Sunday's victory was Crennel's first game coached for the Chiefs, and the first game he has been head coach of since his stint in Cleveland a couple of years ago. An unexpected victory has made fans, and possibly management alike, look at Crennel's resume a little closer:
- Romeo has been apart of two different Super Bowl winning teams, and was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots' dynasty.
- Familiar with Scott Pioli.
- Was head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2005-2008.
- Chiefs defensive coordinator from 2010-present.
DE Glenn Dorsey
How much would you like to see Romeo Crennel become head coach next season? “That would be good and to keep winning for him. He’s our leader and a tremendous coach. We’ve just got to keep it going for him.”
CB Brandon Flowers
On giving Romeo Crennel his first win as head coach for the Chiefs: “We want to play hard for this guy. We’ve been through up and downs as a defense, but he’s a great guy. He always stays positive. He’s a guy we want to play hard for. With him being a head coach, the offense felt the same way. We just want to keep winning for him.”
K Ryan Succop
On playing for Romeo Crennel: “I think everyone in this locker room went out and fought their tails off. I think that this is a great win for Romeo and a great win for our team. We’re just happy to be part of it.”
LB Derrick Johnson
"Coach Romeo Crennel went out and told us that nobody was going to believe that we could win this game, but we believed in this room. That’s all that matters and it showed today."
Of course, what do you expect the players to tell the media after they just upset the undefeated defending world champions? What they told the media is not important, what they did in the locker room is. Once Crennel reached the locker room, the players started chanting his name. "Romeo! Romeo! Romeo!
It's clear where many of the players hearts lie. But just because the players want Romeo as a head coach, does that mean he is the best man for the job?
Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders and Grantland of ESPN took a look at Crennel's performance coaching on Sunday. While he said that the Chiefs might have laid the blueprint for defeating the Packers, but he was not impressed with Crennel's coaching job at all. "Stories will be written today about how the Chiefs won under the leadership of Romeo Crennel, but don't buy it. They won in spite of him." [Click the hyperlink above for his examination into why he believes this]
While I tend to agree with much of what Barnwell had to say about Crennel's coaching performance on Sunday, it has been a while since he last was head coach. Much like a player who hasn't played in a while, Crennel might have just been knocking off the rust. He was given a short and turbulent week to prepare for the responsibilities to manage an entire game, and hopefully he will look sharper in the upcoming weeks.
Also, another element that statistics can't calculate is motivation. It seems that Crennel motivated the team, got them to believe that they could do something no other team had been able to do in over a calendar year. "Coach Romeo told us to stick together as a team," FB Le'Ron McClain said. "People expect us to come out and lay down to the Packers, everybody is expecting us to lose, but we knew in the back of our minds that if we put together a complete game we had a chance to win. It showed today.”
As Crennel told the players after the game on Sunday, "you are not ready to die yet."
So what do you think Chiefs Nation? Should Crennel be HC next year, or should we find someone else?
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