Todd HaleyIt’s pretty darn hard to have a better offense than Arizona has had throughout the season and in the playoffs. Being a big fan of offense, I have to admit to secretly salivating over the thought of Haley coming to KC even though I readily acknowledge the fact that our defense is our biggest problem – by far. I guess the point is, when you are 2-14, you have to fix both. I love scoring, so if that’s what Haley brings to the table, then I say sign on the dotted line.
As I tried to make crystal clear when doing similar analyses on Spagnuolo, Shanahan and Cowher, I know nothing about whether he (they) are coming here or not. I’ll know when you know. That’s soon enough for me. However, in the meantime, there are some juicy items to evaluate should he be called into service - just as there were with the others.
Haley (41 years old) has been involved in NFL coaching for 11 seasons. Until he was named offensive coordinator for Arizona, he was a receiver’s coach in New York (Jets), Chicago and Dallas. He’s worked with many top receivers in the past decade. I’m not going to worry too much about his pre offensive coordinator life – although while at Dallas, they did rack up some impressive offensive stats. In the four seasons before he was hired by the Cowboys, they averaged #27 in passing yardage. During his three seasons, they averaged #12 and in his final season, Dallas was #5 in passing. That’s when Arizona made the call.
In the five seasons before Haley arrived, the Cardinals averaged #15 in passing yardage. His first season (2007), they ranked #5 and in his second season (2008), they ranked #2. It’s pretty clear the guy has the ability to figure out how to get the ball in the air from point A to point B. That’s my kind coach!
During the playoffs, Haley had his Air Southwest attack at full throttle. Arizona’s passing was 92-135 (68%), 1,147 yards, 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions – which included one of the freak plays of all time - one that likely cost the Cardinals the championship.
Arizona’s passing offense was largely unstoppable in 2008 – not only during the regular season, but also the playoffs – even the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh was #1 in the NFL against the pass, yet Arizona racked up 377 yards. The most the Steelers had allowed during the 16-game regular season was 228 (Indianapolis)! And, the most during the playoffs was San Diego (275) – over 100 yards less than Arizona.
The bottom line is that he managed to get a great season out of Warner and ended with three receivers who had over 1,000 yards each.
If you want to see exciting football, you will want him coming to KC. Obviously, we’ve got to get the defense under control by whatever means necessary. But, the nice thing about an offensive minded coach is that whatever the level of talent he inherits, he will surely find a way to put the ball in the endzone.
Just one more tidbit. In his first season with Arizona, they set a franchise record with 32 passing touchdowns and were second in the NFL (94%) in scoring inside the red zone. Of course, they followed that up with 31 in 2008 – second highest in Cardinals history. For a franchise that is 89 years old, that’s pretty doggone good!
An announcement on who the Chiefs will hire as coach could come today or anytime this week. And, of course, it could be someone we haven’t even discussed on this blog. But, if it is Todd “my man” Haley, I’m on board and you should be too. Let the fun begin!