Bob's your Information Minister
10-16-2005, 07:35 AM
Optimist Gunther reiterates restoring defense takes time
JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
Gunther emerges from his bunker for a few minutes Saturday afternoon. Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham does not often come out to talk. He has too many things to do. Anyway his words get him in trouble sometimes. Better to keep quiet.
But we go back a long way. So he emerges. And I ask him the question.
“Is this defense going to be good?”
“Let me tell you something,” he says. “I gathered around the defense last week. And I said, ‘You guys don’t know how close we are to being a great defense.’ I’m not talking good. I’m talking great. Like the old days. I guess I’m the only guy who sees it. But we’re an inch away. I can see it. I’ve been doing this too long. I know what I see.”
Everybody knows the story. Cunningham came back to Kansas City — after a trying two years as head coach — to turn around an overwhelmed defense. Last year he tried to bring back the glory with seven starters who were drafted in the fourth round or later (or not at all). He about had a nervous breakdown. And it didn’t work.
This offseason, he went to Chiefs president/general manager/Santa Claus Carl Peterson with a wish list. He got five new defensive starters — including rookie first-round linebacker Derrick Johnson — and told friends that this defense was going to be like those mid-’90s defenses that mesmerized and inspired KC.
Four games in, the results are mixed.
The good: The Chiefs are ranked No. 8 in rushing defense, and if you take away three long runs against Denver (“Breakdowns,” Cunningham grumbles) then the Chiefs have allowed just 270 yards in 93 carries, which comes to less than 3 yards per carry. Of course, you can’t take away those runs — big plays have hurt the Chiefs this whole decade — but even so it’s clear that this defense, unlike the last few, will hit. The Chiefs defense has forced 15 fumbles, the most in the NFL.
The bad: Because the Chiefs are so set on stopping the run, they have been killed by play-action passing. The Chiefs are giving up 367.8 yards per game, just about what they gave up last year. Only the Giants and 49ers are giving up more passing yards per game. And the Chiefs have given up at least 30 points each of the last two weeks.
“We’ve been hurt by mental breakdowns, especially the last two weeks,” Cunningham says. “They’re using our speed against us. We play the run hard. We had to get the mind-set changed around here. We had to let everybody in the NFL know that we will, by gosh, hit you in the face. I think teams know that now.
“And so, they’re reversing us and running play action against us. We’ve worked hard on those things the last two weeks. I can see the improvement. But I knew it was going to take time. People think this is easy. It’s not easy. We’re changing a culture here.”
Cunningham then talks a little bit about the Philadelphia game. In that game, the offense turned the ball over four times, leading directly to 24 of the Eagles’ 37 points. Afterward, Cunningham says, he gathered around his defense.
“I told them: ‘Do you want to use those four turnovers as an excuse? Go ahead. I’ll tell you what, if you need more excuses, I can give you seven other excuses to use. The rules are against us. The ball isn’t bouncing our way. There are always excuses. If you want excuses, go home.’
“Then I looked each of those players in the eyes. And I said: ‘There are no excuses in this league. You get it done or you get out. That’s all. That’s the kind of defense we are going to be. No excuses. We’re going to get it done.’”
Gunther Cunningham says he spends a lot of time in his bunker thinking about how magical it was at Arrowhead Stadium in the ’90s, when Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith were hounding quarterbacks, when Dale Carter and James Hasty were picking off passes, when the crowd would get so loud that players would come out of the opponent huddle and ask each other, “Did you hear the play? I didn’t hear the play.”
“There was this bond between the defense and fans,” Cunningham says. “It was unbelievable. We fed off each other. It wasn’t like other stadiums … nobody was off getting a hot dog or a beer. When the second half began, fans were in their seats, screaming for the defense. We fired them up, they fired us up, there was an electricity. We have to get that back.”
Cunningham then says the 2005 defense, once the players learn how to play together, can have that sort of turnaround. But he says it takes time because there are new players, and the defensive schemes are more complicated than ever.
“We’re doing a lot more things than we did in ’97, I’ll tell you that,” he says. “I love when people say, ‘Just line up and play.’ Are you kidding? In the NFL? You just line up against Peyton Manning, he’ll score 100 points. I’m not kidding. One hundred points. People have no idea.
“We’re a multiple defense. We can come at you a lot of different ways. That’s why it takes time. We still make mistakes. We have some mental breakdowns. You show it to them on a chalkboard, and they say, ‘I’ve got it.’ Well, they don’t have it. They won’t have it until they’ve messed it up at least twice on the field.”
He points to rookie linebacker Derrick Johnson. Cunningham says Johnson’s potential — he’s a 242-pound linebacker who can run with wide receivers — is unlimited. He says Johnson will be a great player, and soon. But he also points out that Johnson has missed at least three sacks because he had his head down when he charged quarterbacks. They got away. Johnson also has often run himself right out of the play.
Cunningham says: “I told him the other day, ‘Do you think guys like you fall out of trees? Do you realize how fast you are?’ He just smiled his little smile. The guy’s always happy. Coaching a young player is like trying to raise a young Thoroughbred. I’m trying to get him to run, and he’s out there eating grass.”
