Mackovic Says Firing Caught Him by Surprise

John Mackovic said Friday that his dismissal as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs came a week after he was offered a two-year contract extension by the club.

Appearing at a news conference, Mackovic was in good humor as he discussed his four years with the Chiefs.

“It was a surprise, I think that’s a safe thing to say,” Mackovic said.

Mackovic, who has a year remaining on his contract, said that owner Lamar Hunt did not elaborate on the reasons for the Thursday night firing beyond saying the team’s “chemistry” was not right.

“He did not give me much,” Mackovic said. “He said he had an agonizing time and that he had decided it was in the best interest to make a coaching change.”

Mackovic joined the team in 1983 as the team was staggering through a series of mediocre seasons. The Chiefs improved to 10-6 in 1986 and made their first playoff appearance in 15 years. Over four years and one playoff game, Kansas City was 30-35 under Mackovic.

Mackovic said that he felt no bitterness and that he regarded the firing as an opportunity.

“I’m not going to be hurt about anything, I really am not,” Mackovic said. “I’ve had a good many people call, including one local person whose words were encouraging and positive to me. . . . There is no reason for me to feel any way other than this is life, these things happen.”

Mackovic, who was joined at the news conference by his wife, Arlene, said he would take his time and analyze all possible career moves before making any decision about the future.

“I think everybody is disappointed,” Mackovic said. “But I think as we sat down last night and thought about it, there is some degree of real feeling of this giving us an opportunity to pursue some things that we have never had the opportunity to do.”

Mackovic was hired four years ago for his offensive talents, but it was the special teams and the defense that carried the Chiefs to their successful season.

The postseason turmoil began in the Chiefs front office when defensive coordinator Walt Corey was offered a job with the Buffalo Bills. Special teams coach Frank Gansz resigned Wednesday, saying he was looking for a job as an offensive coordinator.

Several Kansas City players held a meeting Thursday afternoon at the home of kicker Nick Lowery to bemoan the loss of Gansz, who was extremely popular with the players. Hunt attended the meeting, and Mackovic was fired by 4 p.m. CST.

“The players expressed the view that we didn’t want to have a total overhaul of the coaching staff,” All-Pro safety Deron Cherry said. “It (the firing) was a surprise. The offense was not that productive and I guess he (Mackovic) was in charge of the offense.”

Hunt gave no timetable for selecting a coach. Gansz denied reports that he had been offered the job.

“If they want to talk to me, I’ll talk to them,” Gansz said. “Any time a chance comes to be an NFL head coach, you’ve got to investigate it.

“It’s a messy situation, no question. It isn’t very pleasant. But those situations never are. I can’t control what happened. There were problems here before I came.”

Mackovic had verbally agreed to a two-year extension of his contract Jan. 2. Details of the extension were supposed to have been made final last Tuesday.