Joe Posnanski: big SI Scott Pioli feature

[Reaper16]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...10/1/index.htm

Story broken up amongst 8 pages, so I'm not going to copy/paste the full text here.

Figured this would be of interest to us all here.

[Hootie]

well the good thing is they'll never be able to ruin another offseason...

they know they have to be objective now instead of how they were last season...where what they "knew" was gospel and anyone who disagreed was a stupid "true fan" who didn't know anything and couldn't understand what they were watching...

because apparently it was the other way around

[-King-]

Remember during the off season OTWP was discrediting Jamaal Charles because of the weakness of the defenses we played? Those guys make me chuckle.
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[Hootie]

Originally Posted by KcChiefsKing

Remember during the off season OTWP was discrediting Jamaal Charles because of the weakness of the defenses we played? Those guys make me chuckle.
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of course he was...

and now Jamaal Charles is CLEARLY the best RB in the NFL...well him or Foster but I'm taking Jamaal...

and it's a shame Jamaal doesn't get more goalline work because he can power it in better than Jones I guarantee it...

[beach tribe]

The bashers are just Fn hilarious.
They predict a 5-6 win season, and when we blast through that, we still suck because our opponents weren't great.
Pioli still sucks because our best players were from the last regime, but without the players that have been plugged in around them, we are still a four win team.
Not to mention the fact that one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL now roam our sidelines because of him.
We've got a damn solid FS now, that we picked in the 5TH Fn round!
Talk about the Tyson Jackson pick all you want, but the player evaluations of the bashers, have been absolutely horrendous, and if their trend of projected player development continues, Tyson Jackson will end up being a Richard Seymore clone. Because players never develop you know.
After all, Hali sucks ass, and should have just been cut.
And just for the record. Matt Cassel looks 1000 times better than Mark Sanchez

[philfree]

Originally Posted by The Meat Dragon

well the good thing is they'll never be able to ruin another offseason...

they know they have to be objective now instead of how they were last season...where what they "knew" was gospel and anyone who disagreed was a stupid "true fan" who didn't know anything and couldn't understand what they were watching...

because apparently it was the other way around

You can't really believe that? LOL

PhilFree

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

Not for the Chiefs the past 3 years or so. It was a bounce back game for the other team. Back up QB's throwing for 300 yards 3 touch downs 0 interceptions. Or a Running back running for a career high of 200 yards per game. That was the Chiefs the last 3 years against shitty teams. Its not the case anymore.

We will see what the Chiefs are made of in the next 2 weeks.

This is true. There has been definite progress. What is a matter of debate is the extent of the progress and whether or not some of the pieces in place are long term solutions, stopgaps, or part of the problem.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Coaching that talent into something useful Is a major key here you seem to be overlooking. What does it matter what a players potential is if the head coach or coaches can't get it out of them?

No. In fact I specifically mentioned it as worthy of praise.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by The Meat Dragon

oh and our 2009 draft has 22 TD's, 4 INT's and is a part of the culture change that has us at 7-4 and 1st place in the AFC West...

but hey...

if you guys want me to, once again, post some of your FAVORITE TEAM'S DRAFTS from 2009...I will. You guys want to see the Ravens draft again? The Packers? Who? The Bengals? The Jets?

I'll tell you right now the 2009 draft was brutal...and we came out of it with Matt Cassel, Tyson Jackson, Jake O'Connell and Ryan Succop...with a few other stiffs like Donald Washington (a mecca favorite) who will probably never pan out...

So...if Matt Cassel continues leading this team to wins and division titles and keeps taking giant steps forward like he has this season...

I hate to say it DUMB****S...but our 2009 draft would be categorized as EPIC WIN...

which, once again, would make you drafturbator fools look like total idiots...(but what's new?)

but hey! HAMAS WANTED MACLIN AT #3! YEP! MACLIN! WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN A BIGGER REACH THAN DHB AT #7! BUT WHAT AN EASY THING TO DO! CALL FOR A GUY WHO HAS ALREADY PLAYED A YEAR AND THEN TELL EVERYONE HOW GREAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF WE TOOK HIM AT #3! YEAH HAMAS! JIMMY CLAUSEN AT #1 FOR LIFE! V! GHOLST! 4 LYFE!

Yup, our 2009 Draft is an epic win. You heard it here first.

