By Julie Cudney
The Kansas City Chiefs had a rough season in 2008 and decided to make some changes. The first, and possibly most effective, was naming Scott Pioli as their next general manager. He will be replacing Carl Peterson in that position. The addition of Pioli brought into question the status of head coach Herm Edwards. Rumors are circulating that he may stay with the Chiefs, but that would most likely be the call of Pioli. In 2008, the Chiefs finished 2-14 with wins only over the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos. The record puts them third from last in the NFL standing this year, just above the St. Louis Rams and the Detroit Lions, who finished this season with the league's first 0-16 season.
Pioli has been with the New England Patriots for the last nine seasons as the vice president in charge of player personnel. He is believed to be the mastermind behind a Patriot offense that has been perennially impressive since his arrival, nabbing Super Bowl wins and numerous playoff berths. He has long had his sights on a career in football. After playing defensive tackle at Central Connecticut State, he got a master's degree before becoming to offensive line coach at Murray State in 1990. The next year, he changed to defensive line coach. In 1992, he started in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns personnel department, where he was hired by current Patriots coach Bill Belichick. When the team moved to Baltimore, he became the director of pro personnel for a year before taking the same position with Belichick at the New York Jets. He again moved with Belichick when he came to New England. With his history with Belichick, it is no wonder that the head coach gave him a glowing recommendation when he decided to leave New England.
Although the Chiefs are contemplating getting rid of Herm Edwards, he definitely has the credentials to be a top coach in the league. He was a defensive back in the NFL, spending most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He got his coaching start at San Jose State in 1987 as the defensive backs coach. He stayed for two seasons before becoming a scout for the Chiefs for two seasons. He became the team's defensive backs coach from 1992-1994 before spending a year as the pro personnel scout. In 1996, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their assistant head coach/defensive backs coach, where he stayed until 2000. From 2001-2005, he was the head coach for the New York Jets. He started as the head coach of the Chiefs in 2006.
Getting rid of Edwards would be a change from what chairman Clark Hunt said when Peterson retired in December. At the time, Hunt indicated Edwards would be next year's coach. The Chiefs potentially could see a big turnaround next season. They are set up with the third pick of this year's draft, and analysts are predicting that they take a quarterback like Georgia's Matt Stafford or Oklahoma's Sam Bradford. See their revamped team with for Kansas City Chiefs tickets from http://www.stubhub.com/kansas-city-chiefs-tickets.
This article was written by Julie Cudney and is sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells tickets to sporting events, concerts and theater productions. Go to StubHub.com for Kansas City Chiefs tickets.
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