Romeo Crennel

Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is the head coach and defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League.

Playing career
Crennel played baseball and football at Fort Knox (Ky.) High School and Central (Va.) High School before committing to college football at Western Kentucky. Although he was a four-year starter as a defensive lineman, he became an offensive lineman during his senior season at the request of the coaching staff. He was named the team's MVP after the switch but was not drafted and never played in the NFL. While the move did hinder his draft chances, it increased his knowledge of the game, by experiencing the trenches from both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Crennel earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Kentucky, and then a master’s degree while serving as a graduate assistant for the school in 1970.

College
After one season as a graduate assistant with Western Kentucky (1970), Crennel served as the defensive line coach for three seasons (1971–1974). He then became an assistant for defensive coordinator Bill Parcells and head coach Steve Sloan at Texas Tech for three seasons (1975–1977). Crennel finished his collegiate career with two seasons as the defensive ends coach for Mississippi (1978–1979) and one season as the defensive line coach for Georgia Tech (1980).

Assistant coach
After spending two seasons as an assistant with the New York Giants, Crennel became the special teams coach for seven seasons (1983–1989) and the defensive line coach for three seasons (1990–1992). In 1983, he was reunited with Parcells as the head coach.

When Parcells stepped down as Giants head coach after Super Bowl XXV, Crennel stayed with the team under the two year tenure of Ray Handley. Crennel left the Giants after the 1992 season and worked as the defensive line coach for the New England Patriots for four seasons (1993–1996) and for the New York Jets for three seasons (1997–1999) during the time that Parcells was the head coach in each franchise.

Crennel was hired as the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator for the 2000 season before filling the same role with the Patriots for four seasons (2001–2004) under long-time friend Bill Belichick.

On January 13, 2010, Crennel hired as the Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator, reuniting him with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and General Manager Scott Pioli from their days with the Patriots.

Head coach
Before beginning the 2003 playoffs with the Patriots, Crennel interviewed for head coaching positions with six teams in under 36 hours. He was not offered any jobs, however, and was passed up by the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons.

Cleveland Browns
Crennel went 6-10 and 4-12 in his first two seasons with the Browns, finishing last or tied for last in the AFC North and missing the playoffs each year. The Browns finished the 2007 season with a 10-6 record, just falling short of making the playoffs. Crennel's success in the 2007 season earned him a two-year contract extension in January 2008. On December 29, 2008, following a disappointing 4-12 season, Crennel was fired by the Browns.

Kansas City Chiefs
Following Todd Haley's termination as the team's head coach after 13 games in the 2011 season, Crennel was named the team's interim head coach for the remaining 3 games of the season. Crennel won his first game as the interim head coach of the Chiefs on December 18, 2011 against the then undefeated Green Bay Packers 19-14, which was significant as Crennel snapped the Packers' 19-game winning streak ended their hopes for a perfect season. Crennel finished his stint as interim head coach with a 2-1 record. On January 9, 2012 Crennel was named the teams permanent head coach. Three days later, Crennel announced his intent to remain as defensive coordinator during his tenure as head coach.

Head coaching record

 * Crennel served as the Chiefs head coach on an interim basis for the final 3 games of the 2011 season.

Coaching tree
NFL head coaches under whom Romeo Crennel has served:
 * Ray Perkins: New York Giants
 * Bill Parcells: New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets
 * Ray Handley: New York Giants
 * Chris Palmer: Cleveland Browns
 * Bill Belichick: New England Patriots
 * Todd Haley: Kansas City Chiefs

Personal
Crennel had hip replacement surgery in early 2009 and decided to sit-out the 2009 football season while recuperating.