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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chiefs, Dolphins fire coaches

The losses kept mounting, the tension kept growing and ultimately Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli decided the status quo was no longer good enough.

It was time to part ways with Todd Haley.

The Chiefs fired the combustible head coach Monday with the team Haley led to a surprising AFC West title less than a year ago stuck at the bottom of the division following a series of devastating injuries and discouraging blowouts.

The Chiefs dropped to 5-8 after Sunday’s 37-10 loss the New York Jets, their fifth loss in six games. Kansas City committed 11 penalties for 128 yards in the dismal performance, including a 15-yarder on Haley for unsportsmanlike conduct that may have sealed his fate.

“Timing in these situations is always difficult. There never seems to be a right time,” chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “We just felt the inconsistent play the team has experienced throughout the season, including (Sunday’s) game, made today the right day to do it.”

Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel will serve as the Chiefs’ interim coach for the final three games, and Pioli said he will be considered for the permanent job.

“I don’t perceive Todd Haley as a mistake,” Pioli said. “Todd Haley is a good football coach. I’ll say that. What we need to do is figure out what direction we’re headed in and how we’re going to continue to make progress, how we can get some consistency back.”

Haley took over a team that won six games the previous two seasons under Herm Edwards, and he leaves with a 19-27 record in his first NFL head coaching job. But despite winning the AFC West last season, it’s hard to tell if the team improved under his watch.

Dolphins need ‘young Don Shula’

Even before the Miami Dolphins fired Tony Sparano on Monday, names of potential successors were being bandied about.

Bill Cowher? Jeff Fisher? Jon Gruden?

“I’d like to find a young Don Shula if that’s possible,” owner Stephen Ross said.

It’s no wonder Ross craves some stability. Since Shula retired in 1996, no coach has made it through five full seasons in Miami.

That includes Sparano, fired three games from the end of his fourth season.

Todd Bowles, who had been assistant head coach and secondary coach, becomes interim head coach. He’s the sixth coach since 2004 for the Dolphins, who haven’t won a playoff game since 2000 and haven’t reached the Super Bowl since 1984.

“The results speak for themselves,” Ross said at a hastily called news conference. “We’re looking to becoming a winning organization, and I thought this was the best time to make the change and let us go in a direction that will allow us to become that.”

In Sparano’s first season as an NFL head coach, he led the Dolphins to a surprising 11-5 record, the 2008 AFC East title and their only playoff game since 2001. He departs with a record of 29-32.

In other news in Miami, quarterback Matt Moore’s status was uncertain after he left the Dolphins’ loss against Philadelphia with a head injury. The initial diagnosis was a slight concussion, and Moore was to undergo further evaluation.

If Moore can’t play Sunday at Buffalo, J.P. Losman would start against his former teammates. Losman would be the 17th quarterback to start for Miami since Dan Marino retired in 1999.

Jets’ Leonhard placed on IR

Jim Leonhard will be a sidelined spectator for the Jets’ playoff push.

The playmaking safety will miss the rest of the season after being placed on injured reserve with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. An MRI exam confirmed what the Jets first feared when Leonhard went down on a tackle following an interception in Sunday’s 37-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Falcons’ Smith feeling better

Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith was back at practice and planning to return “first thing in the morning,” one day after being checked out at a Charlotte, N.C., hospital.

“I feel a whole lot better today than I did yesterday, I can assure you of that,” a smiling Smith said after the practice, which lasted about 40 minutes.

Smith was examined for a “non-emergency matter” after Sunday’s 31-23 win over Carolina.

Hasselbeck’s status up in the air

Tennessee coach Mike Munchak says Matt Hasselbeck is sore but walking around despite a left calf injury suffered Sunday in a loss to New Orleans.

Whether the veteran quarterback is strong enough to start against winless Indianapolis remains to be seen.