Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Background:
1. Son of Dick Haley, Director of Player Personnel for the Steelers (1971-1990) and the New York Jets (for four years in the 90's).
2. Was credited for helping WR Marty Booker put together two excellent seasons in Chicago.
3. Was hired by Bill Parcells to be the Cowboys' WR Coach and Passing Game Coordinator. Parcells likes Haley a lot. In Dallas, Haley was not shy about standing up to Terrell Owens. Their relationship was acrimonious.
4. Elected to turn down an interview with Parcells last year for the Head Coaching job in Miami in order to stay on as Offensive Coordinator in Arizona.
5. Has led the Arizona Cardinals' offense to top five NFL rankings in total offense and points scored in both his seasons.
My impression of Haley is that he's very much in the Parcells' mode of coaching. Parcells had a penchant for developing strong working relationships with his players, but also letting the players have it when they deserved it. Because Haley is younger and is not a head coach yet, he perhaps doesn't get the respect from the players yet that Parcells did. But, Haley is a strong believer in communicating with the players in order to welcome their ideas and input, but also in trying to get the players on board with the system and the direction of the program.
As we have seen, when players challenge him or fall short of his expectations, Haley is not afraid to let the players know it. One time last year after Warner had thrown a very poor 2nd half interception, Haley let Warner have it on the sidelines, which caused Warner to snap back. The two later smoothed things out.
The Cardinal offense had made such tremendous strides because, IMO, Haley has combined wits with Warner and come up with carefully designed plays and game plans. Their attention to detail and execution is very impressive...as is their openness to new ideas.
Warner has joked that he's spent so much time with Haley that Brenda suspects they are having an affair.
This says something about Haley's and Warner's work ethics and their passion for game planning.
It was Haley who saw on tape how vulnerable the Panthers might be to the throwback deep pass to Fitz that Warner threw the week before. Apparently Haley put the play in on the plane to Carolina. That's pretty cool.
Yesterday, Warner and Haley were seen yapping at one another as they always do, and at times Warner appeared frustrated with the way the play calling or the execution was going.
Warner and Haley have that type of relationship...even the FOX crew of Aikman/Buck had learned that Haley tries to let Warner have a "cool down" period on the sideline before they get back to studying game photos and discussing the next series.
One of the greatest gripes I had about the past few coaching staffs was that this type of communicating did not seem to be taking place on the sidelines...nearly at all. And certainly the game planning was nowhere near as studious and practiced as this year's team's. Credit Haley and Warner and their individual and collective work ethics for this.
Because Warner gets heated with Haley from time to time, Anquan Boldin probably felt that as a Pro Bowler and veteran, that he could too.
Haley gave it back to Boldin and stood his ground. And the amazing thing is that Haley, despite having to deal with this unfortunate incident on the sidlelines during the most critical and important drive of the year, totally kept his wits about him and continued to make great calls. This would suggest that Haley's focus and his self-command are commendably steadfast.
If and when Todd Haley becomes a head coach, he is going to have to draw the line a little clearer in the sand with his players. The sideline emotion is something a good head coach has to keep in check, and players can't be yelling at coaches. Haley may come across with the players as "one of the guys" at times (he's only a couple years older than Warner), as did Parcells. But, Parcells had more leverege, more of a don't mess with me during games disposition, and far more charisma.
But...Haley has worked very hard to be where he is today. His talent is blossoming and as he establishes a stronger sense of decorum with his players, he will continue to emerge as one of the more talented and diligent coaches in the NFL.
If the Raiders, for example, were to go after him right now, I bet he wouldn't want to even interview for it. It seems that Haley not only loves his current job and loves calling plays, but it also seems that Haley himself may feel that he needs a year ot two more to feel fully prepared to take on a head coaching job (which may also be why he declined an interview with Parcells a year ago). Plus, the Raiders situation is a potential coaching nightmare, working for such a volatile owner and such a dubious group of complainers.
If Scott Paoli came after him for the KC job, that would be enticing...that might be one of the few scenarios that Haley would jump at this soon. At this point, it would seem unlikely that Haley would be the top choice in KC...but he and Paoli do have some previous ties.
