Kansas City Chiefs Stick With Romeo Crennel, but is it the Right Choice?

The Kansas City Chiefs became the first team to fill its head-coaching vacancy this offseason, as they opted to keep interim head coach Romeo Crennel on a full-time basis.

Crennel, who went 2-1 as the Chiefs interim coach, signed a three-year contract. He replaced Todd Haley after two-plus seasons as the Chiefs former head coach.

The 64-year-old Crennel went 24-40 in four seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

"Romeo's vast experience and intelligence have helped him achieve success at the highest level," Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said. "The way in which he creates accountability and respect amongst the team creates a very productive work environment and will be criticial in continuing to develop our young core of players."

Crennel has ties to Pioli dating back to their New England Patriots days, when both worked under Bill Belichick for Patriots championship teams.

Crennel is a popular choice among Chiefs players, but this doesn't mean he is the right choice. History tells us Crennel could fail as the head coach in Kansas City.

Former Belichick aides have had little success as NFL head coaches. Crennel's four-year tenure in Cleveland was actually the longest any former Belichick assistant has had as an NFL head coach.

Eric Mangini lasted three years with the New York Jets and two in Cleveland; Nick Saban lasted two years with the Miami Dolphins and Josh McDaniels made it less than two years with the Denver Broncos.

History also teaches us promoting an interim head coach to the full-time job rarely works too. Over the past 20 years, only two interims went on to lead their teams to the playoffs—Jeff Fisher with the Tennessee Titans and Mike Tice with the Minnesota Vikings.

Crennel is a solid defensive mind and an affable leader whom players love. The Chiefs are counting on him to nurture young players, instead of alienating them as Haley too often did. But while Crennel can do that, he has yet to show he can lead a team to consistent success.

So while hiring Crennel provides a feel-good story in January, it is unlikely to lead to long-term success for the Chiefs.

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