CHICAGO (AP) -- Had things worked out a little differently, Gunther Cunningham would have been in Chicago this week preparing for the Chiefs. Instead, he was in Kansas City getting ready for the Bears.

There are six rookie head coaches in the NFL this year, but only two will face each other in Sunday's season opener. Wouldn't you know it, it's Cunningham against the other team that interviewed him.

"It really is something when you think about it," said Cunningham, the Chiefs' defensive coordinator the last four seasons. "When you wait as long as I have to get a job and then you finally get it, and then you're interviewed by both teams in the season opener, if you're going to write a script, you can't write it much better than that."

Cunningham was one of five finalists for the Bears job, which opened when Dave Wannstedt was fired after a second 4-12 season. A good friend of Bears personnel guru Mark Hatley from Hatley's Kansas City days, Cunningham was eager for the job and enthusiastic about his chances.

But the Bears chose Dave McGinnis instead, a former Chicago assistant who is now Arizona's defensive coordinator.

"You guys all ran me out of town," Cunningham said, laughing. "So I'm going to come back with some friends."

McGinnis never did become the Bears coach. Miffed when the team announced his hiring before he agreed to the job, he went home and left Chicago scrambling. Cunningham was no longer an option, hired to replace Marty Schottenheimer about the same time the Bears made the McGinnis announcement.

The Bears eventually chose Dick Jauron, the defensive coordinator at Jacksonville the last four seasons.

"My family's been real happy here in Kansas City," Cunningham said. "But I was really impressed with all the people I met up there. There are a lot of good people up there and I've always been a big Chicago fan and a fan of the city itself."

And the Chiefs are big fans of Cunningham. One of the most popular people in the organization, he seems to be the perfect person to repair the woes of last year. A disastrous 7-9 season, the only losing season in Schottenheimer's 10 years, prompted finger-pointing and bad blood, and led to Schottenheimer's surprise resignation.

Though it's essentially the same team Schottenheimer had last year, there's a very different feeling, quarterback Elvis Grbac said.

"Change was good," said Grbac, benched last year because of injury and poor play. "I think it was needed. Gun brings this new attitude and focus that the team needed. Last year, I think we got off the track a little bit."

The attitude might be new, but the schemes aren't. The only real question offensively is when first-round pick John Tait will play. The tackle, who left the team last week saying he'd been cursed and badgered, signed with the Chiefs on Thursday.

There won't be any surprises on defense, either. In fact, Cunningham is telling anyone who will listen he plans to blitz the Bears all day long. Big surprise there. With Shane Matthews making his first NFL start and rookie Cade McNown getting some time, the Chiefs will throw as much as they can at the inexperienced quarterbacks and try to fluster them.

"We know Kansas City is going to throw a lot of things at us that we haven't seen on the film," said Matthews, who has only played in two NFL games in five years. "But as long as I know the offense inside and out and can get us in the right protections, we'll be fine."

Derrick Thomas might have something to say about that. The linebacker, whose 119{ career sacks are ninth best in NFL history, had a whopping six sacks in last season's opener. That was one shy of the NFL single-game record he set in 1990.

The secondary could be a concern if cornerback James Hasty, who skipped practice Wednesday, doesn't return.

Whether Hasty shows or not, Cunningham is eager for this first game.

"The discipline is back. The class is back," he said. "I hope we get our swagger back that we lost a little bit last year."

KANSAS CITY Season schedule and results

CHICAGO Season schedule and results

September 12 @Chicago 1:00pm ET September 19 Denver 4:15pm ET September 26 Detroit 1:00pm ET October 3 @San Diego 4:15pm ET October 10 New England 1:00pm ET October 21 @Baltimore 8:20pm ET October 31 San Diego 1:00pm ET November 7 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET November 14 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET November 21 Seattle 1:00pm ET November 28 @Oakland 4:15pm ET December 5 @Denver 4:15pm ET December 12 Minnesota 8:20pm ET December 18 Pittsburgh 12:40pm ET December 26 @Seattle 4:05pm ET January 2 Oakland 1:00pm ET

September 12 Kansas City 1:00pm ET September 19 Seattle 1:00pm ET September 26 @Oakland 4:15pm ET October 3 New Orleans 1:00pm ET October 10 @Minnesota 1:00pm ET October 17 Philadelphia 1:00pm ET October 24 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET October 31 @Washington 1:00pm ET November 7 @Green Bay 1:00pm ET November 14 Minnesota 1:00pm ET November 21 @San Diego 4:15pm ET November 25 @Detroit 12:40pm ET December 5 Green Bay 1:00pm ET December 19 Detroit 1:00pm ET December 26 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET January 2 Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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