Herm Edwards: Coach of the Year So Far?

I think the consensus pick around NFL gurus for the best coach in the first quarter of the season is Lovie Smith. I would lean more toward Sean Payton for the terrific turnaround he's helped stage in New Orleans simply because Payton turned a team around whereas Lovie Smith is coaching a team that was already terrific last season.

However, anyone else think it's crazy to think Herm Edwards should earn this distinction? This is a homer pick for sure, but can you think of a single coach who has dealt with more adversity? The Chiefs have had major turmoil in the two most important offensive positions in the game. They lost their pro bowl quarterback, Trent Green, in week 1. Their pro bowl left tackle, Willie Roaf, retired suddenly late in the offseason. They lost their replacement starting left tackle, Kyle Turley, to an injury that has sidelined him for two weeks. Worse, their replacements were spare parts you would buy at a garage sale. Damon Huard's arm was so rusty, he probably lathered it up weekly with WD-40. Jordan Black was so horrible at left tackle last year that even the Raiders probably thought of him as a downgrade to their offensive line.

I wrote in my other blog that Herm Edwards has completely facelifted the Chiefs at just the right time. With all the woes on offense, Herm Edwards, notorious for being a defensive coach with no clue on how to run an offense, could consult his veteran offensive coordinator about ways to fix the problems on offense, right? Wrong. He instead had to lean on an unstable crutch--Mike Solari, the rookie offensive coordinator. Solari has made his share of mistakes and has shown his inexperience on many occasions. Herm Edwards has had a pretty big hand in helping the offense turn things around, which is a strange statement for a coach that has been labeled as a dunce with an offensive clipboard. When Damon Huard was named the starting quarterback, Herm responded coolly and tactfully. Instead of playing the "woe is me" card, Edwards did a terrific job of lifting pressure off Huard's back. First, Edwards' contribution to improving the defense has limited Huard's mindset that he needs to win football games in shootouts, like they had to do last year. Secondly, Edwards' offensive approach thusfar has revolved around asking Huard to manage the offense rather than to run it. In other words, Edwards is not asking Huard to win football games; he is simply asking him not to lose games--limit mistakes, go for the high percentage plays, and don't be afraid to dump the ball off to your safety valve, Larry Johnson, if nobody else is open.I realize the Chiefs haven't beaten any legit opponent yet, but they lost a close game to Denver where they usually get crushed, they trounced the Niners in a very convincing win, and came from 14 points behind to post another impressive win against Arizona. Before we downplay this accomplishment, realize that this is a team that fell into a virtual depression when their quarterback and team leader fell to injury. You could almost hear the collective silence and panic in Kansas City when they learned they had to play an undisclosed number of games with Damon Huard as their quarterback. But Herm Edwards did not let his team quit. This team has stayed motivated, the players continue to improve, and on most moments, the fans forget that Green is not quarterbacking their team. In fact, Trent Green's return to football has been very quiet among the chatter (by the way, Arrowheadpride.com speculated that he could be back in time to play San Diego).

I'm glad for Herm. For as good of a coach as he is, he's sure has his share of doubters. Talk to any Jets' fan and they'll tell you he's: a walking sound byte, the beneficiary of good personnel, a moron of an offensive coach, and finally, the kicker, less responsible for the defensive successes as it may appear. Edwards has erased all those doubts. Amazingly, Herm deserves a ton of credit for his offensive coaching contributions. In lieu of all the injuries to key players, everyone in Kansas City panicked. Everyone except Herm Edwards. The injuries never seemed to phase Edwards. He almost seemed indifferent, but perhaps he wasn't indifferent at all; instead, he was quietly confident. Instead of complaining, he adjusted his offense to revolve around Huard's talents, and boy has it reaped dividends: while the rest of the world was bowing at the altar of Mr. McNabb, Huard, Mr. Journeyman, quietly earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Instead of scratching his head about pass protection issues, he and Solari altered the protection schemes, often times resorting to formations featuring 3 tight ends. Oh, and did I mention that the Chiefs are no longer a complete joke on defense? Herm Edwards did in one offseason what two qualified defensive coordinators could not do for five seasons: field a tough defense.

Amazingly, it only took Herm Edwards two games to completely change the culture of the team. It was a hard pill for the team and fans to swallow the fact that the Chiefs weren't going to light up the scoreboard anymore but my guess is,they're all buying into the new Chiefs now. This team now revolves around defense and despite Herm's reputation as an extreme Marty-ball coach, the Chiefs have also won the past 2 games by playing a little ball control on offense while still staying fairly aggressive in their approach.

Herm Edwards is only a 2-2 coach right now, but no coach in the league has dealt with adversity nearly as effectively as Edwards has. For that, I don't think it's too farfetched to say that Herm has been the best coach in football for the first quarter of the season.