Chiefs Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott - Page 10

FloridaMan88 · 09-16-2012, 05:36 PM

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/16...-big-with.html

Chiefs will never win big with Pioli in charge

By KENT BABB

The Kansas City Star

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Scott Pioli pushed his way through a doorway, into the Ralph Wilson Stadium tunnel and then, alone, disappeared into the Chiefs’ locker room.

As the team he built was enduring the final minutes of death-by-Ryan Fitzpatrick, an embarrassing 35-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs’ general manager walked toward a few minutes of solitude. Days like this are lonely when you’re the king, and maybe he embraced what is obvious to so many others who saw Sunday’s loss: that another team he constructed looks lost and unprepared. No injuries and no excuses, no former head coach to blame, and no safety net below the Chiefs’ most powerful football man.

The Chiefs’ problems are with their coaches and players, but the bigger issue is about the man who brought in those coaches and players. Yes, this game and this season are on Pioli, and there’s no denying that anymore. And there’s no more denying another truth, whether you’re ready to read it or not: The Chiefs will never win big while Pioli is this team’s boss. His priorities are too misguided, his insecurities and denial too immense to allow Kansas City’s favorite team to win the Super Bowl that he was brought here to claim.

Pioli is now in his fourth year of trying to justify the hype that earned him accolades in New England, respect within the NFL, and a multi-million-dollar job as a GM. Expectations were unreachable, maybe, but Pioli has done himself no favors by obsessing over trivial details, spending too much time trying to feed his addition to his own reputation, and engineering a team using the “discount football” philosophy that has made the Hunt family richer but has gotten the Chiefs only marginally closer to a Super Bowl.

Days like Sunday should be behind the Chiefs. This roster is so much better than the one Pioli inherited in January 2009. He’s responsible for that, too. But how much better could it be if Pioli weren’t so consumed by off-the-field nonsense? He arrived nearly five years ago and promised to curb a culture of losing. Instead, Pioli now oversees an organization shadowed in a culture of misplaced priorities and anxiety — and, yes, more losing.

Now in his fourth season as GM, Pioli has spent too much time trying to justify his decisions, rather than trying to improve them.

He whines to outsiders that the Chiefs’ salary-cap shortcomings are misunderstood? Well, spend more money, as team chairman Clark Hunt has said Pioli is authorized to do. Pioli excuses himself for his biggest mistakes, such as saying he just didn’t do his homework before hiring former coach Todd Haley? Well, why not? And he says privately that drafting a quarterback in the early rounds isn’t the point; it’s about drafting the right one. Well, Scott, then draft the right one. These things are big parts of Pioli’s job, but instead of acknowledging that, he chooses to tell himself — and, through back channels, you — that things are just fine.

In Scott We Trust? Not anymore.

Pioli cares more than you can imagine about what others think; about how his gilded reputation still shines nearly five years after it landed him this job.

He calls opinion-makers in Kansas City to plead with them to share his side of the story in exchange for a nibble of access, and he spends his own time compiling ultimately meaningless statistics in an attempt to spin unpopular draft choices and questionable spending habits into a more favorable light. He hints to anyone who’ll listen — in exchange for agreeing that you didn’t hear it from him — that the Chiefs’ playoff run in 2010 and a brief winning streak last season weren’t a result of Haley’s coaching. Those, he is convinced, were results of the magic of former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis two seasons ago and, last year, the motivating skills of Romeo Crennel. He obsesses over public relations, attempting to manipulate the message large and small. Pioli is as responsible as anyone for the misconception that Haley ruined the Chiefs and that, by firing him last December, Pioli helped to save it. How does that narrative look after the Chiefs’ second consecutive blowout loss?

Pioli craves credit and validation on good days, and he wants to hide and blame others after days like Sunday.

He worries so much about trivial matters that it’s impossible to think that such an emphasis hasn’t been an obstacle to the Chiefs’ success. He was concerned enough about what cornerback Brandon Flowers might’ve thought if Pioli had signed Brandon Carr to a richer contract that this factored into his decision to let Carr leave Kansas City and sign with the Dallas Cowboys.

Win, and nobody cares about how many dollars the Chiefs are under the salary cap, or which coach was responsible for past success, or why a free agent was allowed to walk. Lose, and all anyone wants to talk about is going to war with your first head coach, a new and considerably less shiny reputation built on micromanagement and insecurity, and stubbornly sticking with quarterback Matt Cassel just because you drafted him in New England, traded for him in Kansas City, and signed him to an extension.

