In Pioli I Trust

[Direckshun]

I think it's high time something starts to change around here.

I've been a member of Chiefsplanet going on 6+ years now, because I have long understood something that served as this vicious forum's watchword going back to the days I first started posting: building a football team is a smart man's game which benefits from sober, dispassionate analysis, not an emotional kneejerk-a-thon where baseless loyalty and emotional ties trump all.

That kind of mob rule long had a place on the Coalition or AP or virtually any of the other sludge pits of homer-otica that colored the web. For years, ChiefsPlanet's take-no-prisoners approach yeilded benefits; we've long had some of the best posters, the best range of opinion, and reason found its way to the top of the crop year after year.

The past few years, ChiefsPlanet has passed this crown to other sites, most notably AP. This forum has grown as intolerant and reactionary as any Chiefs site on the web. Normally I wouldn't give two shits and I'd just allow you all to spin yourselves into a self-destructive fantasy, which would surely render the football forums pointless, leaving the Planet with the Epic Fail thread as its only saving grace.

But the insanity isn't that widespread. It's just concentrated to the nthe degree on current GM Scott Pioli. Ever since he's arrived, this website has strayed so far from reality that it can't bring itself to accept the amazing transformation this team has seen since 2009. A lot of people get credit for that; Herm Edwards drafted well, and the coaches we've had over the past couple of year (Haley, Crennel) have been good enough at developing talent that things have really accelerated past where this team really should be under normal circumstances.

But let's start with the basics. Pioli's first year was a disaster, with the team going 4-12. The next year against a soft schedule, we went 10-6 and won the division. This year, the team lost its starting QB, the best players on offense and defense, and played a harder schedule. And still finished 7-9, a game out of the division.

I understand the Pioli hate isn't baseless. The 2009 disaster has been well-documented. Supposedly brought in because he was willing to perform a complete transformation of professionalism to Kansas City's front office, Pioli got his pants pulled down all offseason. He missed out on countless free agents, and had what many people consider to be a shit draft, drafting just one offensive lineman with our shit line and a strong OL draft class (the one guy we drafted was Colin ****ing Brown). He hired Todd Haley, a personally abrasive personality who could never coexist with another cook in the kitchen. And he signed Matt Cassel long-term that offseason, the last of the 2009 decisions this franchise is still living with and suffering from.

And then there was that disasterous article about the toxic working environment at Arrowhead. But maybe there's a method to that degree of madness. It has worked, for instance, with the new Bears GM who was our scouting director for a couple years. It worked enough for Weis and Crennel. And the countless coaches in New England. And Pioli has managed strong coaching hires nonetheless. Pioli is not, after all, an unknown quantity, so it's not like he pulled some fast one on Haley to come here. He spent a decade in New England, so it's not like people have no idea what the guy's like.

But let's get back to that shit 2009 offseason. There are ways to consider it. For starters, imagine it had never happened... kind of a stretch, I know. But if Scott Pioli had arrived in 2010 and accomplished all that he has in these two years, wouldn't we largely be praising his amazing work in those two years? Two solid years of coaching hires, drafts, free agency acquisitions, and talent growth on this team? That's an incredibly strong track record. I understand the frustration over 2009 (a weak year for the draft and free agency anyway), but clearly the past two years are the path Pioli will blaze for this team. Surely that must excite you for the future.

The Coaching Hires

Even in 2009, the only truly botched hire was Clancy Pendergast for defensive coordinator, and that was because Pioli held out so hard for Haley to become available.

Todd Haley was not a bad hire. It's very clear that if this organization had found some way to keep him reigned in with a very specific responsibility (like offensive coordinator with the Cardinals/Steelers, or 2010's just-head-coach responsibility with the Chiefs), he was extremely effective in those specific, limited roles. Haley did eventually lose support of the locker room in 2011, but there's no denying his ability to groom the talent this team did have. Pushing Derrick Johnson and Dwayne Bowe deep down the depth chart revitalized both players, the benefits of which we'll be reaping for years to come. He was an expert motivator, and never minced words on the field (who gives two shits if he gives a bad interview). His dressing-down of Brodie Croyle against the Ravens in 2009 was as perfect a syncing up with ChiefsPlanet thought as there's ever been. Sadly, Haley did not work out with the personality of this organization (to say the ****ing least), and chased off two different offensive coordinators and had an overly burdensome relationship with the most recent one.

