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Footballguy
Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2010
Decoding Chiefs coach Todd Haley’s gambits
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Todd Haley is the leader but also a student. The Chiefs’ coach is giving orders but also trying to get better, and not just with his team. He’s trying to get better at using me and everyone else who covers this team to send his messages to you and everyone else who follows this team.
And more than all that, he wants his messages to get to his players.
That’s why, between watching video of his team’s practices and opponents’ games, he’s watching old tapes of Bill Parcells’ news conferences.
“I got it to see the messaging as much as anything else,” Haley says.
This has become a trademark of Haley’s. He is very open about using words in news conferences to motivate players, so why not learn from the best?
Parcells referred to Terrell Owens only as “the player,” and to Terry Glenn as “she,” and it must’ve worked — he was chosen coach of the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade team, and the Jets gave up a first-round pick to hire him.
Haley is playing mind games at two critical positions right now. The danger is knowing how far to go. One step too many, and the message is lost, credibility eroded.
These games began his first day on the job. Dwayne Bowe is just Dwayne, no longer D-Bowe. Haley famously won’t talk about players “who aren’t here.” Injured players are out-of-mind, out-of-mouth, and if that minimizes their importance and speeds up recovery, well, Haley is OK with that.
Running back Jamaal Charles and defensive ends Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey are currently on mind-game watch.
Charles rushed for 968 yards in half a season of starts last year, the breakout star of an otherwise mostly miserable season. The Chiefs promote Charles for ticket sales, but Haley calls it “an eight-game window.” Once, Haley talked about “if” Charles makes the roster. Other times, he refers to Charles as “a developing player.”
Every day, it seems, Haley is passing another message through the microphones and cameras and newspapers.
It’s hard to know exactly where Haley’s belief stops and the games start. If he’s honest, Haley probably isn’t exactly sure. Parents use the same tactics, and who’s to say they never seriously considered boarding school?
The fuzzy line applies on the defensive line, too, where the undersized but overachieving Wallace Gilberry is making a push for either Jackson’s or Dorsey’s starting spot. Jackson and Dorsey are accumulating the aroma of bust, but Gilberry still came here as an undrafted free agent, so it makes you wonder.
Publicly and even privately, the Chiefs have always been supportive of Jackson and Dorsey. They talk about Dorsey’s improved conditioning leading to better consistency, and about Jackson becoming more comfortable in his second season.
So do Haley’s words about Gilberry represent a shift? Is the coach just trying a passive-aggressive motivational ploy on Jackson and Dorsey? Maybe he’s just honestly impressed with Gilberry’s play.
Or is it some combination of all that?
Haley knows better than anyone else, of course, but this has so many layers that the honest truth is hard for even him to know. Anytime he criticizes — or praises — a player, chances are it is a calculated move to send someone a message.
This is what he knows. It’s how he came up in the game. Messages are sent in staff meetings, in team meetings, in news conferences and on the practice field until it’s impossible to differentiate.
Other than with Jarrad Page, Haley’s way hasn’t been a problem. Bowe is in better shape, though he still has some knucklehead to lose.
Brian Waters bristled but kept professional.
So now the focus is on Charles and the defensive ends. Charles has a history of (justifiably) feeling overlooked. Thomas Jones is an accomplished back who profiles perfectly to what the Chiefs are trying to do, but if Charles continues to be more productive, the treatment will have to change.
These tactics can be effective, but they also have a shelf life. Parcells had Super Bowl championships to support his games. The Chiefs have every appearance of getting better, but who knows what a few bad breaks or a slow start would do?
For a lot of reasons, Haley is evolving from his angry beginnings. From the outside, it’s tempting to see him sometimes as an overbearing coach unwilling to change, but he’s much more thoughtful than that.
It’s why he’s looking at those old tapes of Parcells. He knows this can be a dangerous game to play.
So you ask him how he knows how far to push it.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I’m still learning.”
To reach Sam Mellinger, call 816-234-4365, send e-mail to smellinger@kcstar.com or follow twitter.com/mellinger. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.
© 2010 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com
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