kcsaints

Huge news this morning from the team: The Atlanta Falcons have hired Scott Pioli as the new assistant general manager, working alongside Thomas Dimitroff.

Pioli was thrown around as a possible director of player personnel for the Falcons if Lionel Vital got the Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager job, but this is unexpected and welcome news. Pioli's addition to the front office tells you that the Falcons recognize they did a poor job of evaluating the readiness and talent level of the defense, in particular, and that they want to take concrete steps to remedy it. Pioli has been involved in quality defensive drafts at every stop of his career.

Pioli has a long and distinguished career in player personnel, serving as pro personnel coordinators, player personnel directors and player personnel vice presidents for several NFL teams. His most famous stint was in New England, where he helped build the Patriots dynasty of the early-to-mid 2000's through judicious drafting and free agent signings. He was there from 2000-2008, and certainly it's fair to give him a fair share of credit for the team's talent level through those years, even if Bill Belichick obviously wrung better performance out of those players than most coaches would.

From there, Pioli went to the Kansis City Chiefs as a general manager in 2009. The killer Chiefs defense you see today was largely built by Pioli's front office, so again, a huge point in his favor. He struggled to find offensive talent outside of Jamaal Charles, however, and that can be used to build a case against him. The Falcons, of course, have less of a problem finding skill position talent than elsewhere.

His tenure in Kansas City ended under a dark cloud, with the Chiefs struggling to get over the hump and plenty of rumors about Pioli being an incredibly paranoid general manager who feuded with staff members and coaches. As the assistant general manager that should be less of an issue, but it is worth keeping in mind that he's got a reputation as someone who can be quite difficult to work with. By the time he left KC, Chiefs fans were very sour on him.

Falcons Hire Scott Pioli As Assistant General Manager - The Falcoholic

kcsaints

They are doomed I tell ya DOOMED!

QBREES9

LOL yes they are.

Utah_Saint

I wonder if the Falcons are losing faith in Thomas Dimitroff.

Instead of a QB controversy, they're gonna have a General Manager controversy.