Gunther Bashes Chiefs

[yashi]

I don't care for the guy, but he does make some valid points. Not a fan of all the whining though.

Cunningham's Chiefs had lot in common with Lions | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

MOBILE, Ala. — New Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham comes from Kansas City, a team that was a lot like the Lions last season.

The Chiefs ran the Tampa Two defense, were coached by a Tony Dungy disciple and struggled badly, with one of the worst defenses in the NFL and a 2-14 record.

But Cunningham isn’t a Tampa Two guy, and the Chiefs’ defense lacked experience.

“I’ve gone through three years of playing zone defense because I was loyal to Herm Edwards,” Cunningham said today in a conference call. “That’s what he wanted. People here in town knew that I was different than that. My idea is to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback — always has been, always will be.”

Cunningham said new Lions coach Jim Schwartz knows that, though Schwartz ran more zone than usual this season as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.

Cunningham was Schwartz’s linebackers coach for three years with the Titans, and they became close.

Asked if he were entering a situation in Detroit that is similar to Kansas City, Cunningham said teams need experience by keeping good veterans and finding others in free agency.

“The emotions get involved, ‘Oh, we’ll play with all these young players,’ ” Cunningham said. “But what you don’t understand is, they have to be led by guys like Jared Allen.”

The Chiefs traded Allen, one of the best defensive players in the league, to Minnesota before this season.

“If you have a lot of young players that you’re going to draft, you have to make sure you work the whole process,” Cunningham said. “I believe the mistake we made here is that they tried to add some UFA players like Demorrio Williams. Well, he doesn’t have enough experience and enough ability to lead a bunch of rookies. …

“I can at least share what happened here and the pitfalls we ran into and see what the process brings.”

[Bike]

I don't care for the guy, but he does make some valid points. Not a fan of all the whining though.

Cunningham's Chiefs had lot in common with Lions | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

MOBILE, Ala. — New Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham comes from Kansas City, a team that was a lot like the Lions last season.

The Chiefs ran the Tampa Two defense, were coached by a Tony Dungy disciple and struggled badly, with one of the worst defenses in the NFL and a 2-14 record.

But Cunningham isn’t a Tampa Two guy, and the Chiefs’ defense lacked experience.

“I’ve gone through three years of playing zone defense because I was loyal to Herm Edwards,” Cunningham said today in a conference call. “That’s what he wanted. People here in town knew that I was different than that. My idea is to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback — always has been, always will be.”

Cunningham said new Lions coach Jim Schwartz knows that, though Schwartz ran more zone than usual this season as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.

Cunningham was Schwartz’s linebackers coach for three years with the Titans, and they became close.

Asked if he were entering a situation in Detroit that is similar to Kansas City, Cunningham said teams need experience by keeping good veterans and finding others in free agency.

“The emotions get involved, ‘Oh, we’ll play with all these young players,’ ” Cunningham said. “But what you don’t understand is, they have to be led by guys like Jared Allen.”

The Chiefs traded Allen, one of the best defensive players in the league, to Minnesota before this season.

“If you have a lot of young players that you’re going to draft, you have to make sure you work the whole process,” Cunningham said. “I believe the mistake we made here is that they tried to add some UFA players like Demorrio Williams. Well, he doesn’t have enough experience and enough ability to lead a bunch of rookies. …

“I can at least share what happened here and the pitfalls we ran into and see what the process brings.”

Sorry Gun. Don't be making excuses now. Your loyalties shoulda been to the Chiefs organization and your defense - not to your mis-guided head coach.
Everybody could see that Herm was not the future of this franchise. Everybody but you I suppose.
If you knew something was wrong, such as your zone defense that you deplore, you should have stood up and fixed it. Instead you decided to sit back and watch our defense sink to the bottom of the league as our Chiefs lost game after game.
Whats the worst that coulda happened? Herm might of let you go? Well, you're gone anyway now so no matter.
Sometimes you just have to grow a pair and do whats right.
You didn't do that here.
Good luck in Detroit.