He says a lot of players are close to breaking through. He’s particularly proud of middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who often ran around randomly last season, his first as a starter. Now, he says, Mitchell has taken charge of the defense. “Last year, he wanted to know where he was supposed to be,” Cunningham says. “Now, he wants to know how to lead the team. That makes you proud.”
He says Kendrell Bell, despite criticism, has played better than people think. (“He does so many things, like blow up blockers, that people don’t see,” he says). He says Sammy Knight has led the secondary. He says Patrick Surtain is as good a corner as there is in the league. He says a lot of good things about his players.
“There are two things in the NFL that you cannot buy,” Cunningham says. “And that’s attitude and effort. You can buy talent. You can buy speed. You can buy size. But attitude and effort, that has to come from within. And these guys have it. The attitude and effort have been incredible. I see that every day. And that’s how I know that this defense will make Kansas City proud. I’m not a smart guy. But I know that with all my heart.”
Kansas City has had an odd relationship with Gunther Cunningham. The town loved him as defensive coordinator of those teams in the ’90s. The town was not crazy at all about him as head coach. The town went crazy when he came back on a white horse to rescue the defense.
And now?
“We have a big sign in our defensive meeting room,” Cunningham says. “And all it says on it is: ‘PROVE IT.’ That’s what we’re about. Prove it. I know people are saying things about us, how this defense is not getting better and all that. I believe that it’s those fans that drive our sport, our league, so I don’t mind them saying that.
“But I know we’re getting better. I came back to Kansas City for one reason. I wanted to bring back that pride. I wanted to be in Arrowhead again with 80,000 people screaming and our defense shutting people out. I’m not going to rest until that happens.”
On Saturday, Cunningham said he gathered around the defense for the meeting. He thought for hours about what he was going to say. He decided he would go over the game plan, of course — the Chiefs, he says, have added three major defensive strategies for today’s game against Washington. Then, he thought, he would talk about how well they practiced last week, how much they’ve grown, how they are now ready to break through as a defense.
Just as he got ready to speak, Knight walked over and said, “Gun, I’d like to say a few things.”
“And then Sammy gave the most incredible talk,” Cunningham says. “He said all the things I wanted to say. He pointed at the “PROVE IT” sign. And he said, ‘We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.’ ”
Cunningham’s voice chokes up a little bit as he talks. He says it’s his allergies.
“When Sammy was done, I just said, ‘OK, break it up, we’re done,’ ” Cunningham says. “I’ve been in this business a long time. And it’s taken me a long time to learn that sometimes you just need to shut up.”
JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
Gunther emerges from his bunker for a few minutes Saturday afternoon. Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham does not often come out to talk. He has too many things to do. Anyway his words get him in trouble sometimes. Better to keep quiet.
But we go back a long way. So he emerges. And I ask him the question.
“Is this defense going to be good?”
“Let me tell you something,” he says. “I gathered around the defense last week. And I said, ‘You guys don’t know how close we are to being a great defense.’ I’m not talking good. I’m talking great. Like the old days. I guess I’m the only guy who sees it. But we’re an inch away. I can see it. I’ve been doing this too long. I know what I see.”
Everybody knows the story. Cunningham came back to Kansas City — after a trying two years as head coach — to turn around an overwhelmed defense. Last year he tried to bring back the glory with seven starters who were drafted in the fourth round or later (or not at all). He about had a nervous breakdown. And it didn’t work.
This offseason, he went to Chiefs president/general manager/Santa Claus Carl Peterson with a wish list. He got five new defensive starters — including rookie first-round linebacker Derrick Johnson — and told friends that this defense was going to be like those mid-’90s defenses that mesmerized and inspired KC.
Four games in, the results are mixed.
The good: The Chiefs are ranked No. 8 in rushing defense, and if you take away three long runs against Denver (“Breakdowns,” Cunningham grumbles) then the Chiefs have allowed just 270 yards in 93 carries, which comes to less than 3 yards per carry. Of course, you can’t take away those runs — big plays have hurt the Chiefs this whole decade — but even so it’s clear that this defense, unlike the last few, will hit. The Chiefs defense has forced 15 fumbles, the most in the NFL.
The bad: Because the Chiefs are so set on stopping the run, they have been killed by play-action passing. The Chiefs are giving up 367.8 yards per game, just about what they gave up last year. Only the Giants and 49ers are giving up more passing yards per game. And the Chiefs have given up at least 30 points each of the last two weeks.
“We’ve been hurt by mental breakdowns, especially the last two weeks,” Cunningham says. “They’re using our speed against us. We play the run hard. We had to get the mind-set changed around here. We had to let everybody in the NFL know that we will, by gosh, hit you in the face. I think teams know that now.
“And so, they’re reversing us and running play action against us. We’ve worked hard on those things the last two weeks. I can see the improvement. But I knew it was going to take time. People think this is easy. It’s not easy. We’re changing a culture here.”
Cunningham then talks a little bit about the Philadelphia game. In that game, the offense turned the ball over four times, leading directly to 24 of the Eagles’ 37 points. Afterward, Cunningham says, he gathered around his defense.
