Some of the NFL teams that made head coaching hires in the past couple of weeks have already filled their staffs with assistants. The Chiefs, who hired Romeo Crennel on Jan. 9, are still looking for some offensive coaches, including a coordinator.

Crennel said today he may not have his staff set until after the Feb. 5 Super Bowl.

''It could be a week, it could be two weeks,'' Crennel said. ''We’re still trying to work through all of that. We’re going to investigate all avenues. In the next couple of weeks, we should know the direction we’re going.''

The Chiefs sequester their scouts in a place so far from the public eye that their names generally surface only when they're in line for a promotion. That's the case with Phil Emery, their lead college scout. He's reportedly a finalist to become the general manager for the Chicago Bears.

A closer look at Emery reveals this shouldn't come as a surprise. He's worked his way up though the ranks, first as an assistant coach in college, then as an NFL scout, first for the Bears and later with the Falcons before joining the Chiefs shortly after Scott Pioli arrived as general manager.

The award winners were announced today for the annual 101 Banquet. No Chiefs were selected, but a former Chief, Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen, is the NFC's defensive player of the year. Allen led the NFL this season with 22 sacks, a half-sack short of the league record.

The other award winners:

---Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the NFC offensive player of the year. Rodgers set an NFL record with his 122.5 passer rating. He threw 45 touchdown passes and just six interceptions.

Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said today during an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he would call the defenses for the Chiefs next season.

''The last three games I remained the defensive coordinator and . . . it worked pretty (well),'' he said, referring to his time as interim head coach at the end of the season.

He also indicated he would like to retain the rest of the defensive coaching staff. The staff includes Anthony Pleasant (defensive line), Gary Gibbs and Adam Zimmer (linebackers), Emmitt Thomas (secondary) and Otis Smith (defensive assistant).

In my previous post I told you the 22 Chiefs players who could soon become free agents. Now, as promised, here's what the Chiefs should do about that.

Keepers (6): RB Jackie Battle, LB Jovan Belcher, WR Dwayne Bowe, CB Brandon Carr, S Jon McGraw, QB Kyle Orton. Battle isn’t an every-down back, but he’s useful as a special teams player and spare back. He could fill the backup spot behind Jamaal Charles and Dexter McCluster if the Chiefs can’t find another back to do it. Belcher doesn’t get much attention because he plays next to Derrick Johnson, but he’s become a solid player against the run. Bowe and Carr are no-brainers. By the way, if I have to choose, I’ll make Bowe the franchise player. He’s slightly cheaper than Carr that way plus he would be much more difficult for the Chiefs to replace. McGraw has been a valuable reserve during his time with the Chiefs, though his advancing age (he will be 33 in April) and his history with injuries has me apprehensive about this one. Orton’s on this list for one reason: A starting caliber NFL quarterback is a valuable thing and shouldn’t be left on a free-agent pile. The Chiefs may be able to get something for him in a trade. But I don’t think it will happen. I think he’s looking to resurrect his career elsewhere.

In case you missed this in the midst of the Romeo Crennel coverage, what follows is a list of potential Chiefs free agents plus the contract status of all their other players. As of this writing, the Chiefs have 68 players on their roster.

Took a look at the possible free agents and tell me which ones you think the Chiefs need to retain and which ones they need to send on their way. I'll be posting my own thoughts on that subject later today.

Now that the Raiders have fired Hue Jackson after one year on the job (what a place that is), here's a suggestion for Romeo Crennel.

Hire Al Saunders as the Chiefs offensive coordinator ... unless the Raiders promote him from offensive coordinator to head coach.

Saunders would breathe some life into the Chiefs offense with his high-energy approach.

True, it will be another new system for Matt Cassel and company, but Saunders is a wonderful teacher and will have the entire off-season to implement it.

The Chiefs signed another one of their practice squad players. This time it's guard Darryl Harris. He joined the Chiefs in 2009 as a rookie free agent from Mississippi and played i one game that season.

He then spent all of the last two seasons on th practice squad.

The Chiefs signed six other practice squad players last week.

The worst kept secret in Kansas City is now official: Romeo Crennel is officially the new head coach of the Chiefs.

The 64-year-old Crennel seemed the obvious candidate from the time the Chiefs fired Todd Haley and installed Crennel as the interim head coach. He won two of his three games as the interim coach with the victories coming against playoff teams from Green Bay and Denver.

''I’ve known Romeo for quite some time and understand and know what he is and who he is and what he represents,'' general manager Scott Pioli said at a news conference today. ''He’s got a great football mind. He’s got a great deal of integrity. He certainly knows who to get the troops motivated, to say the least. He is someone that knows how to create a great deal of energy, emotion and respect among the players.''

Chiefs linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali were chosen to the Associated Press All-Pro teams. Johnson was a first-team pick as an inside linebacker joining Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman of San Francisco. Hali was a second-team choice at outside linebacker along with Denver rookie Von Miller.

Both players were recently selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the first time in their careers in Honolulu on Jan. 29.