USFL 2022: Todd Haley brings wealth of experience to Tampa Bay Bandits
By RJ Young
FOX Sports Writer
I told Todd Haley a joke. There are those who believe I took an extreme risk.
Not so.
I was privy to the first and second days of the 2022 inaugural United States Football League Draft on the 15th floor of a high-rise building in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. At the law offices of Balch and Bingham LLP, I watched Tampa Bay Bandits coach Haley pace the same hallway for most of the draft.
After informing each player that he was the newest member of the Bandits, Haley followed up with the same three questions: Are you healthy? How’s your weight? Have you been working out?
When our recent conversation ended, I told Haley I was healthy, holding strong at my current weight and had worked out just that morning. He laughed.
"All right, sign a contract," he joked. "We'll put you in the pool."
Perhaps that’s the best way to show that Haley is having a great time as a USFL head coach after spending 23 years coaching in the NFL.
Todd Haley's time with Pittsburgh
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Haley literally grew up in the NFL.
He started as a ball boy for his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers. His father, Dick, was director of player personnel during the Steelers’ legendary run that included four Super Bowls wins between 1974 and 1979. Todd's first official job in the NFL was working as a scouting assistant to his father with the New York Jets in 1995. He was eventually promoted to coach wide receivers.
He earned his first offensive coordinator job in 2007 at Arizona, where, as a member of Ken Whisenhunt’s staff, he called plays in the 2009 Super Bowl.
Then as head coach in Kansas City, he led the Chiefs to one of the best turnarounds in franchise history. After a 4-12 season in 2009, Haley’s Chiefs clinched the AFC West crown in 2010 in Week 16 — the franchise’s first division title in seven years — against Jeff Fisher’s Tennessee Titans.
"I'm very proud of my Kansas City time," Haley said. "When you're part of turning an organization in the right direction, it's very, very fulfilling.
"And, yeah, I mean, now you got Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid obviously is awesome. We did it with some people that a lot of people didn't talk about a bunch [like] quarterback Matt Cassel. We won 10 games, won the division and really had a chance to beat the Ravens in the playoffs. We blew it, but very proud of that time."
Todd Haley's turnaround in Kansas City
But after a 7-9 season in 2011, Haley was out of a job. In 2012, though, Mike Tomlin hired him to be the Steelers' offensive coordinator. For Haley, it was a dream come true, especially after he believed that an opportunity with Pittsburgh had passed him by eight years earlier.
"Bill Cowher offered me a job back in 2004," Haley said. "I went with loyalty to Bill Parcells, who went to Dallas and offered me a job. So I missed that opportunity. I thought maybe it would never come back.
"I got fired at the Chiefs and spent a little time with Mike [Tomlin] in Mobile, Alabama. That was supposed to be a little quick, cursory interview, [but it] turned into about a four-hour visit in his hotel room. We hit it off immediately. When I got offered that job, that was a very big deal for me."
Haley made the most of his six years calling plays in Pittsburgh. But after one tumultuous season with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, he decided to hit reset on his coaching career.
In 2020, he became the offensive coordinator at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida, and he learned some things about himself that changed his outlook.
"I've been known as kind of a hothead, a hardliner, an old-school coach," Haley said, "and that's the way I was raised growing up."
From his father to Chuck Noll to Bill Parcells, Haley says he was taught to coach players hard. But while coaching in high school, he learned that teenagers have it hard enough.
"In high school," he said, "when I'm the one saying these coaches are crazy, you’ve had some growth. They're yelling, screaming, and when I become the players’ coach, then you know you've made some growth. When I'm the one patting a player on the butt and saying, ‘It’s OK,’ you know you’ve made some growth."
What Todd Haley learned from coaching high school football
And he’s taking that approach to the USFL, with players who are hungry for the chance to play professional football. Haley has put together a star-studded coaching staff that includes five-time Super Bowl winner Pepper Johnson and former AFC Defensive Player of the Year Carnell Lake.
He says he feels fortunate to have a chance to coach professional football again and to teach the game he has devoted his life to teaching.
Just before we hopped off our Zoom call, I asked him how he felt about the interview.
"Like I tell the players, you don’t have to worry about me," he said. "I’m worried about you."
Spoken like a true players’ coach.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.
