Sep 3, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons assistant general manager Scott Pioli shown on the sideline of the game against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons defeated the Ravens 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Reach: Did you plant your flag and reclaim your job?
TT: “I started making those moves. They started by splitting up the time between me and Ron Edwards, but every series I was in there, I dominated. In that Minnesota game, I think I had five or six tackles. The next game in St. Louis, I did the same thing. Now it’s becoming obvious who really deserves that spot.
Our 3-4 defense reverted back to a 4-3, the way I wanted it. I never liked lining straight up, over the center, at a zero-technique. I always wanted to get a slight shade so I’d have an advantage on him. I became the one-technique again, the end on my side played the five, on the other side the three-tech was Glenn Dorsey, and the nine-technique was Tamba (Hali). That was to my liking because I was so dominant at the nose position. We went into the season, and by the third or fourth game, I was leading the NFL in stops by a nose tackle.”
Reach: When did things take a turn for the worse?
TT: “I always knew that if I gave Todd Haley an inch, he’d be right there on my heels. Going into Game 3 or 4 of the season in Philadelphia, I was downtown meeting with my lawyer before a defensive meeting. I got to the building a minute late for our eight o’clock meeting. The next morning, the defensive coordinator and Tim Krumrie come up to me and tell me I wouldn’t be starting and that I’d been fined $1,600 for being late to the meeting. That hit me hard. I could see being fined, Todd Haley was that strict kind of guy, but to take my starting spot because I was one minute late to the meeting?”
Reach: Was that your only run-in with Haley in 2009?
TT: “In 2009, the night before games, we all stayed in a hotel. For the two years prior, we’d been staying at the same hotel (with Herm Edwards). With the new coach, at the beginning of the season, he had us staying at two different hotels (alternating weekly). As I was driving to the hotel, Turk McBride called me and reminded me we were at the other hotel (the one right across from Arrowhead). I get to the hotel at 7:53pm for an 8 o’clock meeting. As soon as I walked through the door, the first person I see is Todd Haley.
He walked up to me and asked, ‘Why do you keep @#$%ing up?’ I replied, ‘What do you mean? The meeting’s not until 8 o’clock.’ Haley then said, ‘Why do you keep @#$%ing up? Look at your schedule.’ I pulled out my schedule and he pointed to ‘Get the key to your hotel room at 7:45.” The previous years we stayed at hotels, they had our key for us to pick up before or after the meeting. He had it on the schedule for us to pick them up by 7:45. I’d obviously missed that so he just walked away. The next morning, routinely, my defensive coordinator and defensive line coach came to me to say I’d been scratched as the starter and would be fined $1,600 again.”
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