Report: Pioli-To-Chiefs Deal Imminent
The Boston Globe/Sports Illustrated is reporting that Scott Pioli is “all but gone” to Kansas City.
Once thought to be the Chiefs’ leading candidate, now there is no doubt: Pioli is their man, according to an NFL source. Perhaps more important, Pioli’s interest in the Chiefs and a potential new career challenge has grown. All that stands in the way is hashing out a contract agreement, or perhaps a late pitch from the Patriots (who lost offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to the Broncos yesterday as head coach), or a last-minute change of heart from Pioli. All scenarios remained in play as of early last night, but as reported in yesterday’s Globe, the intensity of talks between Pioli and the Chiefs has increased within the last 24-48 hours. Word out of Kansas City continues to be that the possibility of the sides coming together is picking up momentum. The key has been the comfort level between Pioli, Hunt, and team president Denny Thum.
This is just Sports Illistrated’s interpretation of yesterday’s Boston Globe story. Nothing new from this.
As a life long Chiefs’ fan, I will believe it only when Clark Hunt announces it. And even then, I’ll need to listen to it again.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:38 pmI really hope this is true. I’m going insane.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:43 pmCool.
January 12th, 2009 at 1:29 pmWhat if this falls through because of Hunts possibly desire to keep Herm Edwards? I would puke.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:10 pmClark has kept this so secretive so until Clark comes out and says a deal is done I won’t believe it.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:15 pmIf this falls thru bc we are keeping Herm then I am DONE as a Chiefs fan. Seriously. I feel that strongly about getting rid of Harm. This season and last have been so disastrous.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:18 pmI am keeping my fingers crossed on this deal, but I too am very skeptical until such time as an announcement is made. I really hope Mr. Clark Hunt does something which is good for the Chiefs instead of some really stupid assed thing which will further erode the confidence of the fan base. I am probably as big a Chiefs fan as there is, but this is even bothering me with the way nothing positive is coming from the team for who knows how long. Right now, I would say fan confidence in the team and its leadership is very, very low.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:24 pm“As per Chiefs policy no details were disclosed”
January 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pmBlah Blah Blah!!!!
January 12th, 2009 at 3:43 pmI find it odd that the Boston newspaper have new information about the progress of the Chiefs/Pioli saga every other day, and the KC Star only offers that there is no news to report.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:44 pmEric,
Suppose we sign Pioli to a 10 year deal with the only stipulation being that Herm stays on at HC at the start of next season but that Pioli will have sole authority to make a switch as early as midseason if he feels it’s justified and necessary? Big picture – seems like a decent compromise to me. I keep wondering in the back of my head whether Clarky made some kind of commitment on Herm that he feels obligated to keep before moving on. To me, bringing in a new HC versus keeping Herm for one more year washes out about the same in terms of the time it will take to build a winner. I could see Pioli agreeing to this kind of arrangement as long as he is allowed to have his preferred HC waiting in the wings (as either new OC or DC) until he’s ready to pull the plug (or trigger, depending on how one chooses to look at it).
January 12th, 2009 at 3:50 pmI’ll tell you another factor that might need to be considered – if the difference between keeping Tony G until he retires (2 more years) versus him retiring/leaving early is whether or not his preference for Herm Edwards as HC remains intact next season to me is no brainer. Chiefs would be insane to let Tony G go/retire over such a minor sticking point and I think I speak for a lot of fans in saying it would me plain sick. Tony is the best (and for some, only) reason to keep buying tickets and watching games.
DD:
I don’t see the head coach as a ‘minor sticking point’. Any new GM should get his choice of a head coach right away.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:53 pmkcdan – if you haven’t figured it out yet, KC’s local news establishment sucks. If something big happens, you might hear/read about it here a couple of weeks. The biggest problem with the Star is that doesn’t have any competition. It shows.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:54 pmBy that logic DD, I don’t know, you put a lot of escape clauses in there. My reply would be why keep a lame duck coach around if everyone knew he was on the outs?
I highly doubt Tony wants to keep Herm around. Herm gets credit for going to the Arrowspread, but He HAD TO, our line sucked. We had to do something exotic or die. I don’t think we should let the players dictate what we are going to do, but I agree with you if that makes sense. The Chiefs would be insane from a tickets perspective to let TG go, but from a rebuilding angle, he and LJ should both bounce. I hope it doesn’t happen but if the price is right it should.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:57 pmI think Tony will sign on as long as the team is winning. With another good draft, and smart off-season moves, I see us getting to .500. I don’t see that with Herm at the reigns. He doesn’t hold players accountable. He’s inconsistant in his philosophies. And with the exception of the young corners, none of our young players are getting better under his tutelage.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:59 pmYour agrument DD is kinda like, We’ll we are bringing Obama in here in a couple of days, but there is a catch, he has to keep Bush on as President for a year, but if Bush really effs up, then we can get rid of him.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:59 pmMerlin,
Not if the owner feels otherwise for whatever reason. GM of the Chiefs ranks high on the lists of top NFL jobs. Nothing worth having ever comes without making a concession or two. Not that the comparison is apples to apples but just look at the situation in Cleveland. Whatever GM takes that job will be facing a much less enviable situation than the scenario I’m speculating on.
