KANSAS CITY — Eric Winston usually gets about 50 mentions on his Twitter feed after a game. When he visited the Kansas City Chiefs during the start of free agency, the veteran right tackle got hundreds of them from random fans trying to court him.“I loved it. I thought it was really cool,” Winston said. “I thought it was great they were so into it. They knew everything was going on; they knew who I was. They knew what I could do. It was just another piece of the puzzle.”All the pieces added up to a $22 million, four-year deal.On the same day word spread that Winston had agreed to terms, the Chiefs announced that they had signed former first-round draft pick Brady Quinn to back up Matt Cassel at quarterback.Winston will take over at right tackle for Barry Richardson, who struggled mightily last year and became a free agent. Winston helped Houston become the NFL’s second-leading rushing team.“We are very happy to add a quality right tackle like Eric to our team,” Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said. “He is a smart lineman who is going to bring passion, intelligence and toughness to our offense.”Winston was in the fourth year of a $30 million, five-year deal when he was cut by the Texans to save salary cap space. He also visited the Miami Dolphins.“They did so much more than any other organization,” Winston said. “Most organizations the GM calls and says, ‘Hey, we’re excited to have you,’ or the coach calls and says, ‘We’re excited.’”Instead, Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel logged multiple calls, along with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.Winston said he was not very familiar with the Chiefs. He’s bumped into Cassel a couple times, and he knows running back Jamaal Charles by reputation.“To be honest, Kansas City wasn’t somewhere that if I had to pick off the top of my head, ‘Where would you want to go?’ Kansas City wasn’t that place,” Winston said.“It was just choosing the right situation for me and my family,” he said. “Tell you the truth, I thought it was more of a rust-belt city, but when you get there, it’s far from it.”Quinn started 12 games over three seasons with Cleveland, where Crennel once served as the head coach and Daboll was the offensive coordinator.The former Notre Dame star completed 52 percent of his passes for 1,902 yards and 10 touchdowns with nine interceptions in Cleveland. He spent last season as a backup in Denver.“I’m just looking forward to getting back to playing under Romeo,” Quinn said of why he chose the Chiefs.That familiarity is the biggest reason Quinn said he turned down a more lucrative offer from the Broncos to sign with the Chiefs.He also alluded to Denver’s courtship of Peyton Manning.“If you look at the Denver situation, there’s a lot of unknowns,” he said. “It’s a great organization, having been a part of it for two years and all that, but I felt like for me personally, it was a better situation to go to Kansas City.”Quinn said that he’d been told Cassel was the starting quarterback, but Pioli and Crennel have both said they want the incumbent to experience a challenge in training camp.“Obviously there is going to be competition, like there should be on every team in every room,” Quinn said. “Competition makes everyone better. That’s just how the league is.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning has been a consistent topic of conversation through the NFL Scouting Combine, with potential suitors quizzed on whether or not they would be interested in the Indianapolis Colts star — if he is healthy and available.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel was surprisingly forthcoming.

“I’m not supposed to talk about anybody else’s players,” Crennel said, referencing tampering rules. “He’s still a player with Indianapolis. But with a talent like that, I would be crazy not to consider it if he were available. All right? I’ll leave it at that.”

Crennel opened the door to a change at the quarterback position with a lukewarm endorsement of Matt Cassel, saying he’s the Chiefs’ quarterback — unless they get another guy. If Kansas City brought Kyle Orton back, he indicated Cassel and Orton would compete for the job.

Jenny Vrentas: jvrentas@starledger.com; twitter.com/JennyVrentas

The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs have hired former Tennessee quarterback Jim Bob Cooter as an offensive assistant, the Kansas City Star reports.

Cooter, who was a quarterback UT, was an offensive assistant for the Indianapolis Colts for the last three seasons.

New Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel hired Cooter as part of putting a new staff in place in Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel announced the remainder of his staff on Tuesday, which includes quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, who was passed over for the offensive co-ordinator position.

Brian Daboll was hired recently to run the offence, which led many to question whether Zorn would be back. He was retained along with assistant head coach Maurice Carthon, tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee, strength coach Mike Clark, wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni and virtually the entire defensive staff.

Jack Bicknell Jr. was hired to coach the offensive line and Jim Bob Cooter was brought in as the offensive quality control coach. Tom McMahon and Derius Swinton will handle special teams.

“We were able to add a handful of strong additions to an already talented group of coaches, and I am excited to get started,” Crennel said in a statement issued by the team.