Pioli has, for years now, learned from far too many mistakes. Haley. Sticking with Cassel. Thinking he can control every ounce of information. A growing number of unimpressive draft classes. The way front-office employees are treated and how bizarrely secretive everyone is expected to be. Pioli wasn’t brought to Kansas City to learn from trial and error; he was hired because he was advertised as being smart enough to avoid learning things the hard way.

Crennel is now the Chiefs’ head coach, and few people inside or outside the organization after last season would’ve suggested that elevating Crennel would be a mistake. But after an 0-2 start in which the Chiefs’ defense — Crennel’s baby — has allowed 68 points and has no idea why, that hire now looks like another blunder.

Fair or not, Pioli’s job is to anticipate days like this, put aside emotion and past allegiance in New England and with the New York Giants, and hire a coach who can take on one of the NFL’s most talented rosters and avoid this kind of start. This is the tradeoff of cashing those big paychecks, of sitting in that sprawling office, and taking on the role of one of sports’ most powerful men.

Pioli is a very bright man. He has made the Hunts a mountain of money and built the Chiefs into a team that should begin each season as a trendy playoff choice, and those things are enough to keep him employed for the foreseeable future. He has a cushion of otherwise undeserved job security because of this and because the Chiefs believe you’ll keep filling Arrowhead Stadium, keep tuning in to disasters like the one broadcast in Kansas City on Sunday, and keep believing that better days are ahead.

Maybe they are, but assembling a team at a discount and prioritizing things that don’t really matter only builds a team with a limited ceiling. As long as Pioli is in that office, your expectations should have a low ceiling, too.

Ace Gunner · 09-16-2012, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petegz28

It's not ALL on the QB but he is defnitiely a problem. Really the last 2 games have shown DJ is the Cassel of the defense. This guy has really been out of touch.

DJ is a fake. He'll be out of this league in a matter of games.

mcaj22 · 09-16-2012, 08:02 PM

you cant say there is talent on this team and then say Pioli sucks. If Pioli sucks its because there is NO talent, and hes done a piss poor job of adding talent

you cant have it both ways, its either his fault this team lacks talent or it isnt

I say it is, his drafts are all a bunch of smoke and mirrors and are actually 4 terrible years of drafting if you break down. 2 good players a couple of role players and no impact players or playmakers and then the rest scrubs. Thats not talent

Chiefs Pantalones · 09-16-2012, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou_Zare

No man. This team is lost without a leader. They got DJ acting a fool on defense and Cassel acting a fool on offense.

And the new ST coach is a ****ing idiot. ST is now officially bad. ****ing horrible.

You don't field 99% of the same team that won the AFCW title and then look like this garbage without leadership. Bad leadership.

The offense being shit isn't surprising because I expected that with Cassel. The most surprising thing to me has been the defense being out of position. They are playing like this is a new scheme. Why, is what I ask. Why? It's the same damn scheme.

Ace Gunner · 09-16-2012, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I'm not convinced that ST isn't a problem because our players play with no heart.

Special Teams should be about wanting to knock heads off. I don't see any of that in our players.

Welcome to the new and improved NFL. Now siddown, shaddup and don't ****ing cuss or you will be escorted from the stadium. Enjoy -- Clark & Roger.

chiefzilla1501 · 09-16-2012, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaj22

you cant say there is talent on this team and then say Pioli sucks. If Pioli sucks its because there is NO talent, and hes done a piss poor job of adding talent

you cant have it both ways, its either his fault this team lacks talent or it isnt

I say it is, his drafts are all a bunch of smoke and mirrors and are actually 4 terrible years of drafting if you break down. 2 good players a couple of role players and no impact players or playmakers and then the rest scrubs. Thats not talent

You can have it both ways.

There is plenty of talent. We just have a head coach and QB who are seriously undermining the talent that we have.

chiefzilla1501 · 09-16-2012, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou_Zare

Welcome to the new and improved NFL. Now siddown, shaddup and don't ****ing cuss or you will be escorted from the stadium. Enjoy -- Clark & Roger.

It's a sad day when the employees for your company are yelled at for not picking up gum wrappers, but coddled when they miss a tackle.

Brock · 09-16-2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Pioli excuses himself for his biggest mistakes, such as saying he just didn’t do his homework before hiring former coach Todd Haley?

Easily the most damning thing about this article. This is your signature hire and you didn't think to check the guy out?

