Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt addressed the dismissal of general manager John Dorsey and promotion of Brett Veach to that role during a news conference on Monday at Arrowhead Stadium.
During the course of the meeting with Kansas City media, Hunt left no doubt about whose decision it was to make the stunning change.
"The decision was mine."
Adding that he also moved quickly to inform head coach Andy Reid of his plans to not offer Dorsey a new contract, Hunt echoed what he's said when Dorsey was released earlier this month.
"It was a difficult decision," Hunt said, "but after a thorough evaluation of our football operations, in the long-term interests of the Chiefs I felt it was best to make a change."
Hunt also said that "John and I haven't spoken since we parted ways."
Reid understood the need to make a change, Hunt said.
"I think Andy's been around the business long enough to know that sometimes tough decisions have to be made," Hunt said, "even when you have a friendship with an individual."
Hunt said he had a "great personal relationship with John," and that the decision was "about making the Kansas City Chiefs better. He also said the goal of the franchise is to win Super Bowls.
"To have a championship team, your personnel department needs to be functioning at a very high level," Hunt said. "The other 31 teams have a personnel department that's functioning at a very high level."
Noting that he wouldn't be "saying anything negative about John or the job he did for the Chiefs," Hunt explained that there was no single turning point that precipitated the shakeup.
"Over the course of the spring, there were enough issues that popped up that prompted" evaluation of the front office, Hunt said. He further said that he became concerned about the team's ability to build on the success it has enjoyed in recent years.
He would not elaborate on what those issues were.
Of Veach, Hunt said, "He's a very sharp young man." He said Veach will have control over the team's 53-man regular-season roster, and that the construct established for Reid and Dorsey _ head coach and general manager both answering to the owner _ will remain in effect.
The team's rookies and quarterbacks report to training camp Monday afternoon in St. Joseph.
