Bill Muir Not Retired, Planning To Coach Chiefs Offensive Line

Now that Bill Muir has officially retired from the team after rumors ran and were then shot down, the team has come out with some official quotes from its most public faces to support its offensive coach. Muir retired yesterday at the age of 69, and the Chiefs' official release even says that Romeo Crennel wanted the coach to stay on board. However, Muir decided it was time to hang it all up.

“I am excited for Bill as he moves into retirement,” Crennel said. “I have known him for a long time and he is one of the finest coaches I’ve ever been around and an even better person. Bill is a very good friend and I have a great deal of respect for the way he worked. It was a privilege to work alongside him.”

Muir apparently likes Crennel a lot himself and gave the coach a commendation before signing off.

"It has been an honor to be a part of this great league for so long," Muir said. "Over the years I've made a lot of great friends and worked with many talented players and coaches. This was a personal decision for me, the timing was right. The Chiefs are in great hands with Romeo and Scott and I wish them nothing but the best.”

Scott Pioli joined in the friendly banter with his own praise for Muir.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bill,” said Pioli. “I have worked with him for a long time and have witnessed him develop a number of very good football players. His contributions are very much appreciated and he will be missed. We wish him the best moving forward.”

Muir is retiring after 47 years of coaching and scouting in the game of football.

Several days ago, the rumors were swirling from Jason La Canfora, among others, that Bill Muir was retiring from the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coaching staff and that the team would automatically, then, be forced to find someone else for the role. Muir quickly shot those down with a "no one asked me about this" sort of response that made such notions sound ridiculous. One week later, those rumors were apparently true -- although Muir insists that his now-official retirement was not true even seven days ago. Bob Gretz got the story:

"I have had a change of heart on what I told you last week," said Muir on Wednesday in a phone call he initiated. "I am retiring from the Chiefs. My intentions when I spoke last week were conflicted to a degree and I did not want to speak to that at the time. But at the time we spoke at the Senior Bowl, my intentions were to continue to coach. For personal reasons, I’ve changed my mind."

The Chiefs must now move forward with a new offensive coach -- one that could be a simple promotion for a Maurice Carthon or Jim Zorn or an outsider coming in like Al Saunders.