Since then, Pioli has been hitting on all cylinders with his coaching hires. He brought on the two best coordinators on both sides of the field in 2010, both of them giving this team an incredible boost. Crennel in particular did as good a job on this defense as any coordinator has over the previous five years leading up to his hire. Muir was as good as this organization could do with Haley on board, but we did bring in Jim Zorn.

2011 brought on more coaching hires that hit the spot. Zorn stayed on, and Daboll was an odd hire but probably the best this organization could do for the time being. Daboll himself is not altogether a bad hire; he did have success with fairly comparable offensive talent in Miami, including a limited QB, a solid run game and a mostly inert passing game with one true gamebreaker at WR. And Crennel, of course, was the best coaching hire of this offseason.

The most important shift in coaching philosophy under Pioli is the emphasis on development of talent. Carl Peterson was too invested in acquiring new talent. But since Schottenheimer, we've had virtually zero coaching that was capable of developing the talent we already had. But with Haley, Zorn, Weis, Crennel... that all has changed under Pioli. And we're all the better for it.

The Drafts

Even including the 2009 draft that disappointed so many people, the Chiefs have been one of the league's absolute best drafters under Pioli. But even including 2009... what did we get? A league-leader in run defense at DE, and a franchise kicker. That's a pretty weak haul, but it's better than most teams fared in that sorry-ass draft class. Tyson Jackson was a pretty weird pick at #3 overall, but virtually every other player in the Top Ten picks that year after the Chiefs busted, including BJ Raji who doesn't even fit our two-gap defense. You can throw in Belcher, who was a UDFA this year, and the team's draft is starting to magically look average for 2009.

The 2010 draft, meanwhile, was one of the five best drafts this team has ever, ever had. The team drafted Berry, McCluster, Arenas, Asamoah, Moeaki, Sheffield, and Lewis. That's a hit on every pick, save the Sheffield pick in the fifth round. Coming from a guy who absolutely hated the 2010 draft, I will be the first to say I was dead wrong. It landed us one All Pro, four starters, and two people (McCluster and Arenas) who play a prominent role on the team. That profundity of this class of new Chiefs is amazing; virtually no team in NFL history has hit on all of its picks in any given year. A draft this good can fastforward a rebuilding process.

The 2011 draft, also, still has the potential to be one of the five best drafts this team has ever had. Baldwin will be starting shortly. Hudson will be starting. Houston and Bailey will be starters soon. And Stanzi and Powe have yet to get their opportunities, and we've seen them flash in the preseason.

Free Agency and Cap Management

With one notoriously bad signing in Cassel, the Chiefs under Pioli are not mere cheapskates like it's been alleged. They are sticking to one word above all: value. Value, value, value. No signing is made unless it's a deal on the Chiefs end.

Now that necessarily means that, in an era of bloated free agent contracts, the Chiefs will largely sit on their hands when free agency comes around. And that surely frustrates many of us to great end, but the approach of signing the next Shiny Thing on the market did squat for Carl Peterson's Chiefs.

2009 gave us only one free agency signing worth remembering: halfway through the season we claimed Chris Chambers off waivers. And he flamed out so hard he got kicked off the team shortly after signing a very manageable contract in 2010. But for the rest of 2009, he was a good option to have opposite Bowe. (And it should be mentioned that Mike Vrabel provided us an excellent defensive coach while DJ was getting his act together.) Though it should be mentioned the worst move all offseason, outside of the Cassel deal, was trading a 6th to the Dolphins for two offensive lineman we didn't play.

But even the Cassel deal was reasonable to the vast majority of minds in the NFL. Beyond reasonable. The Chiefs had zero talent at the position, and brought in a player the GM was intimately familiar with, along with a defensive coach-on-the-field, who at the time was relatively young at 27 years old, for pennies on the dollar. The 2nd round pick we gave up for Cassel/Vrabel was such a value deal, people wanted to conduct an investigation for us "raping" the Patriots. Meanwhile, we had nobody but Tyler Thigpen at the position (who we essentially turned into Kendrick Lewis), and only Mark Sanchez to consider in the draft.

2010 beefed up our offensive line with Wiegmann and Lilja. It beefed up our run game with Thomas Jones, who had just enough tread left on his tires to rack up 900 yards in a committee role. We brought in a bear of a defensive lineman in Shaun Smith. Leonard Pope had been a strong blocker for us. Of all Pioli's free agency moves, only one turned out to be a mistake: Jerheme Urban. Who was brought in for no money anyway, at Haley's behest.

