The Kansas City Chiefs hired Herman Edwards as its head coach on Monday, ending days of speculation. Edwards had been rumored to be the leading candidate of Chiefs’ President Carl Edwards, but both sides were mum on the issue as a compensation deal between the Chiefs and Jets was reached. Edwards still had two years remaining on his contract in New York.
To get Edwards, Kansas City had to give the Jets a fourth-round pick. In five seasons with the Jets, Edwards was 39-41 and took New York to the playoffs three times. In 2005, the Jets were 4-12.
Edwards’ relationship with Carl Peterson goes back to the early 1970’s when Edwards was recruited by Peterson out of high school. Peterson was an assistant at UCLA and Edwards decided to go to Cal-Berkley.
In 1977 Peterson, who was the General Manager of the Philadelphia, signed Edwards as an undrafted rookie. The two crossed paths again in1990, when Peterson hired Edwards as a scout. In 1992, Edwards became a defensive backs coach until moving back into a scouting role for the Chiefs in 1994.
In 1995, he took an assistant coaching job with the Buccaneers and became the Jets head coach in 2001.
Edwards will reportedly make $12 million over the next four years.