Haley’s Offensive Philosophy … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs
The play was called Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon.
How it came to be created, implemented and called tells us something about Todd Haley, his approach to offense and how he hopes the Chiefs will go about moving the football in the upcoming 2009 season.
But before we find out about the play call mentioned above, we must touch on the basics with the Chiefs new head coach for his offensive philosophy and those who have influenced his approach.
“It sounds like coaching jargon, but my offensive philosophy is to utilize the players that we have to the best of their ability,” Haley said. “That’s the way I’ve been taught; whatever gives us the best chance to win.
“If that is three yards and a cloud of dust, we don’t turn the football over and we play great defense, I’ll be the happiest guy after games.”
Last year, when he was creating game plans and calling plays as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, the best chance to win was throwing the football. With Kurt Warner behind center and receivers like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, it didn’t make much sense to do anything else.
That the Cardinals finished last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (73.6 yards) had nothing to do with scheme or preference, and everything to do with not having the tools necessary to be a good running team.
“That’s a great example of what I’m talking about,” Haley said. “We were not able to run the ball real efficiently. There were a number of reasons for that. We had a big problem at tight end with injuries. At the end of the year we picked up a tight end off the street in Steve Spach and once we had him, we started to run the ball more effectively.
“We could have said, hey we are going to run it and we don’t care about the results. We obviously showed pretty quick that we could move the ball through the air, so we tried to play to our strengths.”
That basic lesson is something he learned as part of Bill Parcells staff with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. “He had a great impact on me philosophically,” Haley said. “Dan Henning had a big influence on me. He’s a great offensive coach. He understood all positions and was an excellent teacher.
“Then there’s Charlie Weis; I shared an office with him for three years (in New York) and I got to learn a lot from him. Even Ron Erhardt to some extent; he was there in New York in those early years and kind of took me under his wing.”
The goal is offensive balance. But the talent is used in whatever manner produces victories.
“Yes, balance is the goal, but again, we proved last year that it doesn’t have to be to have success,” Haley said of the Cardinals, who finished the year as the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL, averaging 292.1 yards per game “I’m trying not to pigeonhole exactly what we will be.”
What the Chiefs will be offensively in 2009 will probably not be apparent until the end of the pre-season, after Haley and his offensive coaching staff led by coordinator Chan Gailey get a chance to see the available talent up close and personal. Gailey is joined on the offensive side by assistant head coach Maurice Carthon (running backs), wide receivers coach Dedric Ward, tight end coach Bob Bicknell, offensive line coaches Bill Muir and Joe D’Alessandris and quality control coach Matt Sirianni.
The battle at quarterback will be between Matt Cassel and Tyler Thigpen. The edge will likely go to Cassel with his 15 starts last year in New England. Given his first chance to start and play regularly since high school, Cassel completed 63.4 percent of his 516 passes, with 21 TD throws and 11 interceptions. He finished the year with a passer rating of 89.4.
There’s a good chance Thigpen will also see the field. His mobility is one area where he has the edge on Cassel. If pass protection becomes a problem, Thigpen could get his shot.
As for the rest of the offense, it remains in limbo. The best weapon the team has is probably RB Larry Johnson if — that’s always a word used with L.J. — if he remains in shape, motivated and free of trouble. If the Chiefs can move the ball on the ground they will gravitate there in the play calling because the options in the passing game are slim when it comes to playmakers.
Haley wants to be able to do everything with his offense, run and throw. As he said he won’t pigeon hole the scheme or emphasis when the Chiefs have the football. He wants to be able to adjust on the run, and we don’t mean the running game. That’s one reason Gailey is still the offensive coordinator, because of his ability to shift gears last year with Thigpen at quarterback after Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard were injured and lost for the season.
This brings us back to Fake Toss 339 Taxi Pass X-Pylon. As the Cardinals were flying to Charlotte to play the Carolina Panthers in the second-round of the NFC playoffs, Haley was watching tape. “I would really enjoy those long flights back East for games because most flights out of Phoenix were three, four, five hours and there was a lot of time to just look at tape,” Haley said. “I was looking at some cutups and tape that I used to prepare the call sheet.
