Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott

[FloridaMan88]

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.

[Titty Meat]

The Chiefs put more effort into getting a bloggers article pulled than they did searching for a qb. That's ****ing pathetic.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by KCrockaholic

Since Clark Hunt has taken over the Chiefs have been the worst team in the league. Disgusting.

The Chiefs are 27-55 in the regular season since 2007. I'm going to guess that's bottom three of the NFL during that time span.

Originally Posted by notorious

I will never figure why he thought that hiring Crennel was a good idea.

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

he's lazy, he's afraid to go outside the tree for fear of being exposed, and his reputation for little-dick syndrome is such that no one with ambition wants to work for him....mix and match as you will

It's Carl Peterson part deux. Carl never had the balls to hire someone he didn't have a past association with, just the same as Scott. It's lazy and half assed, especially consdiering the results.

[Bowser]

I shake my head watching the Niners tonight. Two years ago, they were the bottom dwellers of the NFL. Now, they get talked up as being one of the best, if not THE best, teams in the league.

All due to their new shiny coach.

[Black Bob]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I shake my head watching the Niners tonight. Two years ago, they were the bottom dwellers of the NFL. Now, they get talked up as being one of the best, if not THE best, teams in the league.

All due to their new shiny coach.

It's alot more than that. It's Bowman, Aldon Smith, and Justin Smith too. They built a good o-line and got lucky with their QB. They were built well. It's more that than anything imo.

[boogblaster]

must we even speak of the management .. it's a old story .. like 30 years old .....

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I shake my head watching the Niners tonight. Two years ago, they were the bottom dwellers of the NFL. Now, they get talked up as being one of the best, if not THE best, teams in the league.

All due to their new shiny coach.

It's good coaching and a solid team. I'm a fan of them because they're using kind of an old school model instead of just pass pass pass, which is boring.

[tk13]

It's an endless cycle. There was a time where everyone would've killed for Pioli. What will happen is he gets fired, everyone wants DeCosta... we hire him, he brings in all his Ravens buddies, the cycle repeats.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

It's alot more than that. It's Bowman, Aldon Smith, and Justin Smith too. They built a good o-line and got lucky with their QB. They were built well. It's more that than anything imo.

First - I agree they've drafted well at critical positions. That has been key to the resurgence.

Second - Got lucky with their QB? Not really. They got smart and brought in the right coach for their QB. Frisco was ready to pull the eject handle on Alex Smith, but he agreed to a pay cut. It's worked out well for them.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

It's alot more than that. It's Bowman, Aldon Smith, and Justin Smith too. They built a good o-line and got lucky with their QB. They were built well. It's more that than anything imo.

unlike the Chiefs, they draft players that help them now and in the future. THey draft players that have an impact in the game. We havent drafted anyone that stands out.

[tk13]

Alex Smith was not some hack. He was the #1 pick in the draft. He also led his college team to a BCS bowl and dominated. If I'm not mistaken the first non-BCS team to win a BCS bowl. And that was back when there was only 4 games, not 5 like now.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by tk13

It's an endless cycle. There was a time where everyone would've killed for Pioli. What will happen is he gets fired, everyone wants DeCosta... we hire him, he brings in all his Ravens buddies, the cycle repeats.

Between Carl and Scott, we've had 20+ years of GM's who are unwilling to hire outside their respective "trees". Whomever comes in here after Pioli, whenever that is, needs to find the right players and coaches for what he wants to do, no matter where or from whom they hail from. That's all I ask out of my GM. Get the RIGHT PEOPLE.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by tk13

Alex Smith was not some hack. He was the #1 pick in the draft. He also led his college team to a BCS bowl and dominated. If I'm not mistaken the first non-BCS team to win a BCS bowl. And that was back when there was only 4 games, not 5 like now.

Before last season, everyone had all but labeled him a bust. Harbaugh got this kid his confidence back.

In the interest of fairness, Smith had a Jason Campbell-ian start to his career, with five offenses in five years, or some such? Either way, he's seemed to have figured it out.

[JohnnyHammersticks]

Watching the 49ers, you come to the realization that unless the Cheaps paid 4x the going rate, they're never going to get a coach like Harbaugh as long as Pioli is in the picture. They would shun us immediately just like Peyton Manning did. Why put up with Pioli's insecure little dictator-like personality when you have other options? So what does he do next, assuming the Chiefs finish 2-14 or worse, the players quit, and Crennel gets shit-canned after only one season? He does the only thing the bald headed prick knows how to do. He hires the guy he wanted in the first place, so say hello to Josh McDaniels, your next head coach of the Kansas City .

[FAX]

Oooooh ...

Bad, Mr. JohnnyHammersticks. Bad.

FAX

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

Also, the problem with Palko was that Haley obviously thought he was good enough to be the back up QB. He chose to go with Palko in that role rather than having Pioli get someone. It's part of what got him fired imo. He was a Pitt guy and Haley ate that shit up.

God damn you are an idiot. You think Haley picked the players? With Mr. Micromanage around? Maybe Pioli said hey I can get Palko really cheap, you ok with him?