On Friday, a SiriusXM caller insisted that former Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer had been spotted in Kansas City. The Chiefs denied that a meeting between Schottenheimer and owner Clark Hunt had occurred.
Thereafter, Schottenheimer said that, while he didn’t meet with Hunt, they’ve been talking.
“I stay in touch with the Hunt family,” Schottenheimer told Jarrett Bell of USA Today. “Of late, I’ve called to encourage them for whatever they’re doing. They’ve got a lot of young players. And they’re working their butts off.”
Schottenheimer indicated he’s not returning to the NFL, even though through last year he was coaching in the UFL.
“Life is good,” Schottenheimer told Bell. “I just feel badly because I have great affection for the Hunt family and the Kansas City Chiefs. Those were the best 10 years of my career. But I think the world of Romeo Crennel.”
As Chris Mortensen of ESPN explained on Monday night, Schottenheimer has “preached patience,” which would suggest staying the course with the current coaching staff and front office.
The problem is that the fans want blood, though they’ll accept change. The message from Marty seems to be that change for the sake of change may not change anything.
Still, as the losses pile up (even close ones in overtime), Clark Hunt at some point may have to balance the right football decision against the right business decision. Even if the right football decision is, in the short term, the wrong business decision.