Was Muir A Good Move?

I really didn't expect it. I expected an announcement after the Super Bowl. I expected an assistant from a team in the Super Bowl to get the offensive coordinator position. Was I wrong in having these expectations? After all, we had waited this long, most of the candidates were already off the table, and these two teams competing for the championship are loaded with successful assistants.

But instead, we did one of the most boring things ever: promoted from within. And now, it seems, every one is upset with Todd Haley. I'll be honest, I'm slightly upset as well. Not as upset as Kent Babb or Sam Mellinger from the KC Star, but still upset.

Haley has chosen a 68 year-old assistant coach who is a former offensive coordinator for a Super Bowl winning team but never called an entire game all season. Haley has chosen a run-oriented coach who is the antithesis of what everyone thought the Chiefs were going to get at the OC position. Haley has seemingly chosen a coach who will do everything Haley tells him to do (which has gotten people in the KC media to start calling him Todd the God).

But, is this a bad thing?

I don't buy the promotion simply because Haley wanted "continuity" with the offense. We've had the same playbook since 2009. Weis came in and did a good job and the players developed. We had the continuity of the offensive scheme. So, what Haley is saying is that keeping the same offensive scheme that the players are familiar with is more important than bringing in a rising offensive coordinator.

For all we know, this might be true.

And as far as playcalling, Haley didn't want to give a definitive answer:  "I think that really good playcalling is the result of a staff that works very well not only in the off-season but specifically in the season, that’s when the playcalling gets done; (it’s the result of) a staff that works well together in harmony so-to-speak and is on the same page. We’re going to continue discussions and we’re going to get that part of it right . . . [But] that hasn’t been determined at this time.”

This collaborative effort that Haley alludes to was seen in week 3 of last season, when Weis was having gall bladder trouble and couldn't take on the full responsibilities of the OC position. During this week, the coaching staff as a whole came together and made a game plan that lead to one of the greatest offensive showings of the season against the San Francisco 49ers (before you buy into this collective coaching angle, let's remember the 49ers went 6-10).

This collaborative effort also leaves the door open to hiring a well-known and respected quarterbacks coach. The hiring of an effective quarterbacks coach that can work with and develop Matt Cassel and the other quarterbacks might be more important than the promotion of Muir himself. There has been speculation of who is likely to be hired to this position, but that's all it is: speculation. But with either the hiring or promotion of a new offensive coordinator, will they have a lot of say in the offensive game plan? That's what it looks like, and that's why it's important.

So, will this system work for an entire season? We don't even know if that's how it's going to be. We don't know how next season is going to go or work out. We don't know who or whom will be calling plays and if they will be successful or not. But for not knowing a lot of things, everybody seems to be condemning Haley.

I agree with Bill Williamson of ESPN when he said that the future success or failure of the Chiefs will squarely land on Haley's shoulders after the move at OC. And I believe that Haley is a smart man and realizes that too. Let's not forget that Haley was a successful OC in his day. If this is how he wants to do things, I think he's earned the right to try. How things work out, who knows? But let's not assume that it will be a failure.