Friday, February 24, 2006
Edwards’ Experience Invaluable at NFL Combine
New Chiefs coach Herm Edwards is still a scout at heart.
Before embarking on his coaching career in the NFL, Edwards was a college scout for the Chiefs and every week traveled to remote campuses, spent hours and hours in film rooms, attended practices in searing heat and bone-chilling cold and worked long nights writing detailed reports on the chance the club might use one of its draft picks on the hundreds of players he graded.
So when the Chiefs begin evaluating the 330 college players attending the NFL scouting combine that begins today at the RCA Dome, Edwards will see them through the eyes of a scout as well as a coach.
Sometimes, that extra dimension can make a difference in analyzing players.
“I look at them a little different,” Edwards said. “There are certain things you look for as a scout … the things you can’t measure with the stopwatch and the tape measure. Does the guy enjoy playing football? Why is he playing football? Is he playing it for the opportunity to make a lot of money, or is he playing it because he likes football?
“The first-, second-, third-round guys, their talent jumps out at you because they have measurables. They’re big, fast, athletic, strong … all those guys have those traits of being a first-day guy. But why don’t all those guys make it? There’s a reason. Talent alone gets you in the league; it doesn’t keep you in the league.
“As a scout, you realize that. A coach is busy coaching football while these scouts are out there doing all the ground work, gathering that information.”
The scouting staff appreciates Edwards’ understanding of their jobs and how they will contribute to this year’s draft.
“Herm knows what we go through,” said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. “We’ve worked since August on these guys. He believes in the scouts, he believes in what we say and is going to push us to get up on the table and stay on our conviction of a guy if we really have that gut feeling.
“He’s going to lean on us, and I think (the draft) is going to be more scout-driven than in the past. Dick (Vermeil) listened to us, Marty (Schottenheimer) listened to us. … but I know Herman has been in the same firing line that we’ve been in.”
Edwards wants to know everything about a player from the way he practices to how he competes not against other players but against himself.
“My big deal is the good players always compete against themselves,” Edwards said. “That way, their level of play never varies. If you play to the competition, you limit yourself. The competition some weeks at some schools, you should beat them by 30. If you have a great game against them, you should have a great game. But if you don’t, you’re playing to the level of competition.
“The good players have learned you set your own standards as a player. You don’t let the opponent determine how you’re going to play that week.”
Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson, who hired Edwards as a scout in 1990 before Edwards became the club’s secondary coach in 1992, said his new head coach’s perspective “will be refreshing.”
“There are some coaches who are not very good evaluators of talent,” Peterson said. “I already know about Herm’s ability to evaluate players, so I’m very comfortable with that. I’m going to take his opinion into the final decision (of drafting players) with a renewed interest …
“I’m going to solicit and want his opinion and input with all these players we’re going to be seeing at the combine. I don’t know that it will be more so than with Marty, Gunther (Cunningham) and Dick, but I really respect that he can and will look at it, not only from a coach’s viewpoint, but from a player personnel scout’s viewpoint.”
Edwards’ imprint on this draft could be especially important because the Chiefs, who have the 20th pick in the first round, have targeted cornerback and safety as primary needs. Edwards spent seven of eight years as a secondary coach with the Chiefs and Tampa Bay before he became the New York Jets’ head coach in 2001.
When the Chiefs make their first pick April 29, the decision-making process will be similar to past years.
“Everyone will have their point of view, their day in court,” Edwards said. “At the end of the day, Carl and I will huddle up. You gather enough information on the guy, from the scouts, coaches, and then you make the decision. Then when you get him here, you have to coach him. Then it’s on the coach.”
New Chiefs coach Herm Edwards is still a scout at heart.
Before embarking on his coaching career in the NFL, Edwards was a college scout for the Chiefs and every week traveled to remote campuses, spent hours and hours in film rooms, attended practices in searing heat and bone-chilling cold and worked long nights writing detailed reports on the chance the club might use one of its draft picks on the hundreds of players he graded.
So when the Chiefs begin evaluating the 330 college players attending the NFL scouting combine that begins today at the RCA Dome, Edwards will see them through the eyes of a scout as well as a coach.
Sometimes, that extra dimension can make a difference in analyzing players.
“I look at them a little different,” Edwards said. “There are certain things you look for as a scout … the things you can’t measure with the stopwatch and the tape measure. Does the guy enjoy playing football? Why is he playing football? Is he playing it for the opportunity to make a lot of money, or is he playing it because he likes football?
“The first-, second-, third-round guys, their talent jumps out at you because they have measurables. They’re big, fast, athletic, strong … all those guys have those traits of being a first-day guy. But why don’t all those guys make it? There’s a reason. Talent alone gets you in the league; it doesn’t keep you in the league.
“As a scout, you realize that. A coach is busy coaching football while these scouts are out there doing all the ground work, gathering that information.”
The scouting staff appreciates Edwards’ understanding of their jobs and how they will contribute to this year’s draft.
“Herm knows what we go through,” said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. “We’ve worked since August on these guys. He believes in the scouts, he believes in what we say and is going to push us to get up on the table and stay on our conviction of a guy if we really have that gut feeling.
“He’s going to lean on us, and I think (the draft) is going to be more scout-driven than in the past. Dick (Vermeil) listened to us, Marty (Schottenheimer) listened to us. … but I know Herman has been in the same firing line that we’ve been in.”
Edwards wants to know everything about a player from the way he practices to how he competes not against other players but against himself.
“My big deal is the good players always compete against themselves,” Edwards said. “That way, their level of play never varies. If you play to the competition, you limit yourself. The competition some weeks at some schools, you should beat them by 30. If you have a great game against them, you should have a great game. But if you don’t, you’re playing to the level of competition.
“The good players have learned you set your own standards as a player. You don’t let the opponent determine how you’re going to play that week.”
Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson, who hired Edwards as a scout in 1990 before Edwards became the club’s secondary coach in 1992, said his new head coach’s perspective “will be refreshing.”
“There are some coaches who are not very good evaluators of talent,” Peterson said. “I already know about Herm’s ability to evaluate players, so I’m very comfortable with that. I’m going to take his opinion into the final decision (of drafting players) with a renewed interest …
“I’m going to solicit and want his opinion and input with all these players we’re going to be seeing at the combine. I don’t know that it will be more so than with Marty, Gunther (Cunningham) and Dick, but I really respect that he can and will look at it, not only from a coach’s viewpoint, but from a player personnel scout’s viewpoint.”
Edwards’ imprint on this draft could be especially important because the Chiefs, who have the 20th pick in the first round, have targeted cornerback and safety as primary needs. Edwards spent seven of eight years as a secondary coach with the Chiefs and Tampa Bay before he became the New York Jets’ head coach in 2001.
When the Chiefs make their first pick April 29, the decision-making process will be similar to past years.
“Everyone will have their point of view, their day in court,” Edwards said. “At the end of the day, Carl and I will huddle up. You gather enough information on the guy, from the scouts, coaches, and then you make the decision. Then when you get him here, you have to coach him. Then it’s on the coach.”
# posted by Michelle @ 1:51 PM 
