A colossal coaching challenge

Jul 31, 2008, 6:12:51 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ

Some of the best coaching in football is performed with losing teams.

This may come as little consolation to a coaching staff that wins just a handful of games and maybe gets fired. But if a staff goes into a season a few quarts low on talent, its only recourse is to try and outwork and outsmart the competition.

This seldom works. Rival coaches are getting well paid, too, and you won’t find a lot of stiffs coaching in the NFL. Any team in the league would be a lot more successful with the worst coaches and best players than with the best coaches and worst players.

Herm Edwards and his staff are in full rebuilding mode, which means they’ll have to coach like crazy from now until the end of December and believe they can make a difference. Yet the Chiefs’ 4-12 record last season revealed weaknesses all over the field, and a lot of players counted on to correct those weaknesses are just getting their feet wet in the NFL.

In the offseason, coaches take a hard, objective look at their talent and look for upgrades. Once training camp starts, though, they have to work with what they have, and make themselves think that there isn’t a problem they cannot solve. To them, even the worst player becomes Eliza Doolittle – just a few lessons away from losing the rough edges.

Too many penalties? It’s just a matter of teaching better discipline. Too many fumbles? Just a matter of preaching ball security. Too many interceptions? Just a matter of coaching the passer to make better decisions and getting him and receivers all on the same page.

But if good coaching could make that much of a difference, there wouldn’t be any 4-12 teams.

“Record-wise, yeah, it wasn’t very good,” Edwards said, reflecting upon last season.

“But I thought the players tried to do what we wanted them to do. They were well coached. Our inability to finish games was our Achilles heel, that and the turnovers and our inability toward the latter part of the season to stop the run.”

Edwards repeatedly has said that his 2007 team lacked mental toughness. But it’s a lot easier to be mentally tough when you have the physical skills to back up your attitude. And in too many areas, the Chiefs lacked those skills.

They didn’t finish strong during their nine-game losing streak largely because they lacked enough talent to score at crunch time, especially with Pro Bowl runner Larry Johnson out.

Their 20 interceptions and 13 lost fumbles resulted mainly from poor pass protection. Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard had to rush too many throws and each lost three fumbles. Turnovers piled up despite a conservative attack that stressed short, safe passes.

The Chiefs couldn’t stop the run mainly because they weren’t strong enough up the middle, which allowed opponents to sit on fourth-quarter leads. That’s why the Chiefs made tackle Glenn Dorsey their top draft choice and are looking for someone to step up at middle linebacker.

Despite their healthy addition of young talent, the 2008 Chiefs will be underdogs more often than not. The only way for Edwards and his staff to meaningfully close the gap is to get more out of their players – especially the rookies — than opposing coaches can get out of theirs.

The Chiefs’ offense doesn’t have much of a chance to thrive unless the line can be molded into a respectable unit and rookie Branden Albert proves a quick study at left tackle. Without a strong line and running game, Croyle won’t have a chance to blossom.

For the Chiefs to stop the run, Dorsey needs to stack up blockers and runners almost from the get-go. This is almost like asking a freshman to graduate on the first day of class, but that’s what rebuilding through the draft is all about.

Edwards’ unyielding optimism and motivational zeal in New York got him nicknamed “The Preacher.” Given his challenges ahead in 2008, he’ll also need to be known as “The Teacher.”

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former sportswriter and columnist in Kansas City and Miami, Rand has covered the NFL for three decades and seen 23 Super Bowl games. His column appears twice weekly in-season.