Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley is coaching against a team that fired him less than a year ago, but the assistant coach insists he holds no grudges against the Kansas City Chiefs organization.
Haley was head coach of the Chiefs for parts of three seasons. However, his time as coach ended towards the close of last year, when he was fired by general manager Scott Pioli with his team sitting at 5-8. He was replaced by Romeo Crennel, whose squad has gone 3-8 since, including a 1-7 start this year. Now coaching against his old team for the first time, Haley says that the game is just like any other week now that he's with Pittsburgh, as reported by Alan Robinson of the Tribune-Review:
"I’ve moved on," he said. "I’m happy to be a part of this great organization. It’s a tight-knit family, a unique environment hard to find. And I know the Chiefs have moved on, too."
Ben Roethlisberger, however, said that Haley has been a bit different this week:
"He hasn’t come out and said anything like ‘Let’s go get ’em’ or anything," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "But you always have that feeling (when you go against a former team). … You can see it."
Haley started out 0-5 in Kansas City and finished badly as well, losing four of their last five when Matt Cassel got hurt and needed to be replaced by Tyler Palko. In between, he did alright: his overall record was 19-26, and the team won the AFC West to get to the playoffs in 2010. Now with the Steelers, Haley has been at the helm for a mini-offensive revival, with the team jumping from 22nd to 13th in total points scored. Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown numbers have increased while he's thrown less interceptions and the team has had strong rushing performances the last few weeks despite a slew of injuries at the running back position.
Loading comments...