“Everything was done; our call sheet for the game was finished.”
But Haley saw something on the tape … it was the tendency of Carolina’s left corner in how he reacted to certain plays. Haley thought the Cardinals could take advantage of that, so he drew up the play at his seat and then walked it around the plane to all the key people involved, coaches and players.
“We had a walkthrough that day when we landed and we went over the play,” Haley said. “But we didn’t practice it.”
That didn’t keep Haley from calling the play in the first quarter, with Arizona down by a touchdown and the offense looking at a 3rd-and-1 play at their 49-yard line. The play worked perfectly, as Warner and Fitzgerald combined for a 41-yard gain that set up Arizona’s tying touchdown. They never trailed after that score.
“Now, it went against the philosophy of what you are supposed to do,” Haley said. “But occasionally things come up and you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly.”
Expect the Chiefs to do a lot of adjusting on the fly during the 2009 season.
Coming Thursday: Haley’s defensive philosophy.
CHIEFS MAKE IT OFFICIAL WITH SIGNING OF SUCCOP
This week, Chiefs seventh-round kicker Ryan Succop is enjoying the hospitality of the folks in Newport Beach, California as he’s honored as Mr. Irrelevant, or the final man taken in the 2009 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs on Tuesday made official what had been talked about for the better part of five days; they’ve made Succop the first of their eight draft choices with a contract. As you might expect, the Chiefs did not announce any terms of the contract, but it has been reported as a three-year $1.21 million deal.
SIGNINGS & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE
BUCCANEERS – signed fourth-round draft choice DE Kyle Moore and seventh-round choice CB E.J. Biggs.
PACKERS – signed WR Greg Jennings to a three-year contract extension.
STEELERS – signed OT Max Starks to a new four-year contract. Starks had been carrying the team’s franchise player designation; CB Fernando Bryant announced his retirement.
TITANS – signed sixth-round draft choice CB Jason McCourty and seventh-round choice G Ryan Durand.
Bob,
Great article. During this dead time it really great to get this kind of insight to keep ‘Chiefs junkies’ going.
It may, or may not come to pass…but it seems to me that Haley has all the tools to become a great Head Coach in the NFL. Only time will tell for certain.
Yeah this season could be a disaster, but I like our chances at this point this year than in the past few years!!
I like Haley’s approach on the offense. It seems obvious that without full contact practices, he has no idea of what the Chiefs offensive strengths are,if any.
Bob, I’m impressed with your reporting. I learn more & more about Haley from you. It’s obvious you landed Coach Haley with a one on one conversation. There must be some jealous sports reporters running around KC wondering, How you pulled it off. Congrats!
This is great, I read this, sat up and first thought was, this ain’t hard ~ if you know what your doing.
Making descions on witch way to sail before you know the wind driection, defind’s your true abbilty to be in command of the ship and crew.
This replace’s the old Caption’s way of simply knowing he had to go in one driection and went, even if it was straight into the wind.
What was astounding, was with little experince, the crew almost got the job done,on more than a few outings.
Wonder if KC is going to announce that they are going to run the ball every play agin this year.
[...] Chiefs News Chiefs Update | Chiefs Football at BobGretz.com [...]
‘check’ - “I got to learn alot from him (Charlie Weiss)”… yup - the blind leading the blind(er).
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Haley offensive philosphy will be what Herm tried to create but when away from once Tyler becamse QB which is running the football. Of course unlike Herm he will not just run the ball all 3 downs and punt. Look for Haley to surround the offense around LJ but also use in some fakes and play action to get the ball downfield to Bowe, Darling, and Bradley.
Not a bad idea seeing that I think LJ has a good 2years left in him. Including this season. I expect LJ to have a 1300 to 1500 yard season this year. Look for Cassell to settle for alot of underneath stuff safe throws seeing that the pass protection is going to be average. We will look like the Pats when Brady first got there. NOt alot of deep stuff down the field but consistently moving the chains. Cant wait for the sesaon to start.
