Chiefs Kent Babb dismantles Fat Scott - Page 2

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.

**Bugeater** · 09-16-2012, 05:48 PM

Quote:

He arrived nearly five years ago...

This guy must have went to the same school as those idiots who couldn't count the number of days between football games in Whitlock's thread a few days back.

**the Talking Can** · 09-16-2012, 05:48 PM

hiring Crennel was the laziest thing any GM has done in a long time

it's also proof that he's out of ideas

**BossChief** · 09-16-2012, 05:48 PM

I feel like a fool for being duped by this buffoon.

Live and learn.

stonedstooge · 09-16-2012, 05:48 PM

Wishing a Fat Scotty nervous breakdown. His kind need to be brought down to reality.

tk13 · 09-16-2012, 05:49 PM

Pioli may very well be right. Our success two years ago might have been because of Weis and Crennel. They were certainly the only two guys in the entire organization during Pioli's tenure that had a consistent history of success at the positions they held that season.

So why did Pioli let Weis walk while Haley stayed behind, then?

**OnTheWarpath15** · 09-16-2012, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

Hopefully, this is the first in a long line of articles that hold Pioli responsible for HIS decisions.

I cant wait till someone calls him out on forcing the coaches to keep Cassel on the field.

Articles won't change anything. IIRC, Babb was the one that wrote the long story about the secretive culture around the complex, how Haley thought his personal phone was being tapped, etc.

People read it, and promptly ignored it.

Same will happen here, regardless of record.

There are too many sheep in this fanbase to expect otherwise.

**the Talking Can** · 09-16-2012, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tk13

Pioli may very well be right. Our success two years ago might have been because of Weis and Crennel. They were the only two guys in the entire organization during Pioli's tenure that had a consistent history of success at the positions they held that season.

So why did Pioli let Weis walk while Haley stay behind, then?

and why promote crennel above his pay grade?

scho63 · 09-16-2012, 05:49 PM

Babb got balls now that he is leaving

Chiefs Pantalones · 09-16-2012, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

hiring Crennel was the laziest thing any GM has done in a long time

it's also proof that he's out of ideas

This. I expected more from the executive of the decade.

**BossChief** · 09-16-2012, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

hiring Crennel was the laziest thing any GM has done in a long time

it's also proof that he's out of ideas

Or that nobody else would choke on Cassels cock but Crennel.

I would be willing to bet money that Cassel played a role in Manning LOLing @ us, too.

O.city · 09-16-2012, 05:50 PM

He's right. There's too much individual talent to lose like this. We are essentially the 2010 49ers

**the Talking Can** · 09-16-2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

Or that nobody else would choke on Cassels cock but Crennel.

I would be willing to bet money that Cassel played a role in Manning LOLing @ us, too.

yeah, that's possible

FringeNC · 09-16-2012, 05:51 PM

Wow. Nice article, especially the insider tidbits about Pioli attempting to work journalists. Only gripe with the story is that the big problem isn't the lack of spending, but is Matt ****ing Cassel, and Pioli's bizarre infatuation with him.

**Baby Lee** · 09-16-2012, 05:51 PM

VINDICATION

http://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=263715

Black Bob · 09-16-2012, 05:51 PM

I have no doubt that Pioli is psychopath. I work for one and he's exactly like him. It will drive you crazy working for someone like him. However, Haley was still a bad coach.

I guess I am glad that Babb wrote this article but, it's kind of too little too late. They should have pressed hard from the beginning like Whitlock did. I can't respect these guys.

09-16-2012, 05:36 PM
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $-687094	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: 50,118

09-16-2012, 05:48 PM	#17
the Talking Can Supporter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: street Casino cash: $9222208	hiring Crennel was the laziest thing any GM has done in a long time it's also proof that he's out of ideas __________________ Clark Hunt: "Thank god for the Dominican pool boy"
Posts: 51,585

09-16-2012, 05:48 PM	#18
BossChief SuperBowl or bust Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: BF Iowa Casino cash: $-1695912	I feel like a fool for being duped by this buffoon. Live and learn.
Posts: 47,901

09-16-2012, 05:48 PM	#19
stonedstooge Arf! Arf! Arf! Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: North Casino cash: $3834173	Wishing a Fat Scotty nervous breakdown. His kind need to be brought down to reality. __________________ 2013 ADOPT A CHIEF Eric Kush "Often is a word I seldom use"--JP
Posts: 25,289

09-16-2012, 05:49 PM	#20
tk13 ... Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $-1837500	Pioli may very well be right. Our success two years ago might have been because of Weis and Crennel. They were certainly the only two guys in the entire organization during Pioli's tenure that had a consistent history of success at the positions they held that season. So why did Pioli let Weis walk while Haley stayed behind, then?
Posts: 56,683

09-16-2012, 05:49 PM	#23
scho63 Politically Incorrect Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Casino cash: $-880000	Babb got balls now that he is leaving __________________ *"The only difference between sex for free and sex for money is that sex for free costs you a WHOLE LOT more!"* ~Redd Foxx~ ~~2018 2019 2020 20212022 2023~~ 2024 Adopt a Chief - Clark Hunt and Brett Veach "The men who drafted Patrick Mahomes"
Posts: 55,035

09-16-2012, 05:50 PM	#26
O.city In Search of a Life Join Date: Jul 2009 Casino cash: $-675936	He's right. There's too much individual talent to lose like this. We are essentially the 2010 49ers
Posts: 84,209

09-16-2012, 05:51 PM	#28
FringeNC MVP Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: NC Casino cash: $-1733986	Wow. Nice article, especially the insider tidbits about Pioli attempting to work journalists. Only gripe with the story is that the big problem isn't the lack of spending, but is Matt ****ing Cassel, and Pioli's bizarre infatuation with him.
Posts: 10,234

09-16-2012, 05:51 PM	#29
Baby Lee Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $8028275	VINDICATION http://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=263715 __________________ We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics - E.W.
Posts: 95,642

09-16-2012, 05:51 PM	#30
Black Bob Veteran Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Mohawk Town Casino cash: $10004900	I have no doubt that Pioli is psychopath. I work for one and he's exactly like him. It will drive you crazy working for someone like him. However, Haley was still a bad coach. I guess I am glad that Babb wrote this article but, it's kind of too little too late. They should have pressed hard from the beginning like Whitlock did. I can't respect these guys.
Posts: 4,408