1. Son of Dick Haley, Director of Player Personnel for the Steelers (1971-1990) and the New York Jets (for four years in the 90's).
2. Was credited for helping WR Marty Booker put together two excellent seasons in Chicago.
3. Was hired by Bill Parcells to be the Cowboys' WR Coach and Passing Game Coordinator. Parcells likes Haley a lot. In Dallas, Haley was not shy about standing up to Terrell Owens. Their relationship was acrimonious.
4. Elected to turn down an interview with Parcells last year for the Head Coaching job in Miami in order to stay on as Offensive Coordinator in Arizona.
5. Has led the Arizona Cardinals' offense to top five NFL rankings in total offense and points scored in both his seasons.
My impression of Haley is that he's very much in the Parcells' mode of coaching. Parcells had a penchant for developing strong working relationships with his players, but also letting the players have it when they deserved it. Because Haley is younger and is not a head coach yet, he perhaps doesn't get the respect from the players yet that Parcells did. But, Haley is a strong believer in communicating with the players in order to welcome their ideas and input, but also in trying to get the players on board with the system and the direction of the program.
As we have seen, when players challenge him or fall short of his expectations, Haley is not afraid to let the players know it. One time last year after Warner had thrown a very poor 2nd half interception, Haley let Warner have it on the sidelines, which caused Warner to snap back. The two later smoothed things out.
The Cardinal offense had made such tremendous strides because, IMO, Haley has combined wits with Warner and come up with carefully designed plays and game plans. Their attention to detail and execution is very impressive...as is their openness to new ideas.
Warner has joked that he's spent so much time with Haley that Brenda suspects they are having an affair.
This says something about Haley's and Warner's work ethics and their passion for game planning.
It was Haley who saw on tape how vulnerable the Panthers might be to the throwback deep pass to Fitz that Warner threw the week before. Apparently Haley put the play in on the plane to Carolina. That's pretty cool.
Yesterday, Warner and Haley were seen yapping at one another as they always do, and at times Warner appeared frustrated with the way the play calling or the execution was going.
Warner and Haley have that type of relationship...even the FOX crew of Aikman/Buck had learned that Haley tries to let Warner have a "cool down" period on the sideline before they get back to studying game photos and discussing the next series.
One of the greatest gripes I had about the past few coaching staffs was that this type of communicating did not seem to be taking place on the sidelines...nearly at all. And certainly the game planning was nowhere near as studious and practiced as this year's team's. Credit Haley and Warner and their individual and collective work ethics for this.
Because Warner gets heated with Haley from time to time, Anquan Boldin probably felt that as a Pro Bowler and veteran, that he could too.
Haley gave it back to Boldin and stood his ground. And the amazing thing is that Haley, despite having to deal with this unfortunate incident on the sidlelines during the most critical and important drive of the year, totally kept his wits about him and continued to make great calls. This would suggest that Haley's focus and his self-command are commendably steadfast.
If and when Todd Haley becomes a head coach, he is going to have to draw the line a little clearer in the sand with his players. The sideline emotion is something a good head coach has to keep in check, and players can't be yelling at coaches. Haley may come across with the players as "one of the guys" at times (he's only a couple years older than Warner), as did Parcells. But, Parcells had more leverege, more of a don't mess with me during games disposition, and far more charisma.
But...Haley has worked very hard to be where he is today. His talent is blossoming and as he establishes a stronger sense of decorum with his players, he will continue to emerge as one of the more talented and diligent coaches in the NFL.
If the Raiders, for example, were to go after him right now, I bet he wouldn't want to even interview for it. It seems that Haley not only loves his current job and loves calling plays, but it also seems that Haley himself may feel that he needs a year ot two more to feel fully prepared to take on a head coaching job (which may also be why he declined an interview with Parcells a year ago). Plus, the Raiders situation is a potential coaching nightmare, working for such a volatile owner and such a dubious group of complainers.
If Scott Paoli came after him for the KC job, that would be enticing...that might be one of the few scenarios that Haley would jump at this soon. At this point, it would seem unlikely that Haley would be the top choice in KC...but he and Paoli do have some previous ties.
Last edited:
