Todd Haley Already Loves Matt Cassel

Last year at this time, Todd Haley and Matt Cassel were thousands of miles apart. Haley was the offensive coordinator for a Cardinals team who had yet to make themselves relevant in recent history. Cassel was the anonymous backup to NFL sweetheart Tom Brady in New England.

After both enjoyed very successful seasons in 2008, however, they became high-profile acquisitions by the Chiefs. Now working together in offseason conditioning exercises, head coach Haley has been extremely impressed with Cassel. So impressed, he's comparing him to a certain former quarterback of his. One who has garnered plenty of accolades in his career.

"I just came off two years of working with one of the best guys I've ever been around in Kurt Warner," said Haley, who as Arizona's offensive coordinator coached Warner. "In best guys, I mean guys that are into football, like to talk about football. It's not about much else for Kurt Warner. This Matt Cassel feels and acts a lot the same way. He is football 24/7 to the point where I've had to pull back the reins on him a couple of times and say, 'Listen, Matt. These next couple of months are about getting in shape and getting your body ready for the season. There's time enough for football.'

"He's all about football. I've been telling everyone I hope he can play because he's got all of the intangible things you get excited about as a coach."

It's important to note he's not necessarily comparing Cassel to Warner on-field. It would be a bit premature to start slapping borderline Hall of Fame credentials on a dude who has only started 15 games since high school.

In fact, Haley is insisting there will be a quarterback competition in camp.

"The guys that give us the best chance to win will play," Haley said. "I heard a little interview with Tyler Thigpen right after we signed Cassel and he sounded like he was kind of conceding that Cassel was the quarterback. I called him immediately and told him, 'Don't you dare concede anything.' The best guy is going to play. We proved that in Arizona."

Haley can pay all the lip service he wants, because it's pretty common knowledge Matt Cassel is the Chiefs' starting quarterback for 2009. You can't blame him for wanting to amp up Thigpen, though, as any competition will drive Cassel to do his very best and never let the newfound lucrative salary leave him unmotivated.

Then again, it doesn't appear that's necessary. Cassel is pretty driven to succeed on his own. Haley, likely along with legions of Chiefs fans, is already loving it.