Many believed that Zorn was the front-runner for the offensive co-ordinator position, but Crennel eventually opted to go with Daboll, whom he coached with in New England.

Besides bringing in a fresh face to run the offence, a new special teams staff and a new offensive line coach to replace the retired Bill Muir, Crennel largely opted for continuity in filling out the rest of his coaching staff.

Linebackers coach Gary Gibbs, defensive line coach Anthony Pleasant, defensive quality control coach Otis Smith, defensive backs coach Emmitt Thomas and defensive assistant Adam Zimmer all worked under Crennel last season, when he was the defensive co-ordinator for Todd Haley.

Crennel plans to remain the co-ordinator after assuming the permanent head coaching job.

Parmalee begins his third season in Kansas City, while assistant strength coach Brent Salazar will begin his sixth. Sirianni spent last season as the offensive quality control coach, but will be in his first season as the wide receivers coach.

Bicknell joins the Chiefs after spending the last three seasons as the assistant offensive line coach for the New York Giants, where he just earned a Super Bowl ring. He’s also coached in the college ranks at Boston College and Louisiana Tech.

Cooter spent last season with the Dolphins, where Daboll was the offensive co-ordinator. McMahon and Swinton spent the past three seasons working with the Ram’s special teams.

“I’m looking forward to sitting down as a staff, evaluating what we have, what we need and moving forward toward the 2012 season,” Crennel said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs are in discussions with Brian Daboll to become their new offensive coordinator.

Team spokesman Ted Crews told The Associated Press on Saturday that Daboll has not been hired, but the two sides remain in discussions. The former Dolphins offensive coordinator could be introduced as soon as Monday, when Chiefs executives return from the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

Daboll would take over for Bill Muir, who announced his retirement Wednesday.

Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel had already interviewed candidates for offensive coordinator before Muir’s retirement. Others known to have interviewed were quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn and former Raiders offensive coordinator Al Saunders.

Daboll has connections to Crennel and Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli after spending time in New England, where Daboll coached wide receivers and Crennel was defensive coordinator.

Daboll later spent two seasons as the New York Jets’ quarterbacks coach before taking over as offensive coordinator in Cleveland. The Browns were last in the NFL in total offense during his first season and 29th in Year 2, after which he departed for Miami.

The Dolphins were 22nd in total offense this season, though there was marked improvement over the second half of the season. Miami also piled up 31 points in a victory over the Chiefs.

Daboll would be taking over a potentially potent offense in Kansas City.

All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles is expected to participate in offseason workouts after missing all but the first two weeks of the season with a knee injury. Tight end Tony Moeaki will also be back after sustaining a similar knee injury during a preseason game.

Quarterback Matt Cassel will also be back after hurting his hand during Week 10.

The Chiefs still managed to play themselves into a position to defend their AFC West title despite struggling on offense. But their playoff hopes were dashed when they managed only 13 points in an overtime loss to Oakland in the penultimate game of the season.

There are still questions surrounding the offense. Top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is a free agent, though the Chiefs are considering whether to use the franchise tag on him.

Pioli also has promised that there will be competition for Cassel at quarterback. Kyle Orton became a free agent after finishing out the season for Kansas City, which means fifth-round draft pick Ricky Stanzi is the only other quarterback currently under contract.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs are in discussions with Brian Daboll to become their new offensive co-ordinator.

Team spokesman Ted Crews told The Associated Press on Saturday that Daboll has not been hired, but the two sides remain in discussions. The former Dolphins offensive co-ordinator could be introduced as soon as Monday, when Chiefs executives return from the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

Daboll would take over for Bill Muir, who announced his retirement Wednesday.

Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel had already interviewed candidates for offensive co-ordinator before Muir’s retirement. Others known to have interviewed were quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn and former Raiders offensive co-ordinator Al Saunders.

Daboll has connections to Crennel and Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli after spending time in New England, where Daboll coached wide receivers and Crennel was defensive co-ordinator.

Daboll later spent two seasons as the New York Jets’ quarterbacks coach before taking over as offensive co-ordinator in Cleveland. The Browns were last in the NFL in total offence during his first season and 29th in Year 2, after which he departed for Miami.

The Dolphins were 22nd in total offence this season, though there was marked improvement over the second half of the season. Miami also piled up 31 points in a victory over the Chiefs.

Daboll would be taking over a potentially potent offence in Kansas City.

All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles is expected to participate in off-season workouts after missing all but the first two weeks of the season with a knee injury. Tight end Tony Moeaki will also be back after sustaining a similar knee injury during a pre-season game.