Marcellus · 09-16-2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

You can have it both ways.

There is plenty of talent. We just have a head coach and QB who are seriously undermining the talent that we have.

Mucho agreement.

Ace Gunner · 09-16-2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefs Pantalones

The offense being shit isn't surprising because I expected that with Cassel. The most surprising thing to me has been the defense being out of position. They are playing like this is a new scheme. Why, what I ask. Why? It's the same damn scheme.

They are stupid players. Really, it's just a few key guys that just have zero game and without somebody booting them in the ass constantly, they just do what dumbasses do.

Marcellus · 09-16-2012, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brock

Easily the most damning thing about this article. This is your signature hire and you didn't think to check the guy out?

Odd thing is I don't ever remember hearing this before.

**DeezNutz** · 09-16-2012, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't think Babb is accurate that Pioli has built a poor team or drafted poorly.

As I've said before, Pioli has built a pretty solid team that is undermined big time by his own arrogance. And the worst part is, if he would ever just admit or fix those 3 mistakes, we'd be very good.

Nonsense. The team is a joke.

**BigMeatballDave** · 09-16-2012, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou_Zare

DJ is a fake. He'll be out of this league in a matter of games.

mcaj22 · 09-16-2012, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

You can have it both ways.

There is plenty of talent. We just have a head coach and QB who are seriously undermining the talent that we have.

thats a tough call to make to claim this is some sort of rare 49ers-like situation.

you dont know that unless they would get the right coach in here, and that is like fitting a square peg in a round hole. Who is the perfect hire to make all this "talent" as you put it fit?

and the true test of if the wagons fall off this team is who stays or leaves for FA in the biggest offseason of Pioli's Chiefs career coming up. That alone will be telling of how much talent we have left

FAX · 09-16-2012, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brock

Easily the most damning thing about this article. This is your signature hire and you didn't think to check the guy out?

That can't be true.

My guess is that Dr. Evil has said this in order to excuse the fiasco in some way.

As time goes by, I'm more convinced that Pioli has some sort of severe emotional problem. He's too sneaky by half.

FAX

**Dave Lane** · 09-16-2012, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

This paragraph is alarming and informative. Unfortunately, though, it's not incredibly different from what Whitlock was warning about years ago.

Pioli is dumb as ****.

Turning on your coach and undermining him at every turn makes you nothing but a fat ****ing farce.

