Editor’s Note: I am pleased to welcome Candice Crawford to Midwest Sports Fans as our newest Featured Author. Candice will graduate this May with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri and she has extensive experience as both a sports reporter and sports anchor at KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO. Candice will be writing a regular feature entitled “From the Sideline” and offering further proof that women are smarter and more insightful than men, even when it comes to sports.
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Who is Scott Pioli?
He is a big name to those who follow the NFL and especially to those in New England. But going from the East coast to the Midwest, you may hear him use the phrase “I’m not in New England anymore.â€
That’s right Scotty you’re not. You’re in Kansas City now.
You have entered into a franchise of heartbroken fans, exhausted from the never-ending disappointments; a team that hasn’t seen the Super Bowl since 1970 or a playoff appearance since 2004. You are, however, getting to work with $32 million under the cap and the number three draft-pick.
Scott Pioli is leaving the Patriots after seven seasons, three Super Bowl titles and five division titles. He must be looking for a bigger challenge; three Super Bowl wins is old news. And obviously his successes provide the Chiefs’ fans with the hope that they too will see their team at least make it to one Super Bowl after almost 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
Before you go out and buy your season tickets, however, remember that someone is missing from this equation: Bill Belichick.
Scott Pioli’s successes with the Patriots have been alongside his pal Coach Belichick. Belichick hired him as pro personnel assistant while coaching for the Cleveland Browns, but after Belichick got fired and the Browns moved to Baltimore, Pioli stayed with the team and left his man Belichick to fend for himself. The separation only lasted a year until Pioli reunited with Belichick in New England in 2000, when Belichick got the head coaching job. Together they became the architects of the New England Patriots’ dyn
asty.
So the question is, can Pioli turn this franchise around on his own? Without his boy and pal Bill Belichick?
A quick side note for those wondering about Scott Pioli’s turnaround pedigree: Pioli is the son-in-law of turnaround specialist Bill Parcells. We don’t need to go into the history and successes of Bill Parcells, but I will mention the fact that as an executive, he brought the Miami Dolphins from a 1-15 2007 season to a successful 2008 season in which the Dolphins bested even the great Bill Belichick to win the AFC East.
If Pioli gets in a bind, he can call up his good ’ol father-in-law for a little advice. (I wonder if he calls him the “Big Tuna†or just Bill?) Needless to say, Scott Pioli looks good on paper and is exactly what the Chiefs need.
But only time will tell if Pioli will get the job done, and he has some important decisions to make immediately as the Chiefs new General Manager; three major decisions to be exact.
- He has to decide if Herm Edwards can do the job, or if he has lost the reigns of the Chiefs players entirely.
- Pioli has a pretty large salary cap to work with going into this 2009 season and has room to replace and rebuild to where he sees fit.
- The Chiefs have the 3rd pick in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft and Pioli will have to decide which player offers the most value and fills the biggest need for the Chiefs. I’m thinking QB if you ask me.
So once Pioli gets those three things squared away, we will hopefully be able to watch the Chiefs this 2009 season without wanting to go punch our walls or whoever is closest in proximity.
Candice Crawford is a Featured Author for Midwest Sports Fans and regularly provides her unique perspective into the sports world in her column “From the Sideline.” A native of Dallas, Texas, Candice will graduate from the University of Missouri in May of 2009 with a degree in journalism. You can email Candice with questions or comments about her “From the Sideline” features at candice@midwestsportsfans.com.
