Join Chiefs365 | Insider Forum with Josh Looney - Talk it up! | Looney Bin Archive

THOMAS’ PRIMARY ROLE IS MENTOR
February 1st – 4:47 PM

Sure, Chiefs lockdown CB Brandon Flowers is going to learn a thing or two about taking his game to another level under the guidance of Emmitt Thomas, but so is another young man in the defensive backfield. It’s not Brandon Carr, Maurice Leggett or Donald Washington either, as you’d might expect (although they will all certainly take something away from Thomas as well).

The man that may benefit from the most of Thomas’ hiring is a 39-year old assistant coach with seven years of coaching experience by the name of Ronnie Bradford. Bradford, as you might remember, played cornerback at Colorado in the early 1990s (yes, those were the glory days of Kordell Stewart and Rashaan Salaam) and in the NFL with Denver, Arizona, Atlanta and Minnesota from 1993-2002. He certainly has the base to be an excellent NFL coach, but now he’s able to continue learning the coaching curve from one of the best ever.

“The main thing I’m here to do is to support Coach Ronnie Bradford, who Coach Haley thinks is going to be a fine, young secondary coach in the future,” Thomas said. “I look forward to working with him and helping him out and having him helping me out and we’ll work under the guidance of Coach Crennel and we’ll see if we can get these guys better and competing.“

Technically, it’s the other way around, as Bradford carries the “assistant” title in front of his title as “defensive backs coach.” Thomas is officially the Chiefs “defensive backs coach.” Still, hearing Thomas talk of his mission to help a young coach has to leave Bradford motivated for 2010 and beyond.

“That’s a very important point which I touched on,” Haley added in regards to Thomas’ tutelage of Bradford. “When you get the level experience that we have now with somebody like Coach Thomas, Coach Crennel and Coach Weis, part of this deal is not only developing the players but also developing young coaches because I think to be a consistent team year-in and year-out, you have to do that. Again, when you get some of these guys that want to come be a part of this, that’s going to be a factor and that’s really going to help us as we go forward.“

The hiring of Thomas, Crennel and Weis isn’t just about making the players better. It’s also about making Haley and the rest of his assistant coaches better as well. Throw in the experience of coaches like Maurice Carthon and Bill Muir and the Chiefs look live they’ve put together a nearly flawless coaching staff.

Now, it’s time to charge forward in the the “other part” of the offseason - free agent and rookie player acquisitions. Each piece has to fit for this team to be successful.

THE RETURN OF A HALL OF FAMER
February 1st – 1:49 PM

Pro Football Hall of Fame CB Emmitt Thomas walked into the offices at One Arrowhead Drive this morning as “a Chief” for the first time in 32 years. It’s been that long (1978) since Thomas last wore Red and Gold.

Since his NFL playing days, Thomas has carved out quite a professional coaching resume as well. Today, his NFL path officially came full circle when Chiefs head coach Todd Haley announced the arrival of Thomas as Kansas City’s new defensive backs coach.

“This is a big day for the Kansas City Chiefs,” Haley said.

“Coach Thomas is really somebody that I’ve always looked up to and had a great amount of respect for,” Haley continued. “One I got into the coaching side of the NFL, you’d heard about Coach Thomas. He’s a a guy who has won a Super Bowl here playing, coached for two more rings with the Washington Redskins, has been playing or coaching in the NFL for 42 years and is in the Hall of Fame.“

For Thomas, the return to Kansas City was an opportunity that he always hoped would present itself.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Thomas said. “Through all the Super Bowls, hirings and firings, I’ve always anticipated and wished that I would get an opportunity to finish up my career over here in Kansas City.

“I want to say thanks to the Hunt Family, coach Todd Haley, Scott Pioli and coach Crennel for having me,” Thomas continued. “I’m looking forward to a great working situation.“

A full transcript to today’s press conference with Haley/Thomas/Weis/Crennel will be posted shortly on kcchiefs.com, along with archived video coverage of today’s event.

LIVE PRESS CONFERENCE AT 1:00 PM
February 1st – 11:51 AM

Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley will hold a press conference at 1:00 PM (CST) today to formally announce his coaching staff for 2010. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel are both expected to be available at the press conference as well. Tune in to kcchiefs.com at 1:00 PM today for LIVE coverage of today’s press conference.

FOUR CHIEFS ON NFL ALL-DECADE TEAM
February 1st – 10:12 AM

The NFL unveiled its official All-Decade team of the 2000s last night on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown. Four former Chiefs were a part of the 55-man team: T Willie Roaf (2002-05), G Will Shields (2000-06), WR Dante Hall (2000-06) and TE Tony Gonzalez (2000-08).

