5 Best Candidates Not Named Romeo Crennel To Coach the Chiefs in 2012

The Kansas City Chiefs have a tough decision to make this offseason as they will have to decide who's going to be their head coach for next season and beyond.

At this point, it would appear that interim head coach Romeo Crennel has the inside track to this job, but no one seems to know what will happen in the coming weeks.

Assuming that Romeo will not get the job, here are the five best candidates to become the next head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jeff Fisher

Fisher is a viable option to be the next Chiefs head coach for a number of reasons.

First of all, he has 16 years of NFL head coaching experience in the past, all with the Tennessee Titans organization.

He also is a proven, winning coach as well, having gone 146-120 during his time with that franchise.

Fisher could become KC's next HC at the right price, as long he would be willing to relinquish a little control at that position.

Jon Gruden

Former Raiders and Bucs HC Jon Gruden has been enjoying his time as an analyst on ESPN these days.

However, Gruden recently stated that he wants to coach in the NFL again.

The Sandusky, Ohio, native brings with him a strong offensive mind and also has a Lombardi trophy under his belt.

If the Chiefs are willing to pay him, he could do wonders with this offense in the future.

Bill O'Brien

It's hard to believe that many around the NFL haven't mentioned this guy's name when discussing the Chiefs' head coaching position.

He has the one thing that many candidates will not have—the Patriots connection.

O'Brien has worked with the Pats since '07, and you can bet that Scott Pioli is very familiar with him.

Hiring O'Brien to coach KC next season makes too much sense right now for it not to happen.

Brian Billick

Former Ravens coach Brian Billick is another name that hasn't been brought up too often in regards to this job.

Sure, he hasn't picked up a headset in over four years, which was when he was fired by Baltimore.

However, he still possesses the HC experience that the Chiefs will be looking for in their candidate search for this position.

Even though he never had much of an offense in Baltimore, Billick was able to win a Super Bowl title in his eight years with that franchise.

Mike Mularkey

Even though the Chiefs are much more likely to go with an experienced NFL head coach at this point, Mularkey is still a solid option for this position.

He's one of the best offensive coordinators in the league and will likely get many looks from other teams around the league that are in search of a new HC this offseason.

Since taking over as the Falcons' offensive coordinator in '08, he has turned that unit into one of the better units in the NFC.

If he had that much success in Atlanta already, it's a wonder what he could do with the talent level that he would have on offense in KC.