Chiefs fire Crennel, no decision on Pioli
The Kansas City Chiefs officially fired coach Romeo Crennel on Monday.
The Chiefs finished tied for a league-worst 2-14 and will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next year.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Romeo, both personally and professionally," Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. "He is an accomplished coach, a man of great character and he helped guide our football team through some extremely challenging circumstances this season.
"However, I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction."
Kansas City was forecast by many to win the AFC West, but faced significant adversity during the season, including the murder-suicide by starting linebacker Jovan Belcher on Dec. 1. The Chiefs also had several injuries and ineffectiveness as quarterback.
Crennel made a change at quarterback during the season, starting Brady Quinn in favor of Matt Cassel. He also replaced himself with Gary Gibbs as defensive coordinator.
Crennel, 65, was promoted to head coach during the 2011 season after Todd Haley was let go. He is 28-55 in five years as a head coach. He also coached the Cleveland Browns.
Hunt said that more changes could be on the way.
"I will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the Chiefs," he said. "The entire football operation will remain under review, and there may be additional changes to come. No final determination has been made at this point on the future of general manager Scott Pioli."
Pioli, 47, has been with Kansas City since 2009. He spent the previous nine years in the New England Patriots front office. The Chiefs are 23-41 in the last four years under Pioli.
Perhaps Pioli's biggest move was trading for Cassel in 2009 and signing him to a six-year, $63 million contract.
