Chiefs fans got an early Christmas present Monday night when it was reported that general manager Carl Peterson will resign at the end of the season.

Kansas City Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt today announced that Carl Peterson will step down as President, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer at the end of the 2008 season.

“On behalf of my family and the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization, I want to thank Carl for his two decades of service to the Chiefs,� Hunt said. “Both Carl and I agreed that immediately initiating the search for the next Chiefs General Manager would be the best thing for the future of the organization, and he will be resigning following the 2008 season.�

Peterson joined the Chiefs in 1989, and guided the club through one of the most successful eras in its history. During his 20 years at the helm, the Chiefs amassed a 176-141-1 record, won the AFC West four times and reached the AFC Championship Game in 1993.

Hunt said the search for a new General Manager will begin immediately. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Denny Thum will serve as the Chiefs interim President and General Manager.

Chiefs fans have to appreciate what Peterson did in the 90s, because he did construct some solid teams. That said, his moves of late have been disastrous and his unwillingness to fix the offensive line over the years has doomed this team’s chances of survival. The Dolphins and Falcons turned their fortunes around in just one season and they did so by first hiring quality football men in the front office (Bill Parcells and Thomas Dimitroff, respectively). The Chiefs can do the same thing, but it all starts with Clark Hunt finding the right GM to rebuild through the draft.

Each year the NFL provides examples of how teams can rise from the basement to the penthouse in just one offseason. 2008 is no different, as the Ravens, Falcons, Dolphins and Jets have all won as many games this year as they did all of last season.

Here are four ways NFL teams can turn around their misfortune in just one offseason along examples from the 2008 season.

1. Get a strong, football-minded front office person to construct the team.
2008 Example: Miami Dolphins
It’s safe to say at this point that Bill Parcells knows what he’s doing. He’s won everywhere he’s gone and it would have been naïve to think he wouldn’t turn around the Dolphins at some point. But the fact that he’s done it this quickly is remarkable and speaks volumes for how necessary it is for teams to have good front office people in place to run the day-to-day operations. Parcells is a football-minded guy and he can judge talent. He parted ways with long-time veterans Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor because he knew they weren’t going to play key roles in Miami’s future. Sure the Dolphins lost veteran talent, but they also were focused on moving forward. Parcells also went out and found a competent quarterback in Chad Pennington and drafted a franchise left tackle in Jake Long. Now the Fish can compete on a weekly basis, unlike last season when they were dead in the water (no pun intended) before games even started. Teams can’t win if their front office makes huge draft mistakes and can’t fit individual pieces into one big puzzle. Credit the Dolphins for spending big on a proven winner in Parcells. They might not make the playoffs this year, but they’re competing again and soon enough, the postseason will become a reality.

Two of the worst teams in the NFL last year resided in Miami and Atlanta. So following the 2007 season, the two franchises decided to start fresh with new front office personal, new head coaches and a lot of new faces on their respective rosters.

The Dolphins hired Bill Parcells to run the football operations and former Cowboys’ assistant Tony Sparano to replace Cam Cameron as head coach. The Falcons tabbed former Patriots’ director of college scouting Thomas Dimitroff as GM and ex-Jaguars’ defensive coordinator Mike Smith as head coach.

Few pundits figured that with all of the changes that were made, that the Dolphins and Falcons would compete right away. But that’s exactly what’s happening.

After beating the Patriots two weeks ago, the Dolphins pulled off another big upset on Sunday, knocking off the Chargers 17-10 in Miami. The team once again used the “Wildcat� formation with Ronnie Brown taking direct snaps and gashing San Diego for 125 yards and a touchdown. Chad Pennington (one of those new roster faces) was also solid, completing 22 of 29 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, the Falcons and rookie QB Matt Ryan (one of the many new faces on the Falcons’ overhauled roster) waltz into Green Bay, mounted a 17-7 lead and eventually hung on for a 27-24 win. It was Ryan’s first win on the road as a starter, and the team’s third victory of the season. Not bad for a team that many prognosticators predicted would only have one or two wins total in 2008.

One thing that both of these teams lacked in prior years was toughness and neither franchise was very physical. But Sparano and Smith have changed that in just a short period of time and it’s amazing how much of a difference a year can make. Especially in Atlanta’s case, which was left in complete disarray following Michael Vick’s arrest and Bobby Petrino’s spinelessness.