Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Maybe I’m way off. (OK, given my track record, I probably am way off!) But am I the only one scratching my head wondering why, after all these years of teams going after him, Scott Pioli finally left the Patriots?
Pioli has been in demand since that Super Bowl upset of the Rams. The demand only intensified after those back to back championships over the Panthers and Eagles. Pretty much every time there was an opening for a Head of Football Operations anywhere in the NFL, Scott Pioli’s name was one of the first mentioned. A few teams made serious enough runs that there was speculation he’d finally fly the Bill Belichick nest.
Yet each and every time those flirtations occurred, the man who helped build the Patriots ultimately said “thanks, but no thanks, I’m perfectly happy here in New England.”
So what happened? Why this year, when the speculation started about jobs in Cleveland and Kansas City, did most “people in the know” suspect this time would be different, that Pioli would actually take one of those jobs?
You want to know my theory? (I know, it’s just a theory…no facts to back it up…and I know you’ll all tell me I’m nuts) I wonder if Scott Pioli realized it was time to leave because the chances of winning that next Super Bowl aren’t any better in New England than they are elsewhere.
Silly as it may sound, think about it for a second; it’s been 4-years since the Pats won it all. If you look back at the history of the great dynasties, they disappear from the title chase for decades before having a chance to recapture past glory.
The 60’s Packers didn’t again win till ’96. The 70’s Steelers had to wait till the 2005 season. The 90’s Cowboys can’t win a single playoff game, never mind a Super Bowl. Even those back-to-back Broncos squads of ’97 and ’98 haven’t had a sniff. Only the ’94 Forty-Niners went as short a period as five years before adding on to their team’s championship legacy through the 80’s. And that was before free agency and the salary cap really had a chance to sink in as the established system designed to create parity.
It’s no secret I think the Patriots dynasty is dead. I told you that before Tom Brady got hurt, ironically against the Chiefs. It died that fateful day last February when the Giants shocked the world (DAMN! It still hurts to say that!). I think Scott Pioli knows it, and I think he knows the team that calls Foxboro home is in the same rebuilding mode as the team he’s about to join in Kansas City.
No, the Pats don’t have as far to go as Kansas City does right now. But the reality might very well be that they’re not done falling, and that at some point in the next couple of years, Scott Pioli and his Chiefs will pass them on the way up.
That’s the view from here…what do you think? Why did Pioli finally leave? Why was Kansas City, after all the suitors that had come calling in previous years, finally able to get an “I do!”
Comments (4)
Maybe Pioli was offered all of the Omaha Steaks he could eat or something? Who knows why guys in his position take on a new challenge? Maybe it's just like regular folks - more money, better "benefits", maybe he's got a co-worker in New England he personally doesn't get along with, etc.
Maybe it's that he doesn't feel he'll ever get credit for building the Pats so he wants a new challenge? I understand that Chiefs fans are pretty die-hard and they are really the only game in town in KC so maybe that has something to do with it? Maybe he's going to be calling the Pats to try to pick up his QBOTF, Matt Cassel???
Posted by dboisver | January 14, 2009 9:53 PM
Posted on January 14, 2009 21:53
Listen Borges....I mean Teddy- I really can't beleive you just wrote this article. I can't imagine why someone would take the most negative point of view on this. People leave for Greener Pastures all the time in every profession. Pioli got a lot more money and now he'll have a chance to get out from under Belichik's shadow.
The Patriots run is not over. Yes, they lost last year's Super Bowl but anything can happen in a one game elimination tournament. The ball didn't bounce their way and the Giants made some Fluke plays. That's it !! It stinks but these things happen in sports all the time.
The Patriots "Way" is in tact. Belichik is here and he is definitely not done. Even in the Salary Cap era that we are in today, if you have stability and continuity in your organization you can have a chance to win year after year. Just look at the what the Steelers are doing. They obviously weren't done after they lost to the Cowboys in the Superbowl in 90's. If last year proved anything it that's the Patriots System works. The Pats took a backup QB and groomed him into a legit NFL starter. A
But wait, our Hall of Fame QB , Tom Brady, has a hot girlfriend now and that means he is done. He doesn't work hard and his priorities are all messed up. Belichik can't coach anymore and since Pioli left we are not going to be able to draft good players and sign good free agents. Does that sum it up Ted? I have a feeling that Pioli will have the same results as most other members of the Patriots organization have had since leaving . See Mangenius, Crennel, Weis, Saban with the Dolphins.
Posted by A-Train | January 15, 2009 10:44 AM
Posted on January 15, 2009 10:44
I agree with you on one point Teddy, you are nuts. :)
Pioli left cause he paid his dues, was succesful and is moving on tot he next challenge in life. He didn't burn any bridges, he enjoyed himself while here, and he is going to a place in KC he is familiar with. I think you are questioning his work eithic if you think he's leaving cause the Pats are on the downside. In other words, running away from the challenge at hand. I don't beleive that at all.
The Pats have as good a chance as any team in the NFL to win the Superbowl next year. I would say they are a top 5 team going into next year, and even those top ranked teams don't usually win the Superbowl anyway. That's how the NFL is built and the Pats have proven year in and year out that no matter who they lose, the system is in place to train the people 2nd in command to be ready to step up and take over the reigns when needed. And that applies from the top office down to the playing field, with the excpetion of Bill Bleichick of course. That's why they are considered one of the best franchises in all professional sports.
In those 4 year since they've won, they were 1 game away from a perfect season and followed that up with a succesful 11-5 season weithout Brady. Doesn't sound like a franchise on the way down to me.
Posted by T2 | January 15, 2009 10:50 AM
Posted on January 15, 2009 10:50
By saying that he left for greener pastures, aren't you in essence saying the same thing as I did? That the opportunity in KC is as good as the opportunity he had here?
I mean, if it was all about the money or getting out of Belichick's shadow, he'd have left a long time ago. He could have made a killing elsewhere years ago, so much so that he'd probably be retired now. Get out of Belichick's shadow while it still was a monstrous shadow and before it was tarnished by SpyGate and not winning for 4-years.
By the way, how's Asante Samuel looking these days. Think he'll intercept a pass or two this weekend? Maybe turn one into a touchdown?
Too bad the Patriots way didn't account for each and every situation being different, and that sometimes you have to empty the wallet for an impact player and a proven winner.
Seasons change. Teams change. The game itself changes. What worked in 2001 might not work in 2009. That's why I get nervous when we live in the past and say we'll win simply because we always won before. Didn't work for any of the NFL dynasties. Didn't work for the Celtics dynasty. And look at the Yankees dynasty and how we laugh at those ididotic New Yorkers who still think it's 2000 and they're going for their 5th in a row.
Do you realize it's been nearly a decade since the Yankees won a World Series? Do you think 5 years from now we'll still be waiting for the Pats to win that next one?
We used to lean on the crutch that Belichick would outcoach every other guy on the opposing sideline. Brady would outclutch every other QB in the huddle. Then we watched Mike Shanahan and Jake Plummer kick our butt in the playoffs. Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning outclutch the Pats in what could described as a choke job in Indy. And then the mother of all disappointments, Tom Coughlin, a man who was withing a breath of getting fired, totally outcoaching Belichick in last year's Super Bowl.
Hey, I would still take BB over anyone else on the sidelines if it were my choice. But the days where that alone would win a ring are gone.
Posted by Teddy P. | January 15, 2009 1:12 PM
Posted on January 15, 2009 13:12