The Duality of Todd Haley

It is an understatement when I write that Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is a polarizing figure.

Haley is a polarizing figure to the fans (he seems to be a either you love him or hate him kind of guy). Haley is a polarizing figure to the media. Some even say that he is a polarizing figure to the front office of the Chiefs. And now, this season, his results are even polarizing.

Haley is not the overly friendly guy that, despite the results on the field, you can't help but like as was Herm Edwards. Haley is not a seasoned coach that has a ton of experience, good one liners and is on the verge of retirement like Dick Vermeil. Haley is, in politically incorrect terms, a ball buster.

He's a perfectionist, he's driven, he wants the win just as much if not more than the players do. He's always been like this since he got his first NFL gig. Evidence of this stretches far back.

He has no shortage of past altercations with players, and he does not discriminate with who he yells at. Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner, Dwayne Bowe, and you can now add Matt Cassel to that list.

If you have read my blog in the past, you can probably tell that I am a Haley fan. If you have read my post in the past, then you know that I think it was about time for somebody to let Matt Cassel know about his poor performance. Was a brief shouting match with several verbal jabs and name calling the right way to do it? Let's look at the results:

After I assume Haley told Cassel to pull his head out of somewhere, Cassel went on to have his best game of the season. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. Before the altercation, he was 3 of 8 for 58 yards. After the game, Cassel said "I seem to respond well when I am pushed and when my back is up against the wall. Coach tries to create an environment in practice where he challenges you and he rides you. He wants to make an environment to where, when you get to game day on Sunday, it’s easy. You have dealt with it throughout the week. I understand his purpose."

I guess what I'm saying is that there is a method to his madness.

This is how Haley motivates. Sometimes he means to go far, sometimes I don't think he means to go as far as he does. But he shows passion, and the players respond. At only one point in Haley's career has he failed to motivate that player to be better (Larry Johnson). Kurt Warner had some of his best seasons under Haley's offensive coaching and playcalling. Dwayne Bowe made his first Pro Bowl. And we all know the greatness of Larry Fitzgerald.

After turning the "one-trick pony" into one of the greatest wide receivers of this generation, Fitzgerald admits it was tough at times to work with Haley, but his motivation was driven by him. "Everybody says he's a hard ass and this, that, and the third, but at the end of the day when Todd came into the locker room he'd give you the biggest hug."

In Kent Babb's story for the Kansas City Star, Kurt Warner said “It was always a fine line of challenging one another, sharpening one another but not getting defensive with one another .... He saw things that he could help me improve; things that he could push me to become better than I’ve ever been.”

But to somebody that isn't all that familiar with Todd Haley, I can see how his actions during the game can cause some concern. 

"I feel bad for Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli. I feel bad for all the injuries. I feel bad for the toll they have taken on his team.But mostly, I feel bad for Pioli having to constantly watch his coach, Todd Haley, act like a maniac on the sideline each Sunday," wrote Michael Lombardi of NFL Network.

If you go on to read the rest of the article, he tells about how Haley embarrasses the players and they resent the way in which he delivers the message. To be honest, I don't know which players he's referring to and suspect that he is making these accusations up (and for you conspiracy theorists out there, Lombardi is good friends with Scott Pioli).

No matter if you lean more towards Kent Babb's point of view or Michael Lombardi's, you can't help but think how polarizing Haley can be. But no matter you affiliations on the matter, you should realize that Haley's methods work. And until they stop working, he will get my support and he should get yours as well.

“I give a lot of motivational speeches throughout the game," Haley said after the win against the Vikings. "Matt wasn’t perfect but I don’t think any of us are and he understands that too; none of us coaches are either. He battled throughout that game and, once again, what he showed, one of his great qualities is the ability to keep fighting and keep bouncing back and he did it throughout the game ... Like I said, Matt had a great response in how he played and that’s all that matters."