In Herm Who Trusts?

Posted Jan 12, 2007 11:00AM By Phil Yoon (RSS feed)

Herm Edwards must be wondering what he got himself into. Leaving the pressures of New York to go to Kansas City would seem to be ideal: less media, more privacy, less scrutiny.

Welcome to Kansas City football reality, Herm.

All Edwards did with the Jets was lead them to the playoffs in three of his five seasons, and Jets' fans said, "Good riddance," when he left for Kansas City. In his first season as the Chiefs' head coach, all he did was lead the Chiefs to their first postseason appearance since 2003, and only their 2nd appearance in the last 9 years.

Has he lucked out by taking over veteran teams? Sure. But I would argue that he has been more unlucky than lucky. It is not at all easy to take over a veteran team and make your mark immediately, especially when taking over for coaching legends like Bill Parcells and Dick Vermeil, but Edwards has done that with both the Jets and the Chiefs. Like his style or not, Edwards generally gets results.

Perhaps Edwards' problem is that he creates high expectations too early. One thing that Jets' and Chiefs' fans have in common is that, despite the paucity of playoff appearances by their teams, they still demand no less than Super Bowl appearances from their head coaches. Chiefs' fans are spoiled by the Marty Schottenheimer teams which made the playoffs every year, while Jets' fans are itching for leverage over Giants' fans. So, instead of being satisfied with their team making a rare playoff appearance, they demand excellence once in the playoffs.

Which isn't a bad thing. Obviously, it would be disconcerting if fans settled for moderate success. But Edwards is perhaps taking more flak than he should. His 2-4 record in the playoffs, while not impressive, is also really not that bad in context. Six games is not enough to judge a man's playoff record. While many are wary of his intention to change the offense, Edwards is recognizing that he cannot win playoff games with this offense. Not with this personnel. Not with how he wants the Chiefs to play defense.

Herm Edwards is not indefensible. Nor is he immune from blame for the Chiefs' collapse in the first round. But he is also not the terrible coach some are making him out to be. One year does not a coach make. He has a 67% record of making the playoffs so far. If he makes it 71% next year, then we can see if he is the next Marty Schottenheimer.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-12-2007 @ 5:43PM

John Mesawitz said...

Herm Edwards needs to work on a new offensive coordinator, one who can use imagination in play calling. The debacle in Indianapolis, no first downs until the third quarter. Someone is asleep at the switch. Draft some new talent for the offense. Don't mess with the defense, hold them together.

1-13-2007 @ 9:58AM

yogi said...

"In his first season as the Chiefs' head coach, all he did was lead the Chiefs to their first postseason appearance since 2003"

The Chiefs backed into the playoffs, so does that mean that Edwards led them from behind?
And if someone is leading you from behind, doesn't that mean that you're walking backwards?
Good luck with that...

1-12-2007 @ 3:26PM

Jon Yoon said...

I don't get the logic behind "backing into the playoffs." 6 teams controlled their destiny in week 17. 2 teams won. Those 2 teams went to the playoffs. One of those two teams was the Chiefs.

So I don't get the definition of "backing in." The Chiefs did their job and the other 4 teams didn't.
If the Chiefs lost and slipped into the playoffs, I could understand the terminology.But no. The Chiefs had to win and they did. Their competitors had to win and they didn't. It wasn't pretty, but there's no such thing as backing into the playoffs when you win, especially against another team like Jacksonville that was also competing for a wild card spot.

1-12-2007 @ 5:44PM

Jim said...

Herm's act has already worn thin with this season ticket holder (since 1974). Never have I been this discouraged with the Chiefs prospects for future success. I think he's an actor, who is playing a role as coach. As strong a man as he purports to be, he can't even listen to his own convictions (i.e. not pulling Trent Green in Indy). I, for one, would never follow this man into battle, because his bullheadedness and ego refuse to consider compromise and adjustment. I'm afraid we'll just have to ride this one out until the death of internal organizational nepotism.

We should have learned from opening day when the man chose to wear white uni's into Arrowhead.

1-12-2007 @ 5:55PM

Jon Yoon,

You're drinking the Herm Kool Aid that he's pouring for you. Your quote comes directly from the coach's mouth. Factually, both Herm and you are correct. Theoretically, everyone knows that a team that did not control it's own destiny and relied upon the failure of others didn't fully earn the playoff berth. It can be spun either way, but the harsh reality is that they were fortunate to be in the position to receive a berth given their dreadful performance the last few weeks of the season.

It's time for all Chiefs blind loyalists to stop being spoon-fed by One Arrowhead Drive, voice their opinions and start holding the team's management and coaches accountable. It's time to start viewing the team objectively, start critiquing them with the brain not the heart, and stop regurgitating the press releases of Gretz, Moore, Dawes and Moris.

