Q: How was your first practice today?

TODD HALEY: “That first one, wherever you are, is always chaotic, but overall I thought it went pretty well. We have to teach a little bit of how to practice to win and that’s a big part of it this time of year: knowing how to practice fast without being out of control and without hurting other teammates.”

Q: Who learned more today: you and your staff or the players?

HALEY: “I think we all have an equal amount to learn. This is really my first time with my staff together on the field. Until you’re out there and doing it there are a lot of things…you think you’ve covered everything but you always realize a handful of things you didn’t.”

Q: Were there a lot of guys with bad habits?

HALEY: “There’s an art to practicing efficiently and fast. This is going to be an up-tempo deal. There’s an art to getting done what you need to get done as a player technique-wise but, at the same time, not being out of control because the first tendency is the adrenaline gets running and guys get out of control and then there’s a pile on the ground and then you’ve got problems.”

Q: They say success breeds success and failure breeds failure, are you trying to change the culture and mindset of what has been a losing team?

HALEY: “I hate to get into the culture thing because there are so many factors that go into it. But again, it’s trying to do things the right way and the way myself as a coach believes they have to be done and the way that I’ve consistently seen them done in successful programs. There is a lot of different ways to do it, but this is just the way that I believe is right and the most efficient and works to our advantage.

“I’d stay away from the culture. If you get enough guys to do it the way we want it done that have some of those characteristics that we talked about yesterday that are smart, tough and enjoy football, then I think you have a chance.”

Q: Was everybody responsive?

HALEY: “We had a bunch of guys out there who looked like they wanted to be there. It’s a fun time when you’ve been in the weight room for three weeks. It was nice to get out there.”

Q: Did you do a roll call for this one?

HALEY: “No roll call. But we had 60 plus guys and that’s the way it’s been from the start and that’s encouraging.”

Q: Will Franklin was released the other day. Was he a guy that didn’t want to be here or just someone you couldn’t see having a future here?

HALEY: “I think it was more of the latter. He was here and working but you’ve got to make these decisions sometimes and they aren’t always pleasant but we’re trying to find the right guys for the Kansas City Chiefs. At this time we didn’t think this was the direction we wanted to go. But we wish Will the best and he got picked up pretty quick.”

Q: Some guys you make a decision like that pretty quickly and others you want to see them work. Is that just a process of when and where with some guys?

HALEY: “Yeah, and I think it’s a little bit of your instinct and gut feeling on some of them. They’re all different and you don’t want to make a mistake. But you will and you’ll release players that end up potentially going on to great careers. But to me, it’s finding the right guys for this team.”

Q: What specifically didn’t you like about Franklin?

HALEY: “I’m not going to get into the details on that. We just wanted to go in another direction.”

Q: I guess in theory that every position is open, right?

HALEY: “This is an open competition and the players have been made clear of that.”

Q: That would be encouraging I think.

HALEY: “Yeah, I think for a lot of guys it’s got to be a great opportunity when you’re told that it’s a clean slate and you’ve got a chance to be a part of this team and be a starter or a role player. You can see it in guys’ eyes when they feel like they have a chance.”

Q: Do you know whoever is not here and why?

HALEY: “Yeah, again this is all voluntary but the guys have been very good about letting me know when there’s an issue or something is up. I feel good about all that.”

Q: Do you feel good about the number of guys who are here?

HALEY: “Oh yeah, we’ve been 60 plus from the start and that’s a good sign that these are guys that want to get on board.”

Q: Do you get the sense that these guys want to win, are tired of losing?

HALEY: “I don’t think there’s an NFL player out there that doesn’t want to win. Now, there’s some that don’t want to do what it takes to win, that they’d rather be doing something else when the other guys are working together and trying to build the foundation. That’s what is really going on and what I believe in my heart of hearts and the way that I’ve seen it work. That is, this time of year is for getting in condition and getting strong and building the foundation of your team. A lot of things occur in these hours spent in the weight room and out on the turf running and sweating together. Relationships start to form and a bond starts to happen. If you’re not here it can’t happen.”

Q: Are these three days also the final pieces of your draft preparations or to find out what you have?

HALEY: “On the surface it would be easy to say that, but I really think this is a camp that is given to all new head coaches that they can have or choose not to have. I chose to have it more as a teaching tool, a chance for us to teach the players right up front how we want it done. We don’t have a significant amount of plays in, but it’s a chance for us to teach them how to practice, how we want them to practice, what tempo we want. I think it’s a great benefit.”

Q: Do the players see it as a little bit different than it was before or a whole lot different?

HALEY: “I have no idea how it was and I don’t really care to know. I can only worry about what I can do and this is my first chance and maybe my only chance. I’m going to make the most of it.”

Q: Is this your last mini-camp other than your one mandatory camp in June?

HALEY: “No, we’ll have a rookie camp two weeks after the draft. That will be just drafted players or draft eligible players for ‘09.”

Q: How did Cassel look throwing the ball to, say, Bobby Engram?

HALEY: “I was on the defensive side. I spent a lot of time on the defensive side. My first go-round and, as I said at the start I want to coach the team, and that’s the side I really put a lot of effort into and time. I don’t know if I actually saw Matt throw a ball to Bobby. I’m sure they did in individual drills. ”

Q: How has Matt been in meetings? Is he the kind of leader you want?

HALEY: “You can’t ask for more from a player as far as preparation and work. He’s in here leading the groups in the off-season whether it’s running, lifting, whatever it is. He’s bugging us in the offices all day long and we have to kick him out. Like I said, I hope he can play because he’s got everything you want as far as preparation.”

Q: How did you line up on defense on the front seven?

HALEY: “I knew that was coming.”

Q: I gave you 10 minutes.

HALEY: “We lined up the entire 36 minutes in an ‘under front.’”

Q: What about personnel-wise?

HALEY: “In base defense. You’ll get to see some work out here tomorrow and I’ll let you look at it and see what you think.”