As spring passes into summer, the heat in Kansas City is not on its defense. It's on its defensive coordinator.
"We have to make this work," said Gunther Cunningham.
The Chiefs assistant spoke the same words a year ago, only then there was a difference: He was operating with the same tired bodies that sank the club in 2003 and drove Greg Robinson out of the NFL.
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| Gunther Cunningham, in his second stint in Kansas City, knows what people expect -- results. (Getty Images) |
"Now," said Cunningham, "there could be as many as six or seven new starters. But they still have to earn their stripes. And we have to coach them up."
That's never been a problem for the tireless Cunningham, who spent most of the past two decades squeezing all that he could out of his players. But then along came the 2004 season, when Cunningham returned to Kansas City and the Chiefs defense returned to the nasty habits that sabotaged the club the year before when it self-destructed down the stretch.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Cunningham, so effective as a coordinator the Chiefs named him to succeed Marty Schottenheimer as head coach in 1999, would correct things with a wave of his hand -- somehow gaining results from the same players who failed Robinson the year before.
But it never happened. The Chiefs not only didn't improve; they stepped backward, plummeting to 31st in total defense and dead last in pass defense -- surrendering 72 pass plays of 20 or more yards and 21 of 40 or more.
Yeah, I know, they lost linebackers Shawn Barber and Mike Maslowski, defensive end Vonnie Holliday and their starting safeties, but injuries happen to everyone. You're expected to overcome them. Only Kansas City didn't, and now the onus for the coming season isn't on the defense; it's on Cunningham, and he knows it.
In fact, he welcomes it.
"Last year was the toughest year I had in the league," he said. "I came here with one thing in mind, and that was that we have to give the offense a chance. After one year I saw what we needed to do, and (head coach) Dick Vermeil and (president) Carl Peterson and the front office went out and did it. They got the kind of players I'm used to."
The two key moves were adding Bell, the league's defensive rookie of the year in 2001, and making the trade for Surtain. If he can stay healthy, Bell improves a linebacking corps that lost Barber and Maslowski a year ago and desperately needed an upgrade.
Surtain, a two-time Pro Bowl player, is the steady cornerback the Chiefs missed the past two seasons. He's proven. He's 28. And he allows the club to move Eric Warfield to right cornerback and William Bartee to safety. Sure, the Chiefs were interested in a free agent like Ken Lucas or Samari Rolle, but they landed Surtain instead, sacrificing a second-round draft pick to make the trade.
