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Pioli talks Patriots tree
You can count more than a quarter of the NFL having leadership that can be tied together by Bill Parcells and Belichick.
The Patriots, Dolphins, Browns, Saints, Broncos, Chiefs, Lions, Falcons and Giants are all led by people from that football tree, and as such, there are a lot of people with a similar philosophy at events like this week's combine having institutional knowledge of others teams' thinking.
Does it matter? Well, according to Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, not as much as you might think.
"What I'd say -- because the branches are in different places -- the makeup of the individual is very similar," Pioli said. "What you're looking for physically and philosphically is different, because what they're running in Atlanta, and what we're running and what the Patriots are running and what they're running in Miami are different things."
As for the makeup part of it, Pioli says, "We want smart guys and we want professionals and we want guys that are going to put football among the top three most important things in their life. We want absolute consummate professionals."
Sound familiar? Well, it should. And something else that's familiar is the "makeup" of the Chiefs football ops these days. You've had Pioli there for a year, but now you have Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel back in the positions they held in New England: Offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively.
The Patriots, Dolphins, Browns, Saints, Broncos, Chiefs, Lions, Falcons and Giants are all led by people from that football tree, and as such, there are a lot of people with a similar philosophy at events like this week's combine having institutional knowledge of others teams' thinking.
Does it matter? Well, according to Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, not as much as you might think.
"What I'd say -- because the branches are in different places -- the makeup of the individual is very similar," Pioli said. "What you're looking for physically and philosphically is different, because what they're running in Atlanta, and what we're running and what the Patriots are running and what they're running in Miami are different things."
As for the makeup part of it, Pioli says, "We want smart guys and we want professionals and we want guys that are going to put football among the top three most important things in their life. We want absolute consummate professionals."
Sound familiar? Well, it should. And something else that's familiar is the "makeup" of the Chiefs football ops these days. You've had Pioli there for a year, but now you have Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel back in the positions they held in New England: Offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively.
Add in ex-Parcells assistants like Mo Carthon and new linebackers coach Gary Gibbs and, well, you've got a heck of a lot of experience there.
What Pioli hopes it adds up to is more strong voices in the room, and more healthy disagreements that lead to more informed decisions.
"That's something that Todd and I talked about wanting to make sure we had more of," Pioli said. "Gary Gibbs is great at it, and he's professional about it. Charlie is great at it -- Charlie disagrees with everyone about everything, I say that kiddingly. And Romeo does too, and because we all know one, they know it's part of what we told them before they got here, we want different ideas.
"We want to hear 'No,' there needs to be 'no.' It helps for growth. A lot of people say they want that, but not everyone does want it. Todd and I really want it, and we need it. We need to be pushed back, none of us have all the answers."
And Pioli continued on the theme of experience ... "It's not just for Todd, for myself as well. Romeo's been coaching almost as long as I've been alive. The experience, they've been through things, not only in the same places we've been, but also outside of it. Romeo had his own program in Cleveland, Charlie had his own program at Notre Dame, Gary was at the University of Oklahoma.
"It's a lot of people, and there are little things that have come up, even in the last several weeks, where we have challenges ahead of us and we sit together as a group ... And to be able to bounce things off of people with experience like that is tremendous. And again, not just for Todd, but for me as well, people we know and trust. Something that I've learned over these years is chemistry is critical."
We can relate this back to the Patriots now, as they go into 2010: Is the chemistry there with the coaching staff? Will the lack of experience hurt the team?
New England's won with young coaches before. Heck, they broke every record in the book in 2007 with an offensive coordinator, in Josh McDaniels, that had just turned 30.
But guys like McDaniels aren't a dime a dozen, so it'll be interesting to watch whether or not the Patriots can develop more like him.
What Pioli hopes it adds up to is more strong voices in the room, and more healthy disagreements that lead to more informed decisions.
"That's something that Todd and I talked about wanting to make sure we had more of," Pioli said. "Gary Gibbs is great at it, and he's professional about it. Charlie is great at it -- Charlie disagrees with everyone about everything, I say that kiddingly. And Romeo does too, and because we all know one, they know it's part of what we told them before they got here, we want different ideas.
"We want to hear 'No,' there needs to be 'no.' It helps for growth. A lot of people say they want that, but not everyone does want it. Todd and I really want it, and we need it. We need to be pushed back, none of us have all the answers."
And Pioli continued on the theme of experience ... "It's not just for Todd, for myself as well. Romeo's been coaching almost as long as I've been alive. The experience, they've been through things, not only in the same places we've been, but also outside of it. Romeo had his own program in Cleveland, Charlie had his own program at Notre Dame, Gary was at the University of Oklahoma.
"It's a lot of people, and there are little things that have come up, even in the last several weeks, where we have challenges ahead of us and we sit together as a group ... And to be able to bounce things off of people with experience like that is tremendous. And again, not just for Todd, but for me as well, people we know and trust. Something that I've learned over these years is chemistry is critical."
We can relate this back to the Patriots now, as they go into 2010: Is the chemistry there with the coaching staff? Will the lack of experience hurt the team?
New England's won with young coaches before. Heck, they broke every record in the book in 2007 with an offensive coordinator, in Josh McDaniels, that had just turned 30.
But guys like McDaniels aren't a dime a dozen, so it'll be interesting to watch whether or not the Patriots can develop more like him.
News, analysis and commentary from the following Boston Globe and Boston.com writers:
- Greg A. Bedard, Globe NFL reporter
- Shalise Manza Young, Globe Patriots reporter
- Michael Whitmer, Globe Patriots reporter
- Christopher L. Gasper, Boston.com columnist
- Steve Silva, Boston.com senior producer
- Zuri Berry, Boston.com writer and producer
