Daboll tabbed to lead Chiefs' offense
It took over a month for Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel to get the man he wanted as his offensive coordinator for the 2012 season. Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli waited until the Dolphins finally cut Brian Daboll loose and then brought him to Kansas City.
It's the third team in four years for Daboll to serve as offensive coordinator, after two years with the Browns (2009-10) and last year in Miami. He's also the fifth offensive coordinator in four years in Kansas City. He replaces fired/retired Bill Muir who served in that role during the Chiefs' ill-fated 2010 season.
Crennel and Pioli have picked another piece of coaching fruit from the Bill Belichick coaching tree; Daboll spent seven seasons in New England (2000-06) working as an assistant his first two years for then-Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
"I know that a lot of people say he's another guy from the New England tree, but it's been awhile since he's been in New England and I just happen to be from the New England tree also," said Crennel. "Sometimes knowing people and knowing what they are about is important.
"I find him to be very thorough, he's worked with the defense, he's worked with wide receivers, he's coached the quarterbacks, he's been a coordinator in this league and he's worked for several different teams and several different coaches ... through the years he's gained valuable experience."
Daboll is familiar with quarterback Matt Cassel spending two seasons together in New England, but Crennel said that wasn't a factor in his hiring. "This is more about Brian Daboll than Matt Cassel," Crennel said.
Crennel and Daboll were both unwilling to commit the Chiefs' offense to one particular scheme.
"I think it's important to be balanced to help the quarterback out in the run and the pass," Daboll said. "We'll utilize different personnel groups, different formations. Sometimes we'll move and shift, sometimes we'll be stationary. I think you need to have ability to get to an up-tempo scheme where you're in a no-huddle package, threatening runs, passes, all those types of different things. You have to try to keep a defense as off-balance as you can."
Over the last three years as coordinator, Daboll has earned the reputation as passionate, vocal and sometimes harsh in dealing with players. Many of the same things were said about now departed head coach Todd Haley.
"I think the job as a coach is to tell the players what to do, show them how to do it and really not accept any excuses," Daboll said. "I'm a high energy, up-tempo guy. I expect perfection. I know that's not possible all the time, but I think we need to all hold ourselves to a high standard of really setting the tone and expecting the highest detail and the highest execution from all of ourselves."
As he began the process of diving into the tape of the Chiefs' offense from 2011, Daboll had a good idea of what type of weapons would be at his disposal.
"I think at the skill spots, we have some young, dynamic players with (Dexter) McCluster and (Jamaal) Charles and (Dwayne) Bowe is a UFA, but he's a heck of a receiver," Daboll said. "Then the (Jonathan) Baldwin kid from Pittsburgh; he's big, he can make acrobatic catches, and Tony (Moeaki), who's been injured; I think he's a very skillful tight end. I have a lot of confidence in Matt. I've known Matt for a while. He's a smart player. Skill-wise, I think we have some stuff to work with, and then there's some young linemen there, (Jon) Asamoah and the (Rodney) Hudson guy. I'm excited about the opportunity to work with these players."
There will have to be a lot of work by Pioli before Daboll knows exactly what he has for the 2012 offense. Bowe is an unrestricted free agent, one of seven offensive starters from the end of the season that does not have a contract. The others are quarterback Kyle Orton, running back Thomas Jones, fullback Le'Ron McClain, tight end Leonard Pope, right tackle Barry Richardson and center Casey Wiegmann, who is headed for retirement.
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