1-12-2007 @ 6:42PM

Oops, it looks like Jon removed the post that I had responded to, but he basically questioned yogi's comment about the Chiefs backing into the playoffs. My thoughts still stand however.

Carry On.

1-12-2007 @ 7:20PM

Sam said...

Herm Edwards took over the Chiefs and wanted to turn it into his team that will play his game,the running game.Wrong!!!! He also wanted to put his signature on the Chiefs by changing the uniform color schemes. This also pissed me off. The Chiefs use to suit up wearing red jerseys with white pants for home games and white jerseys and red pants for away games, real sharp looking. Now they dress in all whites and that looks crappy. Herm is a good coach but needs to tuck his big ego and his BS up his rear end, utilize all the players he has properly, and get the team dressing up the way we're use to seeing them look.

1-12-2007 @ 7:21PM

Phil said...

Sam, I don't know if you're aware, but those white-on-white uniforms were a tribute to Lamar Hunt, because that was his favorite color scheme. That was not a Herm Edwards thing.

1-12-2007 @ 10:26PM

thomas j said...

im a patriots fan,so im semi-neutral on this. correct me if im wrong ,but didnt herm & dungy go out to dinner(maybe some drinks too?)the night before the game.I seriously cannot picture belichick & mangini going out to dinner the night before such a game.i know they are good friends ,but come on, you dont put yourself in that situation.
tommie j

1-13-2007 @ 11:02AM

rd555 said...

Herm said that the Chiefs offense was the same one they ran last year. Wrong! It may have been basically the same personnel, but they never ran the ball 400+ times a year. But those are the kind of numbers you get when you run the ball 3 times and punt, over and over again. No wonder Larry Johnson complained of the predictability and lack of imagination of the offensive play calling.

While the defense did improved somewhat, it wasn't enough to counterbalance the decline of the offense. So the net gain was practically nothing. Last years team finished 10-6, this year's 9-7. Making the playoffs isn't an indication of how good your football team is. If the Chiefs finished 8-8 and made the playoffs like the Giants, would you say they're a better team than last years? If the Chiefs didn't back into the playoffs, then they certainly looked like it in Indy. Personally I would have preferred that the Chiefs had gone 10-6 and not made the playoffs, than to have suffered through the terribly horrendous, totally disgusting and embarrassing performance that I witnessed this year.

Herm says "You play to win the game". He should change that to "You coach to win the game". Herm said during the week that he would replace Trent Green if he struggled. But after halftime, it was reported on national TV, that he said that he wouldn't change QB's. "Not now. Not ever." So we had to wait until midway through the 3rd quarter to see the Chiefs get their first, first down. If your scheme and your game plan isn't working, then you need to be flexible enough to change them if you truly are playing the game to win.

1-13-2007 @ 5:37PM

drum said...

yeah he led them from behind cause he has his nose right up carl and trents you know what!!!!!!

1-13-2007 @ 2:42PM

I agree with rd555

1-14-2007 @ 10:31PM

E in KC said...

Phil,
The notion of the all white uniforms being Lamar's favorite didn't become an issue until his passing. Herman decided to wear the all whites on OPENING DAY IN ARROWHEAD! Not only did he screw with established KC tradition, he has shown a pattern of doing things his own way without giving any thought to anybody else. After all, HE doesn't call the individual plays, just says, "Run, run, pass, punt. Sorry Mike, looks like they're after you head." It's already getting old and needs to go.

1-15-2007 @ 12:55AM

Herm is all about himself you can tell by his ass acting post game interviews I guess he thinks he's the smartest man in the world I thought carl had a big ego but hermie has about as big an ego as i have ever seen just remember hermie the last season who coached your jets you went 4-12 that season but as soon as they got rid of you they went to the playoffs the very next season I wish we would of got that coach instead

1-22-2007 @ 1:58AM

DAT said...

All your negative comments make me think you all should be on a suicide watch. Personally I don't think things are near as bad as you make them out to be. Yes there are some issues as there are with all teams. I think Herm's philosophy of strong defense and ball control run oriented offense is sound. That starts with the offensive line and that definately needs attention. However I think the draft should still focus on a stronger defense. We already have a great power running back and great tight end and a quarterback who has been extremely efficient in the short to medium passing game. Trent suffered a severe injury right off the bat and missed half the season. That contributed, along with a new head coach and off.coordinator, to him never getting into a good flow. Next year I see him returning to the Trent of old who doesn't turn the ball over. Strengthening the offensive line will help get him back to form and open holes for LJ. Having great receivers is not essential. Kennison and Knight are adequate. Maybe we'll get lucky and Webb will improve in his 2nd year and contribute. Lets let the coaching staff do their homework to work out the bugs in the offense and then as we get into next season we can judge the job they are doing. Making the playoffs and losing to one of the Super Bowl teams is really not a bad 1st year.