I actually liked my original Pioli column when Clark hired him.
 

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/col...ry/980160.html

Hiring of Pioli puts the Chiefs in the Hunt again
Jason Whitlock

We have no more questions about Clark Hunt’s commitment to winning the Super Bowl.

By landing the biggest fish in the NFL’s off-season ocean — Patriots front-office guru Scott Pioli — Hunt told us everything we need to know about his desire to win at the highest level.

Clark Hunt is as passionate and committed as the most fanatic Chiefs fan.

You pierce your costume with arrows on game day, wear red on Fridays, decorate your basement with Chiefs apparel, rock Priest Holmes jerseys throughout the week, tolerate taxes to renovate Arrowhead Stadium and pay $22 to tailgate before exhibition games.

Clark Hunt appreciates all that. But he wants you to recognize he just spent a fortune to eliminate the stench of Carl Peterson and make the Chiefs Super Bowl contenders again.

We thought dethroning King Carl was a big deal. Luring Pioli to replace Peterson is much, much bigger.

There is no way to guarantee Pioli will be a success. The longtime Bill Belichick right-hand man might be as fraudulent as Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Eric Mangini and the other Belichick clones who failed once they left the Patriots coach’s shadow and cashed in.

I like Pioli — a lot. He’s young, confident, disciplined, smart and he’s certainly been in the right organization.

But when it comes to the Patriots and success, we just don’t know where Belichick ends and everybody else begins. The Patriots are like the Jackson 5, and Belichick is Michael Jackson. Crennel and Weis proved to be Tito and Jackie.

Is Pioli the next Jermaine Jackson, who had a solid solo career? Or, better yet, is Pioli the next Janet Jackson, a megastar just waiting for the opportunity to shine?

We don’t know. And we won’t know for a couple of years. We’ll need to see how he drafts, whether he can find a legitimate quarterback of the future for the Chiefs, whether he can hire his own version of Belichick.

(Oops, I’m assuming that Herm Edwards will be relieved of his duties.)

What we know for sure is that ownership is going to provide Pioli with everything he needs to be successful.

There’s no way Pioli takes the job without those assurances. He had a great deal of leverage entering this off-season. The Cleveland Browns wanted to make him their general manager. The Lions were initially interested. Pioli could’ve stayed with the Patriots and waited for the perfect situation.

He got it here. He took this job because he found an owner ready to do things the Patriots way. He found an owner ready to match his level of commitment.

You don’t leave Belichick and all those Super Bowl rings unless you believe you’ve discovered a place where you believe you can do the same thing. Oh, I’m sure the money is awesome. I’m sure the Pioli family is set.

But Pioli has no interest in being Weis or Crennel. They’re laughingstocks. They’re known as football men who were great Belichick puppets and nothing else. One of life’s toughest tasks is recovering a lost reputation.

Pioli has a great rep. He’s risking a lot leaving the Belichick nest. He didn’t do it blindly or with dollar signs dancing in his head.

He did it thinking about creating his own legacy and with playoff victories dancing in his head.

Pioli and Hunt recruited each other. Pioli had to convince Hunt that he had a plan to fix the Chiefs. And Hunt had to convince Pioli that he was willing to support that plan.

For two decades under Peterson’s rule and Lamar Hunt’s budget, the Chiefs shopped for bargains in their pursuit of a championship. Peterson grabbed Marcus Allen and Joe Montana at the end of their careers. Peterson snagged underappreciated veterans such as Dan Saleaumua and James Hasty.

Only once can I remember Peterson stepping out and paying top dollar for a big-time free agent. He gave his football godfather Dick Vermeil a golden parachute. Peterson spent lavishly on assistants and Vermeil’s dream of building an offense superior to Mike Martz’s.

It worked.

Well, now Clark Hunt has stepped out and grabbed the most elite name in front-office magic.

And with this move, Hunt has boldly stated only the best and brightest are good enough for the Chiefs.

That’s just what we needed to hear.

What's the updated version gonna look like?

Q

Hunt did what anyone else would have done. He went out and got THE GUY from the legendary legacy team. Hunt bears some of the blame for this debacle, but the bulk lands squarely on the shoulders of Pioli.

Hopefully you can write another article like this, except about a new front office/coach/qb all at once.

I think it's proof that Clark was committed and promised to give Pioli exactly what Pioli felt he needed to win. This proves that the problem is Pioli. He had the leverage to get everything he felt was necessary to win. This season can't be blamed on Clark not providing Pioli the resources. I like this column and I'm not embarrassed by it. Not sure why the thread was locked.

The Pioli virus has burrowed its way into the brains of Chiefs fans causing a serious condition that will never allow them to feel joy over the game of football again.


Just my guess.

Lots of us agreed with you and many people who say they didn't are lying. The point isn't what we originally thought about the guy but what we think about him now. And right now, we're glad to have you on the right side of this.

Whatcha think man? Is the shit ever going to hit the fan? Watching that game today was worse than watching golf.

If Pioli was Japanese, he'd fall on his sword... Alas, he is not...

We need to make damned sure that Clark knows that ANY plan moving forward that involves Scott Pioli or ANYTHING wreaking of the Patriot Way is unacceptable no matter what other bones (new HC, 1st round QB, big free agent, etc) is thrown our way.

Ya, but I get the feeling Clark kind of helped **** this up. His handling of employees, or should I say lack of at least giving some guidance to the new staff with regard to dismissals etc leads me to believe he is just as much to blame for this organizational breakdown as anyone.

Pioli was obviously a coup when we got him. He had the rings and the awards and I think he was dating Gisele Bundchen. It was the right move by Clark.

It's not working out like we'd hoped, which means one of three things is true:

1. It was really Belichick.

2. It was really Brady.

3. The difference between success and failure is razor thin and even the best judges of talent can miss several shots in a row, which is enough to produce Millenesque results.

I'd like to think that it's #3, and that, like blackjack, he'll eventually get on a hot streak to even out the numbers. But the Cassel trade makes me wonder if it's really #1. And it's still hard to rule out #2 from a global perspective.

When we think about what Pioli did, it all seemed right. He hired a hot young offensive coordinator in Todd Haley, and he made the biggest investment (pick-wise) in a QB since Trent Green. He followed the rules of "it's all about the passer and the people who rush the passer" by getting a QB and d-linemen. It's just that none of them are working out.

I don't understand why the other thread was locked either.

I'm thinking the Chiefs have been and are going to continue to be viewed by those candidates to replace this staff/players as "that thing you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole".

Peyton Manning sure didn't want to. It makes me wonder about Clark.