The entire NFL All-Decade team of the 2000s are as follows:

Offense
Quarterbacks (2): Tom Brady, Peyton Manning
Running Backs (4): Shaun Alexander, Jamal Lewis, Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson
Offensive Tackles (4): Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, Willie Roaf
Guards (4): Larry Allen, Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson, Will Shields
Fullback (1): Lorenzo Neal
Tight Ends (2): Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez
Wide Receivers (4): Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens
Centers (2): Olin Kreutz, Kevin Mawae
Head Coaches (2): Bill Belichick, Tony Dungy

Defense
Defensive Ends (4): Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor
Cornerbacks (4): Ronde Barber, Champ Bailey, Ty Law, Charles Woodson
Linebackers (6): Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis, Joey Porter, Zach Thomas, Brian Urlacher, DeMarcus Ware
Defensive Tackles (4): La’Roi Glover, Warren Sapp, Richard Seymour, Kevin Williams
Safeties (4): Brian Dawkins, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Darren Sharper

Specialists
Punters (2): Shane Lechler, Brian Moorman
Kickers (2): David Akers, Adam Vinatieri
Punt Returners (2): Dante Hall, Devin Hester
Kick Returners (2): Joshua Cribbs, Dante Hall

FIRST-AND-TEN
February 1st – 5:56 AM

Ten pre-game/in-game/post-game impressions and random musings from this weekend’s two all-star games…feel free to chime in with yours. Here are mine.

NFL PRO BOWL (Sunday, January 31, 2010)
1. Doomed from the start? These types of events are hardly about the actual game itself. Think about it.

In baseball, we have the home run derby to get us in the all-star mood. In basketball, there are the three-point shootouts and the dunk contest to set the vibe. This year, in football, there were no luaus, pig roasts or Hawaiian all-pro beach challenge courses.

All we heard about leading up to this year’s Pro Bowl festivities were disgruntled players and late-breaking game dropouts. Will this year’s new-look Pro Bowl be a one-year experiment?

2. Chris Berman’s tie looked like something constructed out of a 1970s ski suit. Maybe Berman charged down Copper Mountain (no relation to the Chiefs Terrence Copper) in what now represents his tie some 30+ years ago. If you missed him/it, consider yourself lucky.

3. What’s the Stadium called again? Things were so much easier to remember when Joe Robbie had his name plastered all over the home of the ‘Fins. South Florida’s football home has undergone seven name changes since 1996 (Joe Robbie, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium and Sun Life Stadium).

Sun Life certainly hopes your remember the Stadium’s new, official name for next week’s big game.

4. The NFL’s/ESPN’s decision to keep players mic’d up during the game for live feedback as plays developed may have been a bit risky, but it brought an interesting element to watching a meaningless game. Ray Lewis wearing a live microphone is almost like buying a Pro Bowl DVD and clicking the “behind the scenes/making of the Pro Bowl” tab in the special features section of the main menu.

5. RB Jamaal Charles, CB Brandon Flowers and K Ryan Succop are all on my 2011 first-team preseason AFC Pro Bowl team. Oh yeah, and Chiefs Cheerleader Jeron for a second-consecutive season.

UNDER ARMOUR SENIOR BOWL (Saturday, January 30, 2010)
1. There were a number of “big backs” that may fit well nicely as a thundering second option in the Chiefs 2010 run game behind the ultra-athletic Jamaal Charles. Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount represented one of those men, standing at 6’0, 245 pounds.

Whether or not Blount (or any other of the Senior Bowl runners) wind up in Kansas City next year, his stat-line from Saturday’s game would be a perfect stat-line representing Charles’ primary backup in 2010.

Blount Rushing: 7 carries for 37 yards (5.1 avg.), 1 TD

2. Did any Chiefs fans fall in love with Michigan DE Brandon Graham on Saturday? He was, hands-down, the most disruptive player on the field in Mobile and showed great leverage on the outside. Yes, the Chiefs have two top-five picks on the defensive edge, but many project Graham as an outside linebacker in the pro game if he’s drafted into a 3-4 scheme.

Will the Chiefs bite if Graham is available at the top of the second round? Many believe he may have solidified himself into the top 32 picks this week.

3. During our time in Mobile last week, we talked about Tulane WR Jeremy Williams’ impressive hands and Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard’s ability to return kicks. Both players stood out as the top receiver for their respective squads when gameday rolled around at Ladd-Peebles (Williams, 6-82; Gilyard, 5-103, TD).

Both players can contribute in both the receiving game on offense and in the return game on special teams. Both players are also projected as mid-round picks once April rolls around. In the end, both players may look good in Red and Gold if Saturday is any sort of preview.

4. Players have been moved up, down and all around by draft “experts” in the aftermath of a week in Mobile. How different will mock drafts look after the 300-plus players go through NFL Combine workouts at the end of this month? The offseason is flying by, but we’ve still got a long way to go until April.

5. People are far too hard on Tim Tebow. Has there ever been an amateur athlete that carries such volatile extremes in regards fan sentiment? Probably. I just can’t think of any. Love him or hate him, everybody seems to have an option on the soon-to-be NFL quarterback. Most of those opinions are skewed too far in one direction or the other. Just let the man play football.