The Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive staff has taken shape for the 2012 season.

Appearing with me and co-host Jim Miller on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said he expected new head coach Romeo Crennel to double as the team’s defensive coordinator. Crennel handled both duties for the final three games last season when promoted on a then-interim basis to replace the fired Todd Haley.

“I’m not sure if he stated it publicly, but I get the sense Romeo wants to be the coordinator on defense,” Pioli said while attending the Senior Bowl. “I don’t know if he’s made the absolute final decision, but I’m pretty sure that’s the way he wants to go.”

Chiefs defensive back coach Emmitt Thomas also will be returning to the staff, a source told FOXSports.com. Numerous media outlets reported Thomas had drawn interest from Oakland to join the staff of new Raiders head coach Dennis Allen, which was confirmed to FOXSports.com by two sources. The 68-year-old Thomas served as a mentor to Allen when the latter landed his first NFL coaching job with Atlanta in 2002.

It’s unknown whether the Raiders officially asked permission to interview Thomas for their defensive coordinator role and were denied.

Pioli said “the head coach makes the decision” when it comes to deciding whether they want to also serve as a coordinator. This happened with the Chiefs in 2009 when Haley fired offensive coordinator Chan Gailey during the preseason and handled play-calling duties himself.

“What it does is add other responsibilities to the staff,” Pioli said. “I was very happy ‘Rack’ wanted to keep his defensive staff because that is a good group of coaches.

“I also watch around the league. Even if sometimes a head coach doesn’t say they’re coordinating something, we’re all able and smart enough to watch how things go. There are a lot of [head] coaches who run their offenses and defenses. I don’t think it’s that unique.”

The Chiefs excelled defensively under Crennel late in the 2011 campaign. The unit limited Denver to a field goal in the season finale against Denver and also keyed a Week 15 victory over Green Bay that ended the Packers’ chances at an unbeaten season.

Kansas City remains in the search for an offensive coordinator. One possibility is Brian Daboll, who will not be returning to Miami.

“We’re talking (about candidates) internally and externally,” Pioli said. “It remains fluid right now.”

Newly-hired Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach Romeo Crennel told the team’s official website his offseason has been busy. Recently, he noted all of the attention he was getting at the 2012 Senior Bowl. Many people were shaking his hand in congratulations when there were spare moments.

The reason for all the fuss? Crennel still has some coaching positions to fill.

Crennel stated on the day he was hired that he will keep his defensive staff intact, largely because Crennel himself was the defensive coordinator and will call the defensive plays in 2012. But the offense still needs some tweaking in the coaching department.

The defense was the pride of the Chiefs in 2011. The defensive side of the ball held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 13 points in a losing cause. The Denver Broncos just got three points on the final day of the season in Colorado. On a good day when the offense came alive, the Chiefs were responsible for the only regular season loss of the Green Bay Packers.

The offense is in need of a few good men to make that unit better. A new offensive coordinator would be nice. An improving Matt Cassel or Kyle Oroton is also a must. Something that can be cured by the draft would be some great offensive linemen. The Chiefs will pick 11th in the 2012 NFL Draft to be held in late April.

While Crennel is in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl for a week. He’s been finalizing lists of candidates for the jobs he wants. The new head coach plans announcements sometime in the next week in order to keep fans abreast of any hires.

The Chiefs finished 7-9 in 2011. The team fired Todd Haley as head coach with three games before the end of the season. Kansas City was a streaky team losing three games, winning four, losing another four before alternating wins and losses the final five weeks of the season.

The Chiefs ended up one victory away from winning the AFC West title before faltering in the last two weeks. The next season should be an improvement as the Chiefs will have many players recovering from major injuries.

William Browning is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs after latching on to the team during the lean years of St. Louis football. Born in the gateway city, he is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

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ESPN reports the Kansas City Chiefs are on the verge of hiring Romeo Crennel as the team’s next head coach. He has been in that position as an interim capacity ever since Todd Haley was relieved of coaching duties in mid-December after a disappointing loss to the New York Jets. Despite interviewing other candidates such as Jeff Fisher and Jack Del Rio, the Chiefs may have already had their man in-house.

Crennel would come into the job with previous head coaching experience. He helmed the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008. He amassed 24-40 record in Cleveland, earning a 10-6 record in 2007, but Crennel failed to lead Cleveland to the playoffs.

He formerly held the job of defensive coordinator with the Chiefs. The defense was the cornerstone of Kansas City’s play this year as the offense sputtered. The unit held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 13 points back on Nov. 27. They also kept the Green Bay Packers to just 14 points in their only loss of the season to this point.

Crennel is also well-liked. Players joked with him and were all smiles after the victory against the Packers. Had Kansas City won their game against the Oakland Raiders late in the season, they would be hosting the Steelers as opposed to the Denver Broncos.

Two other things helped. Both sides of the ball improved under Crennel’s leadership, not just the defense. The on-field intensity and enjoyment of playing the game of football was apparent when Kansas City took the field for Crennel. His 2-1 record also speaks volumes to general manager Scott Pioli. Positive attitudes are great, but when that translates to victories then the people that write paychecks take notice in professional sports.

Hiring Crennel is an excellent choice. He’s already familiar with the players and upper management. Clearly the defense liked playing with him as players stepped up to fill voids left by injuries.

Crennel’s time as head coach won’t be easy to start the season. He will have a potential quarterback controversy on his hands when Matt Cassel returns from his hand injury. Kyle Orton started the last three games of the year. He had a game of 299 yards passing and 300 yards passing, both of which were season-highs for the club.

Nothing is official as of yet. The Chiefs’ website states when the team is ready to announce a new head coach, a press conference will be scheduled. That press briefing will be broadcast live on the website.

Bring on the Crennel era. It should have happened a lot sooner.

William Browning is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs after latching on to the team during the lean years of St. Louis football. Born in the gateway city, he is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Tim Tebow gets one more chance to show what he can do on the football field during the regular season. The Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs to decide the AFC West on Sunday, Jan. 1. The scenario is pretty simple for Tebow and his Broncos in that if the team wins, they clinch the AFC West. If they lose, the Oakland Raiders can win the division by beating the San Diego Chargers.

The Week 17 game is also a chance for Tebow to put up more fantasy football points for leagues that still count stats this week. Last week, Tebow had a rough game against the Buffalo Bills, throwing 3 interceptions and losing a fumble. He did have 185 passing yards, 34 rushing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, but Tebow finished the week with just 15.8 fantasy points. That made him the No. 17 ranked quarterback for the week and not exactly what fans were looking to see from him with seasons on the line.

Now Tebow faces a team that he didn’t have a lot of success against in Week 10, but it is a team that he also helped his Broncos to beat. While the Broncos won the game 17-10, Tebow was 2-of-8 in passing with one touchdown and he also rushed for another 43 yards and a touchdown. Overall those aren’t great numbers, but it was good enough for the Broncos to win the game. Now the team hosts the Chiefs in a Week 17 must-win situation and Tebow goes out for a second chance to put up big numbers.

It doesn’t seem likely that Tebow will have great fantasy football numbers in Week 17, but many also predicted he wouldn’t have them against some of the other teams he has beaten either. The truth is that you never know what to expect from Tebow in games like this one, but the likely scenario is that he will put the Broncos in a position to win the game in the fourth quarter. It’s a risky start if you are trying to figure out your Week 17 quarterback situation and simply looking at his performance in Week 10 against the Chiefs, I wouldn’t advise going with Tebow in this game either.

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Sources:

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Yahoo! Fantasy Football

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