Two down, five to go.
Andy Reid, let go last week by the Eagles after 14 seasons, was introduced as new Chiefs head coach yesterday and the Bills officially hired Doug Marrone as head coach. That leaves five teams still searching for replacements for coaches who were fired a week ago — the day after the regular season ended.
Still looking for coaches are the Cardinals, Bears, Browns, Eagles and Chargers.
Reid’s task is formidable. The Chiefs fired Romeo Crennel after one 2-14 season, but Kansas City has five Pro Bowl players and owns the No. 1 pick in the April draft. Reid said at yesterday’s news conference in Kansas City that settling on a quarterback — Matt Cassell and Brady Quinn both held the starting job during the miserable 2012 season — is priority one.
“I’ve got to find that next Len Dawson, doggone it,” Reid said, referring to the Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Chiefs to their only Super Bowl title, following the 1969 season.
“The Chiefs have always had a passionate fan base and I’m looking forward to Sundays at Arrowhead Stadium,” Reid said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for next season, and we are going to get started immediately.”
Marrone, 48 and a native of The Bronx, spent three seasons as the coach at Syracuse, helping restore the Orange to bowl status, but has a tougher job with the Bills — ending a 13-year postseason drought.
“You have to be at the place where you’re most comfortable, and I’m most comfortable here in western New York,” Marrone said, shortly after being introduced as the 16th coach in the Bills’ 53-year history.
As for the other coaching searches:
* The Cardinals have interviewed their defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. Other candidates include Bengals OC Jay Gruden and Steelers OC Todd Haley.
* The Bears are looking at close to 10 candidates. Among them are McCoy and Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman.
* The Browns have “rebooted” their search now that Chip Kelly is staying at Oregon. Candidates include Horton, fired Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, Colts OC Bruce Arians and Trestman.
* The Eagles were looking at Kelly, too, but now that he’s out of the mix, top candidates include McCoy, Seahawks DC Gus Bradley, and Arians.
* The Chargers likely won’t hire a coach until they settle on a general manager, although Arians is considered a coaching contender.
COLTS: Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians remained in a Baltimore hospital with an undisclosed illness yesterday, a day after he was missed the team’s playoff loss to the Ravens.
On Twitter, team owner Jim Irsay wrote that Arians was feeling better and that the team hoped Arians could return home soon. Coach Chuck Pagano said the illneess “affected [Arians’] blood pressure and they’re not going to release him until they get the blood pressure under control, which they will.”