As thousands of Kansas City fans settle into their seats tonight, they’ll be paying absolutely no attention to a milestone moment Todd Haley has been planning for months.

Since he was hired last winter as Chiefs head coach, Haley has made a point of not setting foot in Arrowhead Stadium. For one thing, there’s been no need to. The coaches’ offices have moved out of Arrowhead into a gleaming new administration building that opened last year.

For another, Haley’s been saving his own personal Arrowhead entrance for tonight’s preseason matchup with Houston. The game will be his own little private grand entrance into the small and exclusive club of NFL head coaches.

“I didn’t want to (go into the stadium) intentionally. I’m saving that for Saturday,” he said this week.

What fans will be watching for closely will be whatever improvements Haley and new general manager Scott Pioli have made on a team coming off a franchise-worst 2-14 season. That record led to the dismissal of the general manager and head coach and the demotion of the quarterback.

There have been plenty of changes in approach, attitude and personnel. Also making their first appearance in a Chiefs uniform will be quarterback Matt Cassel, linebackers Mike Vrabel and Zach Thomas, kicker Ryan Succop and wide receiver Amani Toomer, among others.

Brodie Croyle, who had been designated as KC’s starting quarterback, is now battling Tyler Thigpen for the job as No. 1 backup. The starter is Cassel.

“We still have a lot of work to go, but I am comfortable with the guys now because I have been here a little while,” he said. “Hopefully, we can keep building and building to make this thing a finished product.”