2011 was yet another year for valuable free agency acquisitions. We brought back Wiegmann for another year, and landed a good tackle/tight end in Steve Maneri. Gregg finally gave us a true nose tackle. We picked up two Ravens who temporarily worked out for us in McClain and Gaither. Gaither in particular was a steal, and losing him for nothing was perhaps our worst blunder in the Pioli era outside of the Cassel acquisition. But even then, Gaither cannot be relied on as anything but an emergency situation due to his back, and we're all going to see that play out in 2012. The Chiefs landed Stevie Breaston on a deal as solid as we could get from a guy who will be playing out wide most of the time. Our only bad signing? Sabby Piscitelli, which was a desperation signing and was never supposed to get the playing time he ended up logging.

Pioli never landed a QB to backup Cassel that offseason, but who was he supposed to get? The only legitimate option he had, he took, when Kyle Orton hit waivers. A move that paid royal dividends, and has a remote chance of landing this franchise a new QB.

2012 is starting off solid. Bowe is getting tagged/resigned, and the team has allowed such outstanding cap room for itself, it has all the cap space necessary to bring on a new franchise QB if they want in the form of Peyton Manning. The Routt signing was completely reasonable -- it's not reasonable to expect the Chiefs to be the first team in NFL history to commit $100 million to its starting corners. Carr and Flowers were a powerful combination, but were they really worth being paid as if they were the best tandem in NFL history? We talk about devalued positions all the time on this board. Tell me: how valued is the #2 corner? Is that worth the massive contract we would have had to commit? At the expense of the primo talent we have the potential to end up landing?

The Quarterback Problem

Of course the biggest, most profound error of the Pioli era was to bring in Matt Cassel. But in the short time that Pioli has been our GM, we have had no other conceivable options, short of taking a flyer on Andy Dalton at the bottom of the 2011 Draft 1st round.

So we landed Cassel, for a bargain's bargain, and got a defensive coach-on-the-field with it in a deal so good people wanted to investigate us (a move that, for good measure, began the implosion in Denver). Since then, we passed on Mark Sanchez, a move that I think almost everybody would have preferred us to do. We passed on Jimmy Clausen twice, which is starting to look like a smart idea. We passed on trading for Kevin Kolb. We passed on the Donovan McNabbs and the Michael Vicks.

There was really only one realistic opportunity for the Chiefs to land a new starting QB, and that was last year when Kyle Orton was released. Pioli didn't hestitate.

Fact: in the time that Scott Pioli has been GM of the Chiefs, there have been no legitimate franchise options for us to take at the QB position. All the rookies except for Dalton have failed to fulfill any franchise role. All the free agents have looked like iffy signings at the best. And it's never smart to trade away your entire draft for a player like RG3, who may not even work out. Because then you've not only got a player who won't work, you've sacrificed all-important depth for your team. Not a great idea.

Matter of fact, our new coach has done nothing but openly entertain the idea of new QBs on multiple occasions. If Pioli is the all-seeing, all-controlling entity that Haley makes him out to be, there's no way this happens. So let's embrace the truth that we all know to be true: Pioli is ready to move on. He just doesn't want to move on for anything, like a desperate idiot. He wants to make the next move for QB the smartest possible move, and that may or may not be this offseason.

So abandon your Pioli hate for a season. Stop resisting the process and try looking at how well Pioli works the process to this franchise's favor in the near- and long-term. Admit that the man's been one of the best drafting GMs since he's been in KC, has not overreacting and made brash, ill-advised moves (other than cutting Gaither), and generally has ushered in the talent and the coaching necessary to continue improving this team all three years he's been here.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Who should we get? He drafted Stanzi and signed Orton. Should he have outbid the Raiders for Carson Palmer?

FTR, I think we're about to make a serious push for Peyton if he's healthy. That's a big IF, though. Short of that, I don't know who else is out there.

I think you're right.

There's just too much smoke for there not to be a fire...

[MagicHef]

He's obviously not a long-term answer or anything, but what about Hasselbeck? He was an FA last season.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by FAX

I think this should win you the giant post of the year award, Mr. Direckshun. Hands down.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

Herm bit the bullet starting young guys like Carr and Flowers.

Herm bit the bullet doing nothing other than bringing in Croyle, Huard, and Thigpen to start at QB.

Our depth chart of Cassel and Stanzi beats the hell out of that.

[BoneKrusher]

Originally Posted by Laz

yep, he did.

[/edit] actually the mistake wasn't trading for Cassel as it was giving him the big contact, instead of immediately looking for a better long term solution.