Quarterback Matt Cassel will also be back after hurting his hand during Week 10.

The Chiefs still managed to play themselves into a position to defend their AFC West title despite struggling on offence. But their playoff hopes were dashed when they managed only 13 points in an overtime loss to Oakland in the penultimate game of the season.

There are still questions surrounding the offence. Top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is a free agent, though the Chiefs are considering whether to use the franchise tag on him.

Pioli also has promised that there will be competition for Cassel at quarterback. Kyle Orton became a free agent after finishing out the season for Kansas City, which means fifth-round draft pick Ricky Stanzi is the only other quarterback currently under contract.

By BJ Kissel

– Staff Writer

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Feb 4, 2012 – According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Kansas City Chiefs will hire former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to same position. Daboll has a history with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel from their time together in New England.

Daboll got his start as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Michigan State from 1998-1999. After a couple of years he was hired by the New England Patriots where he began as a defensive assistant for two years and then as a wide receivers coach for five years. It was there that he worked with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, who was the defensive coordinator at the time. They won three Super Bowls in New England together before Daboll left for the New York Jets to be their quarterbacks coach.

After two years in New York Daboll left to be the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. While running the offense in Cleveland, the Browns finished 32nd in total offense under Daboll in 2009 and then 29th in 2010. Last year for the Miami Dolphins Daboll helped their offense finish 22nd in the NFL.

Daboll joins a Chiefs team that struggled to score points for most of the season after injuries to Tony Moeaki, Jamaal Charles and Matt Cassel derailed the offense during the season.

For more information on the Daboll hiring visit Arrowhead Pride for all things Chiefs.

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Head coach Romeo Crennel of the Kansas City Chiefs will have a new look on his coaching staff in 2012. The team’s official website announced Jan. 30 that Tom McMahon will serve as the special teams coach of the Chiefs next season. He comes to Kansas City after three years down I-70 with the St. Louis Rams. In 2010, the Rams had the third-best punting average. They also led the league with 12 punt returns of 20 yards are more from 2009 and 2010 combined.

McMahon has also served as assistant special teams coaches with the Atlanta Falcons. Before that, he was coaching with the University of Louisville and Utah State. McMahon replaces Steve Hoffman who was not retained by the team after Todd Haley was fired. Two other coaches, both on the offensive side of the ball, were also let go.

Special teams, although not horrible in 2011, need improvement. The kick return game was stagnant in 2011 as there were no special teams touchdowns scored whatsoever. Two field goals were blocked in a game Dec. 24 against the Oakland Raiders, an overtime loss that haunted the team. Had the Chiefs won that game, they would have made the playoffs.

Placekicker Ryan Succop was a bright spot on special teams. ESPN reports he tied Pete Stoyanovich’s franchise record of 22 makes in a row. As such, the team signed him to a five-year, $14 million contract for his hard work.

There is still no word on a new offensive coordinator.

Whoever gets hired to run the offense will have an interesting job in 2012. Key players will be back from injuries. The defense, run by Crennel in 2011, came up big and bailed out the offense several times. The offense was sorely lacking in scoring. The Chiefs’ red zone offense was horrible. They would move the ball just fine until the team got down inside the five with a first a goal situation. Succop had eight field goals from less than 29 yards, meaning the ball was spotted at the 12-yard-line or closer to the end zone.

The Chiefs will likely draft an offensive lineman high in the draft as they need players to replace aging veterans that can open up holes for running backs and who can protect quarterback Matt Cassel.

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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(AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have hired Tom McMahon to coach special teams while cutting ties with three assistants from former head coach Todd Haley’s staff.

McMahon will take over for Steve Hoffman, who was not retained after Romeo Crennel was elevated from interim head coach to the permanent job.

Also let go were wide receivers coach Richie Anderson and assistant offensive line coach Pat Perles.

The team announced the moves Monday.

McMahon has spent the past three seasons coaching special teams for St. Louis.

He’s also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons and in the college ranks with Louisville.

The Chiefs still have not decided on an offensive coordinator.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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The Kansas City Chiefs will look to carry over their end of year success on the defensive side of the ball into 2012, as general manager Scott Pioli said he expects newly installed head coach Romeo Crennel to double as the team’s defensive coordinator.

“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.”

Crennel handled both duties for the final three games last season after replacing fired Chiefs coach Todd Haley. The Chiefs won two of their last three, including hanging the first loss on the undefeated and defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers on week 15. The Chiefs allowed just 11 points/game under Crennel’s leadership.

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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.”