Gansz Wants a New Spirit for Chiefs

Frank Gansz instilled a winning attitude in the Kansas City Chiefs special teams. Now he has to do the same with an entire team.

Under Gansz, the Chiefs’ kick coverage and return squads became offensive weapons. His outgoing style endeared himself to the players so much that when he resigned after the season, several players met with Chiefs management in an attempt to get Gansz back on the staff.

The meeting was followed by the firing of John Mackovic and, two days later, the hiring of Gansz as head coach.

Team owner Lamar Hunt cited a lack of “chemistry” as the only reason for firing Mackovic. When asked how he could improve the team’s chemistry, Gansz said he did not know.

“It’s just me,” he said. “I’m happy to be here. I enjoy the guys. I enjoy coaching. I enjoy every member of our staff. They bring out things in me. I hope I bring it out in them. I hope I can do that for the players. The only thing I’ll do is work at it every day.”

Now that his coaching staff is complete, Gansz said wants to solve the team’s problems. Kansas City was last in the NFL in total offense and next to last in rushing.

“Maybe the guy’s on our roster,” Gansz said. “Maybe we have to go out and get him, but we’ve got to get him. We’ve got to settle on a tight end. We’ve got to (get another) cornerback and we need help at linebacker.