Chiefs At The Combine

Ben Liebenberg/NFL

Well, I was able to make it a day without writing about the NFL combine.

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley took the podium today at Indianapolis, Indiana, where the 2011 NFL Combine is currently taking place. I was not in Indianapolis to hear what Haley had to say, but Josh Looney from the Kansas City Chiefs has been tweeting all day about some of what Haley said as well as some of the other happenings at the combine. If you have a twitter account, I highly recommend you follow Josh Looney on there as well as tipof_arrowhead (that's the twitter account for this blog).

Here's some of the things that Looney had to say:

• "Haley is high on the fact that Matt Cassel [will] be coached by a former NFL QB (Jim Zorn) - can't create that kind of experience"
• "Part of Zorn's interview process included an hour-long film session with Cassel"
• "Lots of questions from national media on things Haley has touched on many times before locally (ie, Jamaal Charles' workload & development)"
• "On if he will call the plays, Haley says that Chiefs will get it right. Says the key is input from entire offensive staff [through] gameplanning"
• "Haley also says that determining the play-caller is not the most pressing issue right now for Chiefs"
• "Just spoke with Alabama QB Greg McElroy...impressive guy. NFL Combine coverage on KCChiefs.com"

Also, Gregg Rosenthal from profootballtalk.com, tweeted this:

• "Asked if jamaal charles would get more carries next year, todd haley just stressed charles is a 'developing player.' Blah"

KCChiefs.com has the full video of Haley's press conference up, but Looney's tweets probably sum it up best (it is 20 minutes and 39 seconds long). It's just kind of exciting to get to have actual quotes from coaches and players again.

Speaking of quotes, Bob Gretz, a sports analyst with his own website, was able to interview Haley before his trip to the podium today. Haley went on to talk about the coaching staff situation and why he thinks he has one of the best staffs in the league. The most interesting part was what he said about the hiring of Jim Zorn to quarterback coach and the development that should come from Matt Cassel actually having a former quarterback as his personal coach (for the whole article, simply click on the link I put above).

“I know Charlie (Weis) wasn’t a quarterback, I wasn’t a quarterback, Josh (McDaniels) wasn’t a quarterback. Now, he’ll be coached by someone who has been there, whether it’s in the huddle or in the pocket. I think its perfect timing for where Matt is at this point in his career.”

And, to finish it up, here's some of AFC West blog writer for ESPN, Bill Williamson's thoughts on Haley at the Combine and some stuff from Adam Teicher at the KC Star.