Like I said, if the concession for a 10 year (and likely longer) tenure in KC as GM is having to live with the owner’s “word of honor” or whatever to the HC for one more year, I’d have to categorize that as a minor sticking point in my book.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pmThe only silver lining in keeping Herm is another guaranteed top-five pick. I never thought of it like that. Plus, I’d get to break out the Vlag again. Miss that brown paper bag!
January 12th, 2009 at 4:03 pmEric,
More like Obama having to keep Ben Bernanke until his term concludes. Everybody has to pay homage to the whoever holds the pursestrings at some point or other . . .
January 12th, 2009 at 4:05 pmI would welcome a Chiefs Bailout from Bernanke DD
January 12th, 2009 at 4:10 pmAny GM worth a damn would tell Clark thanks, but no thanks if he was told he had to keep Herm the Worm for another year. The GM should have the ability to fire the coach and hire the coach of his choosing. What is the point of having a GM if you aren’t going to give him those powers. Hell you might as well make the Worm a coach/GM if you are going to do that.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pmI will remain cautiously optimistic…
Everyone, including Herm himself, i think, wants Herm to be fired….
Also, I think that if Pioli comes in he will not hesitate to trade Tony at all…It is what they are known for in New England…
January 12th, 2009 at 4:32 pmdbk – whoever winds up as GM in Cleveland will have the freshly-hired Eric Mangina to contend with. Yes, things could indeed be worse. Consider what it would be like to accept such a job from Jerry Jones or Al Davis? Everybody looks to Parcells as some kind of standard of talented leadership and yet he was willing to work for Jones, right? Does that experience qualify him as something less than “any GM worth a damn?”
And exactly how do we know that Pioli is not 100% on board with the idea (i.e, keeping Edwards on for time being)? This thing may have been all planned out back in January of last year for all we know. I’m guessing the only hold-up on this deal is Pioli waiting to see what the Pats counter with. Regardless of whatever the intermediate requirements might be, GM of the Chiefs remains a very attractive, potentially long-term opportunity for whoever is offered (and accepts) the job.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:52 pmI am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction about next years season. I predict we will lose no more than two more games next year than we did this year.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:03 pmI want to know where the Boston Globe is getting their information from. Why is it that they seem to know that talks are heating up, and/or negotiations haven’t officially begun yet? Why are we left to speculate in KC and Boston is publishing reports on a regular basis??? This is getting maddening!
January 12th, 2009 at 5:10 pmIt’s called East Coast media versus Midwest media. The two are worlds apart.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:29 pmDouble D:
I fail to see your logic of if the Browns are doing it, the Chiefs are okay to do it.You are correct. Whomever the Browns hire does have to deal with Mangini as coach. That is why three GM’s have pulled out of the job search. They wanted to be able to hire their own coach and not get saddled with Mangini. So like I said. I can’t see any GM that is worth a damn taking the job if they have to be stuck with Herm. Finally, about your comment of did it ever occur to me that Pioli that Pioli might want Herm. I will say that any GM worth a damn wouldn’t want Herm the Worm as coach.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pmdbk – I didn’t say it was okay – I’m just pointing it out for the sake of comparison.
Liking or not liking Herm doesn’t really fall into the category of GM qualifications for me. The total picture on the transition will be much bigger than Herm Edwards – trust me on that. There are a lot of factors to look at and a lot of things to consider when determining what the critical next steps for this team need to be. That said, I still fully expect whoever comes in as GM to hand-select a HC. If that somehow (improbably) ends up being Herman Edwards next year, I at least get it.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:11 pmMy understanding is that Pioli wanted the title of President of Football Operations so that he would have control not over just the head coach, but also the coordinators and assistant coaching staffs. That seems like it might be a way of easing his coordinators into place so that, if he does opt to let Herm finish out his term, the players will already have a rapport with and respect for the replacement that comes on. I’m not saying he will keep Herm, but I agree with Double D insofar as this transition will be much bigger than Herm. I honestly want Herm gone myself, but priority #1 is canning Gun and Krummie (I mean Krumrie of course) and getting a competant defensive staff in place to take over once Herm is gone.
January 12th, 2009 at 7:00 pm