The Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins have fired their coaches yesterday – Todd Haley and Tony Sparano, respectively.
Good move for the Chiefs, but I disagree with the Sparano move.
First of all, it was obvious that Haley was in over his head with the Chiefs.
Hell, Haley started making enemies since his first season. He clashed with players, put some of those players in his doghouse. While those moves were deserved (Dwyane Bowe anyone?), Haley was a bit over the top some other times (see Anquan Boldin when both were Arizona Cardinals).
With Haley, it didn’t stop with just players – it continued with his coaching staff. Haley first fired Chan Gailey, who was his first offensive coordinator. He later clash with Charlie Weis when he was the offensive coordinator – Weis was actually FRIENDS with Haley.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Haley clashed with the person he could ill-afford to: general manager Scott Pioli who was his immediate boss. Couple that with the injuries and bad losses, Pioli had to pull the trigger on Haley.
In short, Haley was a bad fit in KC.
On the other hand, I thought Sparano was doing good things in Miami.
First of all, Sparano was loved by his players, and it showed on the field. Sure he got off to an 0-7 start, but his Dolphins teams played hard for him. Hell they won four out of six after that start, and during that 0-7 they should have won at least two of those games. The Dolphins had no business losing to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Keep in mind that Sparano led the Dolphins to an 11-5 record and a AFC East division title during his first season. However, he was a victim of his own success. I knew Sparano would not be there long after Bill Parcells left.
Sparano will get another opportunity to coach in the NFL. As for Haley, not so much…
Categories: NFL, sports story
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