpen. Whoever the starter is, will play the whole game as long as he’s healthy, the Chiefs will not try to mix in a quarterback for a series here or there. And, the head coach plans no personnel changes on his offensive line this week.

Here’s some more of what the coach had to say and what we have to say about what he had to say. Read More..