“Now, it went against the philosophy of what you are supposed to do,” Haley said. “But occasionally things come up and you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly.”
This is the most inspiring thing I’ve heard from a Chiefs head coach in quite some time. It seems obvious that the Haley/Gailey combo will be a successful one given time. If we can’t throw the ball all over the field this year then Haley won’t force the issue. If we can’t run very well then Chan won’t be calling the old “LJ up the gut for 2 yards” play on every first and 10. I’ very excited to watch this team play this year. I’m not convinced that this is a very good team just yet, but I love the new regime and I’m confident that they have us headed in the right direction.
I know he’s not a very popular player, but I have a feeling that LJ bounces back this year. Provided he stays healthy, I see 1000-1250 yards this year. (Broad range pending on if he gets additional suspensions at the start of the year.)
It will quite interesting to see how LJ responds this season. Thus far the reports are good.
As it now stands, he may be the Chiefs’ most potent single offense weapon.
Todd Haley is using a common sense approach to remaking the team by using what is in the cupboard rather than attempting to a total makeover. It likely will build some confidence among the players as they can see that they have not simply been given a peremptory pink slip but have been given an opportunity to contribute, grow in skill and prove themselves.
The challenging games in the first part of the season seem to be an obstacle at this point but if the team comes away with some victories may well prove to be beneficial.
Haley’s philosophy sure beats that of his knucklehead predecessor. Last year, ol’ Herm took 5 games after Brodie got hurt to change-up the offense to something that could generate points. Wasn’t much fun not competing from the opening kick-off on.
Teams must play to their strengths, and I’m not convinced that the Chiefs passing game will carry half the load. Minus Gonzalez and retaining McIntosh, Niswanger, and Darling doesn’t build much confidence. LJ/Charles/Smith/Battle/Savage better be ready to carry a strong running game this year.
I guess football does not really change in the long run. A head coach must get the most out of what his players can do and not install a system then make the players fit in (square pegs and round holes). Herm failed there and hopefully Haley will do better.
LJ’s success will come down to the OL, as it usually does. Even last year, when he played early, he was usually hit in the backfield before he could get going. It doesn’t matter what shape, focus, or determination he has if the OL isn’t improved. Because of that, I think he will have mediocre production at best.
Just so everyone knows…last year he was averaging between 4.3 and 4.6 yards a carry. Hmmm…
Good points by Jorge and B in SC. I think the o-line provided Waters will be there which i think he will will be much better this year. With the addition of Goff and a much slimmer and in better shape Albert the o-line should help LJ put up pro-bowl numbers especially with the creative play-calling i expect the Haley-Gailey team to come up with to open up things in the passing game as well.
There is so much Parcells in Haley. Parcells was conservative with the Jints, because that’s what they were. At NE, he was totally pass oriented. Whatever works is what you do. You don’t come to a team and WANT to destroy the Offense, like the idiot before him did, because his philosophy was anything over 21 points wasn’t real football. What Haley said was sooooo important. Balance is the goal, but your personnel dictates what you do, not some pre conceived notion of what you should be doing.
Bob,
This made me think of something - is there any kind of pattern of when suspensions are handed down in the offseason? I’d really like to know when/if we can expect to hear about a suspension for LJ just to know what our lineup will look like during the first 2-4 games.
I can’t remember, has he already had a meeting with the commish?
He hasn’t met with the “Commish” however I believe, given that L.J. pled guilty, will NOT serve a suspension for this reason alone: Herm Edwards and Peterson suspended L.J. for four games last season. I believe the “Commish” will take that under account, along with L.J.’s change in attitude. It’s one thing to just say it and it’s another thing to show it through your actions. L.J. has done everything right that he needed to do and that will not go unnoticed by the “Commish.”
Ditto what Justin D said - Bob’s kickin’ some butt with his articles.
“I expect LJ to have a 1300 to 1500 yard season this year.”
I assume you project LJ to have 450 touches this year also…j/k
Rin Tin Tin is Jason Whitlock.
And I’m Perez Hilton.