09-16-2012, 05:36 PM
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $-697094	Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/16...-big-with.html Chiefs will never win big with Pioli in charge By KENT BABB The Kansas City Star ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Scott Pioli pushed his way through a doorway, into the Ralph Wilson Stadium tunnel and then, alone, disappeared into the Chiefs’ locker room. As the team he built was enduring the final minutes of death-by-Ryan Fitzpatrick, an embarrassing 35-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs’ general manager walked toward a few minutes of solitude. Days like this are lonely when you’re the king, and maybe he embraced what is obvious to so many others who saw Sunday’s loss: that another team he constructed looks lost and unprepared. No injuries and no excuses, no former head coach to blame, and no safety net below the Chiefs’ most powerful football man. The Chiefs’ problems are with their coaches and players, but the bigger issue is about the man who brought in those coaches and players. Yes, this game and this season are on Pioli, and there’s no denying that anymore. And there’s no more denying another truth, whether you’re ready to read it or not: The Chiefs will never win big while Pioli is this team’s boss. His priorities are too misguided, his insecurities and denial too immense to allow Kansas City’s favorite team to win the Super Bowl that he was brought here to claim. Pioli is now in his fourth year of trying to justify the hype that earned him accolades in New England, respect within the NFL, and a multi-million-dollar job as a GM. Expectations were unreachable, maybe, but Pioli has done himself no favors by obsessing over trivial details, spending too much time trying to feed his addition to his own reputation, and engineering a team using the “discount football” philosophy that has made the Hunt family richer but has gotten the Chiefs only marginally closer to a Super Bowl. Days like Sunday should be behind the Chiefs. This roster is so much better than the one Pioli inherited in January 2009. He’s responsible for that, too. But how much better could it be if Pioli weren’t so consumed by off-the-field nonsense? He arrived nearly five years ago and promised to curb a culture of losing. Instead, Pioli now oversees an organization shadowed in a culture of misplaced priorities and anxiety — and, yes, more losing. Now in his fourth season as GM, Pioli has spent too much time trying to justify his decisions, rather than trying to improve them. He whines to outsiders that the Chiefs’ salary-cap shortcomings are misunderstood? Well, spend more money, as team chairman Clark Hunt has said Pioli is authorized to do. Pioli excuses himself for his biggest mistakes, such as saying he just didn’t do his homework before hiring former coach Todd Haley? Well, why not? And he says privately that drafting a quarterback in the early rounds isn’t the point; it’s about drafting the right one. Well, Scott, then draft the right one. These things are big parts of Pioli’s job, but instead of acknowledging that, he chooses to tell himself — and, through back channels, you — that things are just fine. In Scott We Trust? Not anymore. Pioli cares more than you can imagine about what others think; about how his gilded reputation still shines nearly five years after it landed him this job. He calls opinion-makers in Kansas City to plead with them to share his side of the story in exchange for a nibble of access, and he spends his own time compiling ultimately meaningless statistics in an attempt to spin unpopular draft choices and questionable spending habits into a more favorable light. He hints to anyone who’ll listen — in exchange for agreeing that you didn’t hear it from him — that the Chiefs’ playoff run in 2010 and a brief winning streak last season weren’t a result of Haley’s coaching. Those, he is convinced, were results of the magic of former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis two seasons ago and, last year, the motivating skills of Romeo Crennel. He obsesses over public relations, attempting to manipulate the message large and small. Pioli is as responsible as anyone for the misconception that Haley ruined the Chiefs and that, by firing him last December, Pioli helped to save it. How does that narrative look after the Chiefs’ second consecutive blowout loss? Pioli craves credit and validation on good days, and he wants to hide and blame others after days like Sunday. He worries so much about trivial matters that it’s impossible to think that such an emphasis hasn’t been an obstacle to the Chiefs’ success. He was concerned enough about what cornerback Brandon Flowers might’ve thought if Pioli had signed Brandon Carr to a richer contract that this factored into his decision to let Carr leave Kansas City and sign with the Dallas Cowboys. Win, and nobody cares about how many dollars the Chiefs are under the salary cap, or which coach was responsible for past success, or why a free agent was allowed to walk. Lose, and all anyone wants to talk about is going to war with your first head coach, a new and considerably less shiny reputation built on micromanagement and insecurity, and stubbornly sticking with quarterback Matt Cassel just because you drafted him in New England, traded for him in Kansas City, and signed him to an extension. Pioli has, for years now, learned from far too many mistakes. Haley. Sticking with Cassel. Thinking he can control every ounce of information. A growing number of unimpressive draft classes. The way front-office employees are treated and how bizarrely secretive everyone is expected to be. Pioli wasn’t brought to Kansas City to learn from trial and error; he was hired because he was advertised as being smart enough to avoid learning things the hard way. Crennel is now the Chiefs’ head coach, and few people inside or outside the organization after last season would’ve suggested that elevating Crennel would be a mistake. But after an 0-2 start in which the Chiefs’ defense — Crennel’s baby — has allowed 68 points and has no idea why, that hire now looks like another blunder. Fair or not, Pioli’s job is to anticipate days like this, put aside emotion and past allegiance in New England and with the New York Giants, and hire a coach who can take on one of the NFL’s most talented rosters and avoid this kind of start. This is the tradeoff of cashing those big paychecks, of sitting in that sprawling office, and taking on the role of one of sports’ most powerful men. Pioli is a very bright man. He has made the Hunts a mountain of money and built the Chiefs into a team that should begin each season as a trendy playoff choice, and those things are enough to keep him employed for the foreseeable future. He has a cushion of otherwise undeserved job security because of this and because the Chiefs believe you’ll keep filling Arrowhead Stadium, keep tuning in to disasters like the one broadcast in Kansas City on Sunday, and keep believing that better days are ahead. Maybe they are, but assembling a team at a discount and prioritizing things that don’t really matter only builds a team with a limited ceiling. As long as Pioli is in that office, your expectations should have a low ceiling, too.
Posts: 50,132

09-16-2012, 08:02 PM	#137
mcaj22 MVP Join Date: Feb 2010 Casino cash: $10014454	you cant say there is talent on this team and then say Pioli sucks. If Pioli sucks its because there is NO talent, and hes done a piss poor job of adding talent you cant have it both ways, its either his fault this team lacks talent or it isnt I say it is, his drafts are all a bunch of smoke and mirrors and are actually 4 terrible years of drafting if you break down. 2 good players a couple of role players and no impact players or playmakers and then the rest scrubs. Thats not talent
Posts: 11,886