“I told them: ‘Do you want to use those four turnovers as an excuse? Go ahead. I’ll tell you what, if you need more excuses, I can give you seven other excuses to use. The rules are against us. The ball isn’t bouncing our way. There are always excuses. If you want excuses, go home.’
“Then I looked each of those players in the eyes. And I said: ‘There are no excuses in this league. You get it done or you get out. That’s all. That’s the kind of defense we are going to be. No excuses. We’re going to get it done.’”
Gunther Cunningham says he spends a lot of time in his bunker thinking about how magical it was at Arrowhead Stadium in the ’90s, when Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith were hounding quarterbacks, when Dale Carter and James Hasty were picking off passes, when the crowd would get so loud that players would come out of the opponent huddle and ask each other, “Did you hear the play? I didn’t hear the play.”
“There was this bond between the defense and fans,” Cunningham says. “It was unbelievable. We fed off each other. It wasn’t like other stadiums … nobody was off getting a hot dog or a beer. When the second half began, fans were in their seats, screaming for the defense. We fired them up, they fired us up, there was an electricity. We have to get that back.”
Cunningham then says the 2005 defense, once the players learn how to play together, can have that sort of turnaround. But he says it takes time because there are new players, and the defensive schemes are more complicated than ever.
“We’re doing a lot more things than we did in ’97, I’ll tell you that,” he says. “I love when people say, ‘Just line up and play.’ Are you kidding? In the NFL? You just line up against Peyton Manning, he’ll score 100 points. I’m not kidding. One hundred points. People have no idea.
“We’re a multiple defense. We can come at you a lot of different ways. That’s why it takes time. We still make mistakes. We have some mental breakdowns. You show it to them on a chalkboard, and they say, ‘I’ve got it.’ Well, they don’t have it. They won’t have it until they’ve messed it up at least twice on the field.”
He points to rookie linebacker Derrick Johnson. Cunningham says Johnson’s potential — he’s a 242-pound linebacker who can run with wide receivers — is unlimited. He says Johnson will be a great player, and soon. But he also points out that Johnson has missed at least three sacks because he had his head down when he charged quarterbacks. They got away. Johnson also has often run himself right out of the play.
Cunningham says: “I told him the other day, ‘Do you think guys like you fall out of trees? Do you realize how fast you are?’ He just smiled his little smile. The guy’s always happy. Coaching a young player is like trying to raise a young Thoroughbred. I’m trying to get him to run, and he’s out there eating grass.”
He says a lot of players are close to breaking through. He’s particularly proud of middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who often ran around randomly last season, his first as a starter. Now, he says, Mitchell has taken charge of the defense. “Last year, he wanted to know where he was supposed to be,” Cunningham says. “Now, he wants to know how to lead the team. That makes you proud.”
He says Kendrell Bell, despite criticism, has played better than people think. (“He does so many things, like blow up blockers, that people don’t see,” he says). He says Sammy Knight has led the secondary. He says Patrick Surtain is as good a corner as there is in the league. He says a lot of good things about his players.
“There are two things in the NFL that you cannot buy,” Cunningham says. “And that’s attitude and effort. You can buy talent. You can buy speed. You can buy size. But attitude and effort, that has to come from within. And these guys have it. The attitude and effort have been incredible. I see that every day. And that’s how I know that this defense will make Kansas City proud. I’m not a smart guy. But I know that with all my heart.”
Kansas City has had an odd relationship with Gunther Cunningham. The town loved him as defensive coordinator of those teams in the ’90s. The town was not crazy at all about him as head coach. The town went crazy when he came back on a white horse to rescue the defense.
And now?
“We have a big sign in our defensive meeting room,” Cunningham says. “And all it says on it is: ‘PROVE IT.’ That’s what we’re about. Prove it. I know people are saying things about us, how this defense is not getting better and all that. I believe that it’s those fans that drive our sport, our league, so I don’t mind them saying that.
“But I know we’re getting better. I came back to Kansas City for one reason. I wanted to bring back that pride. I wanted to be in Arrowhead again with 80,000 people screaming and our defense shutting people out. I’m not going to rest until that happens.”
On Saturday, Cunningham said he gathered around the defense for the meeting. He thought for hours about what he was going to say. He decided he would go over the game plan, of course — the Chiefs, he says, have added three major defensive strategies for today’s game against Washington. Then, he thought, he would talk about how well they practiced last week, how much they’ve grown, how they are now ready to break through as a defense.
Just as he got ready to speak, Knight walked over and said, “Gun, I’d like to say a few things.”
“And then Sammy gave the most incredible talk,” Cunningham says. “He said all the things I wanted to say. He pointed at the “PROVE IT” sign. And he said, ‘We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.’ ”
Cunningham’s voice chokes up a little bit as he talks. He says it’s his allergies.
“When Sammy was done, I just said, ‘OK, break it up, we’re done,’ ” Cunningham says. “I’ve been in this business a long time. And it’s taken me a long time to learn that sometimes you just need to shut up.”