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If I'm Herm Edwards, I'm nervous. Because the man who hired him, the general manager who thought so much of Edwards he paid a draft pick to acquire him, is gone.
That leaves Edwards operating without a safety net, and when you haven't won in two years, that's living dangerously.
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| Carl Peterson is on his way out, but Kansas City should keep Herm Edwards. (US Presswire) |
He went through three quarterbacks the first two games, for crying out loud ... four, if you count Marques Hagans, who was listed as a wide receiver but served as the team's quarterback for five snaps.
Plus, he was forced to play with his third-stringer from the sixth game on, with the Chiefs improving as Tyler Thigpen gained experience.
So, no, I don't think Edwards should be canned. But that doesn't mean he won't be. With the departure of Peterson at the end of the season, Edwards is flying solo.
Which means anything is possible. No, it usually means a dismissal is probable. It could be sooner. It could be later. But it almost always happens.
It is rare when a club hires a general manager and keeps the head coach, though it has happened. But it is rarer that the GM and that coach live happily ever after.
The most obvious case is in San Diego, where general manager A.J. Smith inherited coach Marty Schottenheimer after the death of John Butler, the GM who hired Schottenheimer. The friction between Smith and Schottenheimer is old news, but Smith couldn't budge on his coach because it was on Schottenheimer's watch that San Diego started winning for the first time in nearly a decade.
But when Schottenheimer failed to win a playoff game, Smith had what he needed to move on. And he did, hiring Norv Turner to replace him.
Edwards is in a much more precarious position. The Chiefs went to the playoffs his first season in Kansas City, which might have been the worst thing to happen to him and the club. The Chiefs had grown old, and Edwards knew it, but by reaching the playoffs, he elevated the expectations for a club that should have been rebuilding.
That decision wasn't made until last season, when Kansas City dropped its last nine games, and the team started purging veterans. Edwards never used the word "rebuilding" at this summer's training camp, but it was clear that's what was going on.
As it must. The Chiefs had to start over, which means they had to take a couple of steps back before taking one forward.
In some places, that's tolerated. I remember the Baltimore Ravens in 2002 when then-coach Brian Billick alerted the media, the fans and the team before the season that the Ravens would not be a playoff contender. And they weren't, although they finished a respectable 7-9.
A year later, they won the division.
That's not to say that will happen in Kansas City, but at least Edwards should be given a chance. Had Peterson stayed, I was confident the coach would stay, too. Now, I'm not so sure. In fact, I'd say the skies just turned threatening in Edwards' neighborhood.
With the Chiefs going outside the club to hire a general manager, Edwards has every right to wonder what's next for him and his staff. So his next move should be into owner Clark Hunt's office.
If I'm Edwards, I'd like to know that the owner has my back. I think he does, but I'm not sure. And now, Edwards can't be, either.
Which is all the more reason to make the move.
I don't know what kind of job he and his staff did this year because the Chiefs were young, inexperienced and hurt. What I do know is that they've improved as the season has gone on, taking San Diego (twice), Denver, the New York Jets and Tampa Bay to the wire.
OK, so they lost all of them. Maybe that changes a year from now. Edwards should get the chance to find out.