[jmlamerson]

Sorry Gun. Don't be making excuses now. Your loyalties shoulda been to the Chiefs organization and your defense - not to your mis-guided head coach.
Everybody could see that Herm was not the future of this franchise. Everybody but you I suppose.
If you knew something was wrong, such as your zone defense that you deplore, you should have stood up and fixed it. Instead you decided to sit back and watch our defense sink to the bottom of the league as our Chiefs lost game after game.
Whats the worst that coulda happened? Herm might of let you go? Well, you're gone anyway now so no matter.
Sometimes you just have to grow a pair and do whats right.
You didn't do that here.
Good luck in Detroit.

Yeah, it's hard to respect Gun for spouting off now. If he knew he was the wrong fit for the defense, he should have quit.

He didn't do the Chiefs or himself any good by staying quiet and running schemes he knew wouldn't work.

[kcmostwanted]

Sad to see this... You guys are correct, he should of grown a pair and stood up to what he believed but instead he sat back and watched the Franchise fall apart.
I don't blame him though.. I mean honestly, he might have thought : "well, maybe next year the young players will learn and we'll be better"..... but it never happened... It's a good time for him to bail out!

It's more Herms fault than his.. I mean we all need paychecks and if we could get away with doing a crappy job and still get paid then of course we're going to do it - until another opportunity opens..Herm should have seen that he wasn't the man for the job and got rid of him.... Oh well I guess they'll both be gone now

[Coach]

Im personally glad to see that he threw Herm under the bus.

[KottkeKU]

man i am really happy to see Cunningham go (because he has got to be one of the worst coaches i have ever seen in sports) but i am extremely sad for the Lions because i happen to be a huge detroit lions fan (Barry Sanders is my all time favorite athlete, any sport, so i will forever be a lions fan...having said that, i am born and raised in KC and the chiefs will alwats be no.1)

But the fact that he is saying all this is retarded...why didnt he just leave? thanks for wasting a whole city and nfl organizations time you dumbass...all you had to say was, "i respect you Herm, but i dont run a tampa 2"

the guy sucked anyways, without Derrick Thomas (a future hall of famer) he hasnt had one positive thing ever...

[Nel Toille]

“That’s what he wanted. People here in town knew that I was different than that. My idea is to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback.."

Yeah, you did a great job of that this year, Gun. The fact is, we all know you ditched Herm's Cover 2 scheme last year and went with your own scheme and it still didn't work. Your defenses have always been notorious for not being able to tackle, they've been notorious for their lack of focus and your linebackers were always out of position. I used to believe you, Gun. Not anymore. Wonder who we're gonna get?

[greg3564]

Im personally glad to see that he threw Herm under the bus.

Rep!!!!! I'm sure Gun won't be the last to let Herm have it.

[theaxeeffect4311]

Yeah, you did a great job of that this year, Gun. The fact is, we all know you ditched Herm's Cover 2 scheme last year and went with your own scheme and it still didn't work. Your defenses have always been notorious for not being able to tackle, they've been notorious for their lack of focus and your linebackers were always out of position. I used to believe you, Gun. Not anymore. Wonder who we're gonna get?

No idea. I think it will depend on who our head coach is next season. I agree with everyone here that Gun missed his chance to speak his mind about Herm's philosophy on defense. Plus, does he think that will make him look better for his new head coach knowing that he did not like the defense he was running but did nothing to change it? But it is just surprising how players under Gunther's defense do not know how to tackle. You would think a linebacker coach would be great at teaching how to tackle. At least the Chiefs have gotten rid of one coach so far.

[Seek]

Come on guys. You are ripping Gunther for not standing up to his boss and are basically demanding him to get fired on the spot... That isn't real life, at least not to a person who can keep a job.

He tried doing it his bosses way, and he kept quiet doing it. I mean Herm has the no Cursing rule and we know Gunther loved to curse. I didn't hear Gunther whinning about it the last three years. The guy remained loyal to the team, the HC and the city. I thought there was no way he would have come back after they canned him after two years as HC, but he did it and he did it with Class.