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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Some insight on Dimitroff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Phoenix — With new Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff learning and earning his trade as a college talent evaluator, there might be some concerns about his ability to handle all the duties of a general manager: disciplining players, executing trades, handling free agency, etc.. Dimitroff hasn’t done those things before.
That doesn’t mean he’s unprepared to handle those jobs, though.
Dimitroff’s former boss, Scott Pioli, the New England Patriots vice president of player personnel, told me at a pre-Super Bowl news conference Thursday that Dimitroff, “when he had free time, spent a large majority of his time training for this job.”
By that Pioli said Dimitroff attended the NFL management council’s meetings to learn about salary-cap management, learning the ins and outs of the collective bargaining agreement and mastering the rules involving a variety of player personnel issues. He also said Dimitroff has established relationships with countless player agents, which is highly important.
The youthful-looking Dimitroff also, “will have no problem disciplining people” if need be, Pioli said. “Thomas is a very principled person. He was raised a certain way and he knows to have success in football how important discipline is.”
Pioli added that Dimitroff was deeply involved in the Patriots’ draft each year and that Dimitroff ran draft preparation meetings. He said Dimitroff was very involved in the draft process on draft day and that he is very comfortable with all the issues that could arise during the draft process.
Dimitroff also is smart enough to know that he has to rely on others for help and that he has to delegate duties in order for a football operation to successfully work, Pioli said.
