Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has been stripped of pro and college scouting, NFL draft responsibilities and the head coach from directly reporting to him in a major realignment of the front office, the team announced Wednesday.
As part of the realignment, assistant general manager Scott Pioli will take on pro and college scouting and NFL draft responsibilities, while still reporting to Dimitroff.
When head coach Mike Smith was fired on Dec. 29, Blank was peppered with questions about Dimitroff’s future.
In addition to keeping his title, Dimitroff will retain management responsibility for salary cap, player affairs, equipment, sports medicine and performance, and video activities.
“After reviewing all of our options – internally and externally – I have no reservations that this is the best approach to setting up our player personnel groups for future success,” said Falcons owner Arthur Blank in a statement released by the team. “It maximizes the talents of Scott, allows for more time and focus on all areas of our football operations groups managed by Thomas, and is in line with other player personnel groups in the league.”
The Falcons are in the midst of a head coaching search to replace Smith, the winningest coach in franchise history. Dimitroff also loss control of the head coach as a direct-report in this restructuring.
“While this decision was not tied to the head coach search currently underway, we also believe that independent thinking and collaboration will contribute to taking us to the next level in our league,” Blank said. “Therefore, our new head coach and Thomas will report separately to me.”
The team, which was set to interview Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin on Wednesday and Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on Thursday, expect the coaching search to be concluded in the “coming weeks.” Because of the death of Blank’s mother, those interviews have been pushed back to Friday and Saturday.
Pioli will be supported by Falcons director of player personnel Lionel Vital, who will assume additional pro scouting responsibilities and play a role in college scouting, and director of college scouting Steve Sabo.
“Scott is a trusted partner who has proven himself, time and again, during his 23-year NFL career,” Dimitroff said. “His thumbprint can be found on a number of Pro Bowl players during his NFL career, and he was a key contributor to the remarkable Super Bowl success of the Patriots during his tenure there. We look forward, and I do personally, to the many contributions he will make to our pro, college scouting and NFL Draft efforts going forward.”
Pioli served as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009 to 2012 before being fired.
He joined the Falcons in February of 2014 as assistant general manager.
Pioli joined the Chiefs after serving as the vice president of player personnel with the New England Patriots, where he spent six seasons working with Dimitroff (2002-07).
During his nine-year tenure in New England (2000-08), the Patriots compiled an NFL-best 102-42 (.708) regular season record, won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX, claimed four AFC championships, and won six AFC East titles.
In collaboration with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Dimitroff, Pioli saw the Patriots compile 11 playoff wins between 2003 and 2007, the highest total by any team during a five-year span in NFL history.
