Print edition: 
The Chiefs have tried this before. They've hired respected defensive coordinators to come to Kansas City to help fix their forlorn defense.
It didn't matter. Through Greg Robinson, Gunther Cunningham and Clancy Pendergast, the Chiefs have been unable to play consistently good defense, or at times avoid playing horrendously bad defense, the past nine seasons.
Still, coach Todd Haley was insistent that this time things would be different with the latest Chiefs defensive coordinator, Romeo Crennel.
"(Crennel) is a guy I have a great amount of respect for that has the resume to back it up," said Haley, who coached for three years with Crennel in the late 1990s when they were assistants with the New York Jets. "He's been part... of turning organizations around, turning teams that haven't been able to win enough games into teams that win enough games to make everybody happy.
"This is an opportunity to add a guy that's been in the middle of that. I've been in the middle with him in New York. I know how he coaches. I know how competitive he is. I know how hard he works to reach that goal."
Crennel, 62, most recently spent four years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, getting fired after the 2008 season. His coaching record is fortified by his four years in the early 2000s spent as defensive coordinator for the Patriots. In New England, Crennel helped the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles.
Haley wanted to hire Crennel last year. But Crennel preferred to take the year off to recuperate from hip surgery and to recharge after his exhausting time in Cleveland.
"I was able to take a breath last year (because) I had hip replacement surgery," Crennel said. "When Todd talked to me last year about the possibility of coming and he was willing to wait however long I felt like I needed, I felt it would be a disservice to him and his program to basically wait until June.
"After sitting out for a year, I'm available. That breath has filled my lungs. The enthusiasm is up, energy is up. My hip, there's no pain in it. I feel really good about coming in and trying to build this program."
The Chiefs will continue to be based out of the 3-4 defense but Crennel is known for mixing and matching depending on the strengths of each week's opponent.
"Each game plan is different and you have to look to your opponent to see what their strong points are and see what you think you need to do to take away their strengths," Crennel said. "We're going to base out of the 3-4 but I've gone into games where we've played 70 percent zone (coverage) and we've gone into games where we've played 70 percent man. It just depends on what the game plan is for that particular opponent.
"How much we pressure and how much we don't pressure depends on the game plan primarily."
"He's not tied to an absolute rigid style of play. A lot of coaches like to moan and complain if they don't have 11 first-round draft choices on the defense. He comes from a background where he's found guys to plug and be productive wherever they come from."
