After a long week of speculation, it is finally official. Vice-president of personnel Scott Pioli, 43, has decided to leave the New England Patriots and join the Kansas City Chiefs as General Manager.
Pioli will be taking over a team that has a long history and stable ownership, in the Hunt family, that has been trying to re-establish itself as part of the NFL elite for the past decade. The Chiefs are spending $325 million to give a facelift to the aging Arrow Head stadium and are currently about $32 million under the salary cap. The ownership, reinvestment into the team and cap space shows commitment and opportunity Pioli could not pass up.
There are a few questions about the direction of the team and the future of current coach Herm Edwards after going 2-14. The local Kansas City media seem to love the idea of Pioli coming on board and have no issue if the coaching staff needs to be changed. At KansasCity.com they love Pioli’s resume, work ethic and believes the Chiefs are now in the Hunt again for the playoffs.
The guys over at Home of the Chiefs are still not sure about the move questioning if Pioli is overrated or a true genius..
In Kansas City, Pioli has an opportunity now to be his own man and create his own legacy beyond New England and coach Bill Belichick. But Pioli cannot complain about his role to build the New England franchise into one of the premiere sporting teams in the United States. Three Super Bwol Championships is nothing to dismiss and we in Patriot Nation should always remember Pioli’s relationship with Belichick has been a key part of the team’s success.
So why now should Pioli leave now? As most in Patriot Nation have noted, Thomas Dimitroff left New England
for the GM job with the Atlanta Falcons after the 2007 season and had a
pretty successful first year with a rookie coach and quarterback by
making the playoffs and revitalizing a team that seemed to be spiraling
out of control.
So who could possibly step into Pioli’s shoes? With Dimitroff now in Hotlanta, the logical internal choice seems to be director of player personnel Nick Caserio. Casario joined the New England Patriots starting out as a personal assistant in the scouting department and also assisted the coaches on the sidelines before being promoted to director of pro personnel in 2004.
In 2007, Caserio was the receivers coach of the high flying Patriots offense that fused newcomers Randy Moss and Wes Welker into the mix breaking league and team records along the way. In 2008, Caserio was named director or player personellreplacing Dimitroff.
One note of interest, Caserio played college football as a quarterback at John Carrol University with former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (so wierd to write that).
Usually, the team is quick to announce personnel moves (or at least when related to Mangini and Daboll leaveing). It is still too early to knwo who the Patriots select to replace Scott Pioli and Belichick has still to announce replacement coaches fairly quickly and there has been no word about who will replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The expectation is that defensive backs/speacial assistant coach Dom Capers and special teams coach Brad Seely will also be leaving the Patriots. Possibly to join McDaniels, Mangini or Pioli…
Stay tuned!!
IN BILL WE TRUST!!
Ack. I hate seeing all these guys leaving but that is what you pay for success. Still got the right guys at the top so like you say, In Bill We Trust!
My guess is that Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio will replace Pioli. No real inside info or anything, but that seems to be a natural “next in line” position.
Trust Belichick! But look at what a team the team of Belichick and Pioli made: http://mynfl.mysportspen.com/patriots/2009/01/14/beli-pioli%e2%80%99s-top-ten/