Scott Pioli On NFL Total Access: Quotes

Former Kansas City GM Scott Pioli made his first NFL-related appearance since parting way with the Chiefs when he was a guest analyst on NFL Total Access last evening.

Pioli was not asked about his departure from KC or about his pans for the future. He was there to strictly provide an expert point of view into the offseason talent evaluation process. Pioli was on for two segments. We jotted down some quotes.

What to NFL teams look for?

"This is the first piece of the puzzle where NFL teams get an opp to see the players in a new environment, see them where their uncomfortable, see the where they know they’re under the microscope. And truly the timing of this event is great because not all of them have had time to spend with their agents and be coached up just yet. So what you’re getting in terms of interviews, and there’s a lot of interview time spent, you have to see how players react to a new set of circumstances an unfamiliar environment, pressure and again they don’t know the questions that they’re going to be getting during the interview process. So it’s a good time to jump them early where you’re not going to be getting canned answers or even have or even have the good excuses that are in place for the players who may have had a little bit of trouble."

What is the next step for teams after the Senior Bowl, heading toward the combine?

"Most teams have December meetings and then the Senior Bowl comes along and the East-West. What’s happened is the scouts that were area scouts talked about the players in their area and then what happens at this point and time is generally, each scout has a position that they’re specifically trained to know how to evaluate so this is called a crosscheck procedure and at the end of these crosschecks, as most teams have meetings right before the combine, and before you get to the combine, you have your board pretty much lined up as to what you think the players are because again, you want to be careful before the combine, that you don’t let, as Mike Mayock calls it “The Underwear Olympics,” you don’t want to let too much influence how your gonna set your board. So what you want to do before you get to the combine, in this time, is do the crosscheck evaluations, get your board set by position, have the players evaluated and hope your board doesn’t change a whole lot before you get into your individual workouts because you get to see them playing football and a lot of tape time spent int he months in the time between December, the Senior Bowl, East-West and actually the combine."

I couldn’t help but wonder if we are going to see more of Pioli as an analyst this offseason. He is very well spoken and comes off pretty well on TV. If he is interested in perhaps taking a break from football and getting into TV, this may be his first step toward that.

Pioli strikes me as the kind of guy who would want to get back into the NFL quickly but considering how poorly his time in KC ended, he may need a year or two to let some of the heat from his mistakes with the Chiefs die down. Being an analyst could help him stay on the NFL radar while he waits for that to happen.

I have to say, I’d be interested to see Pioli as an analyst during the draft. My ears still perk up whenever former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards is asked to talk about what the Chiefs are doing. I’d be fascinated to hear Pioli’s analysis of the Chiefs’ picks this April.

What do you think, Addicts? Do you want to see Scott Pioli as a regular NFL draft analyst?