Yeah i agree but Pioli knew all about Cassel from his days in New England and by him thinking Cassel could be a starter in the NFL says it all about his ability at talent scouting.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by BoneKrusher

Yeah i agree but Pioli knew all about Cassel from his days in New England and by him thinking Cassel could be a starter in the NFL says it all about his ability at talent scouting.

He took a shot with him hoping he would continue to develop, and failed.
No GM has ever been right on every call EVER.
I think his drafts are more a testament to his talent evaluation than one freaking player.

[BoneKrusher]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

He took a shot with him hoping he would continue to develop, and failed.
No GM has ever been right on every call EVER.
I think his drafts are more a testament to his talent evaluation than one freaking player.

i give him some credit but most of the better players on the Chiefs current roster were drafted by Herm.
i think Pioli made a bias decision with Cassel because Matt was one of his former Patriots players.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by BoneKrusher

i give him some credit but most of the better players on the Chiefs current roster were drafted by Herm.
i think Pioli made a bias decision with Cassel because Matt was one of his former Patriots players.

Without the supporting cast and coaches brought in by Pioli, most of those players wouldn't have reached the level of development that they have.
Pioli's 2011 draft is also looking like it is going up to be just as talented as the 2008 draft, which was phenomenal.
Needless to say though, Pioli's drafting from 2010 to the present has been as good as any team in the league. We're all pretty much in agreement that we are a FQB away from contending. I'm almost certain that had RAC not brought his 3-4 D here, and put DJ, and Tamba in position to succeed, we wouldn't be talking so much about how much talent was left for this regime.

[BoneKrusher]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

Without the supporting cast and coaches brought in by Pioli, most of those players wouldn't have reached the level of development that they have.
Pioli's 2011 draft is also looking like it is going up to be just as talented as the 2008 draft, which was phenomenal.
Needless to say though, Pioli's drafting from 2010 to the present has been as good as any team in the league. We're all pretty much in agreement that we are a FQB away from contending. I'm almost certain that had RAC not brought his 3-4 D here, and put DJ, and Tamba in position to succeed, we wouldn't be talking so much about how much talent was left for this regime.

i agree.
i do think Pioli would damage all he's done up to this point if he does not make a run at Manning or at least try and bring Orton back.

IMO sticking with Cassel and not making a run at a decent QB is football suicide for Scott.

[Okie_Apparition]

Pioli will stand behind Cassel until he sets him to fail a steroid test

[BoneKrusher]

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

Pioli will stand behind Cassel until he sets him to fail a steroid test

that's what i'm afraid of and why i have started feeling so much hate for Pioli.

[durtyrute]

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

Pioli will stand behind Cassel until he sets him to fail a steroid test

Where do you get this from?

[007]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

Until Pioli proves that he's gonna go down in flames with Cassel and not replace him with an unquestionably better option, that is realistically attainable, I will support him.

If he does end up doing what we all FEAR he might. I will spit on his grave.

That was kind of my point. He hasn't given me any reason to believe he won't be trotting Cassel back out there though.

[007]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Who should we get? He drafted Stanzi and signed Orton. Should he have outbid the Raiders for Carson Palmer?

FTR, I think we're about to make a serious push for Peyton if he's healthy. That's a big IF, though. Short of that, I don't know who else is out there.

As long as the name isn't Cassel or Palko. I would be fine with Stanzi and Orton if this whole "we are trying desperately to find a QB" is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

It had better be a damn OPEN competition too. Equal time on the field with the first team.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by BoneKrusher

i agree.
i do think Pioli would damage all he's done up to this point if he does not make a run at Manning or at least try and bring Orton back.

IMO sticking with Cassel and not making a run at a decent QB is football suicide for Scott.

Yep. It would be a real disappointment if he wastes all the talent this team has acquired by sticking with Casshole. I really just don't think he's that stupid. I really really don't. I'm not going to rule out Cassel starting in 2012. Unfortunately it is a possibility that Orton doesn't want to play here, nor does Manning, and we're shit out of luck for one more season. Of course even if Pioli wants to upgrade the position, it won't matter to anyone, and they will all be calling for his head. I don't see Pioli over paying for someone who is not any better than Cassel, but I do believe that they want to upgrade the QB spot, and will no later than 2013. That said, someone is going to be brought in. I'm praying for Manning, and hoping for Orton if we can't land PM, and am going to be pissed if we have to waste another year with Cassel.