You, who said earlier yesterday that you still weren't sold on Matt Cassel, now promote him as a franchise guy as well as one of the people who helped bring in a culture change, and GC is a flip-flopper?

GC is a flip-flopper, and you are lamenting me for liking Clausen (when you said he was better than Bradford) and Gholston (who you specifically mentioned you wanted to draft).

Maclin was projected higher than Heyward Bey at #7, and was routinely looked at as a top-15 pick. Hell, he was a much higher rated prospect than Tyson Jackson, and it turns out, he can actually play.

There's your daily dose of attention. Now sprinkle some parmesan on your fail.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

Talk about the Tyson Jackson pick all you want, but the player evaluations of the bashers, have been absolutely horrendous, and if their trend of projected player development continues, Tyson Jackson will end up being a Richard Seymore clone. Because players never develop you know.

You've been stating this since the day he was drafted and to date, he's been average at best and awful at worst.

I hope that someday he's an adequate starter but to date, he's been an epic failure. If the Chiefs had taken Oher, Orapko, Maclin, Harvin, Davis or Matthews (to name a few), this team would be further along in their rebuilding process.

Tyson Jackson, to date, has been a bust. Only time will tell if that changes and but that's far from a certainty.

[Hootie]

I don't remember where I said I liked Clausen better than Bradford or when I said I'd take Gholston on the Chiefs...

As for Cassel...of course I was down on him...but I keep an open mind when I watch the Chiefs...and the way he has conducted himself even with all the criticism...he's like the opposite of Derek Anderson...and he's really proved himself to me, and he should be proving himself to everyone...instead, we still have OTWP being a complete dickhole (go figure) at least you've about the whole thing...

I mean...I didn't just make that Cassel thread because I thought it was going to be funny...I really thought he was going to have a money game on the road @ Seattle (a very tough place to play) and then continue for the rest of the season trying to will this team to the postseason.

[Chiefnj2]

Pioli and Belichik were always about the "team". They were the first to introduce their "team" into the Super Bowl. Prior to that it was always one team's offense and the others defense.

[-King-]

Is it sad that our #3 overall bust did more his rookie year than Hamas' #1 overall draft pick has done his whole career?

Can you imagine how dominant we'd be right now with the players Hamas wanted? Clausen, Mike Bell, Vernon Gholston, Bruce Campbell and Mardy Gilyard. **** yeah!!

Shit just look at the gems he drafted! http://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=224527 They are really lighting the league up this year.

[zonachief]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

That's all well and good, but it's not going to sustain the franchise over the long haul.

Pioli's first draft was a D. His second draft looks like a C+. We need a B+ or better next year.

a c+????!

Berry, Lewis, Moeaki All legit starters...Arenas is a solid nickle corner. Also him and DMC are adding to the return game....

C+...Esta loca C+...

[DaWolf]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Actually, both of those assertions are untrue. This was a great team to take the position for because of the young talent that was here when Herm left. That's something I've said for a long time, and most of that comes from the 2008 draft. That said, Herm hit on all of his 1st rounders, which makes a huge difference as well.

What we didn't have was any depth, and for all intents and purposes, we still don't.

What I find disingenuous is praising the personnel skills of someone that turned a franchise around when almost all of the best players on this team are holdovers.

While some of that is true, you also have to take into account:
1) These guys were kept around as pieces of the puzzle. Pioli likely wasn't going to walk into a job which was 100% devoid of talent. Remember, there was talk of him taking this job in part because he was really high on some of the young pieces we had here.

2) He seemingly has brought in the right coaches to maximize the playing levels of some of these underachievers. While much young talent was in place, a lot of it was underachieving until buttons started being pushed. Guys like Bowe and DJ aren't just having better seasons this year because they've got a few years under their belts. A lot of that is coaching.

In fact, you can probably say that the biggest difference between this year and last year, aside from better offseason moves, is that the coaching has taken hold and is a lot better on both sides of the ball.

I certainly don't think this team is perfect or ready for prime time yet by any means. But I appreciate that the guy is also not seemingly satisfied with where we are either. In the past, King Carl would be out there patting his back right about now. The one thing I can't accuse Pioli of is being only interested in putting butts in the seats. I actually buy that he and Haley are solely focused on building a great team. Now whether they wind up doing it or not over the next few years, we'll see...

[tk13]

I have to say that's a good point. If Carl was the GM we'd be seeing the 112th article about how he's turned the Chiefs around, again, and all is good and sunny with the world.