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Logan Mankins, already starting
this year as a rookie. Wilfork and Watson, significant
contributors from a year ago. Marquise Hill, ready to play
coming off an injury. Ty Warren, Eugene Wilson, Bethel
Johnson – are you kidding me? Daniel Graham, Deion Branch,
Richard Seymour, Matt Light. When I add it all up, they're
about eleven for eleven with first and second round picks.
Now we'd like to welcome in the VP of Player Personnel for
the New England Patriots, Scott Pioli. And Scott, first of
all, thanks very much for joining us. But really, how do you
continue to bat a thousand in an era where 50-50 is pretty
good on the personnel side?
Scott Pioli: Thanks, Mike.
You know, I'm not sure we feel that we're batting a thousand.
I mean, there's a lot of work that goes into this whole thing.
Philosophically, the biggest thing that we look for in our
picks, and when we make decisions, is finding the right guys
for our system, finding the right guys for the head coach, and
finding people that, personality-wise, makeup-wise, and, of
course, skill-wise, fit into what Bill tries to do and the way
Bill coaches.
Mayock: Scott, when I talk
to people around the league they talk about, well, the first
round is about a 50-50 hit ratio. The second round it gets a
little more difficult. Yet again, when you look at those ten
or eleven names we just talked about, you guys are batting a thousand. And when you talk about fitting your
system, I get that – you're a 3-4 defense, you like
versatility – but what do you consider to be a "Patriot
player"? What does that mean?
Pioli: I think what we try
to do is find guys that can respond to Bill's coaching and to
being a part of Bill's system. One of the things is you have to
be smart. And you have to be dedicated to football. And, you
have to be a true professional. We always talk about finding
guys that football is one of the most important things in
their lives. That manifests itself in several different
ways – you see it in their work habits, you see it in their
practice habits, you see it when you go to a school and do a
visit. It's nice to look around and see which one of the
players is spending extra time doing film work, because Bill
is a very demanding coach and our system is a very demanding
system. And again, we have to find the right kind of players
that will fit in and do the things the way that we know
that Bill is going to run things, and the demands that Bill is
going to make on them not only as football players on
the field physically, but again, as football players in
terms of the extra commitment that he asks the players to
make.
Mayock: As you spoke right
there Scott, I couldn't help but think the embodiment of the
Patriots player would have to be Tedy Bruschi.
Pioli: Oh, Bruschi – Tedy's a special guy. We fortunately inherited Tedy when we
came here. And Tedy, makeup-wise, is very much the man that we
look for our players to be. Some of the most important things
to Tedy are the things that we look for. Again, a guy whose
family, his faith and football are very important to him.
Tedy's a true professional.
Mayock: You know, Scott,
one of the things that I find really interesting is that when
I talk to people around the league they're almost scared to
death to be drafting in the top five or the top ten. Not
necessarily because that meant they were a bad team a year
ago, but there is so much pressure not to miss in that top
five because of the guaranteed dollars involved. Do you and
Bill sit around and just say, 'Boy, thank goodness we
don't have a pick in the top five this year'?
Pioli: Fortunately, we
haven't had to be in the top five, but we did have a number
six pick in Richard Seymour when we took Richard. And again,
something that we think is important [is] when you go to make
that kind of investment, and really there is a significant
difference in the dollars in one through five, but still, if
you're in that top fifteen, there is a significant investment
in dollars and years that you're making a commitment to a
player. When we do that we want to make sure that the players
that we get at that point, [that] we take a player that
... they're going to be people who are mature and can handle
the lifestyle they're about to enter. It's no secret that if a
player is picked in that first half of the draft they're
coming into a lot of money and they're going to be changing
their lifestyle dramatically. And we want to have players that
we know or we feel have a real good chance to be that solid
person. The two picks that have done a great job in that area
are Richard Seymour and Ty Warren, who went at 14. Two guys
who really came into a situation like that and have handled it
truly like gentlemen and responsible people.
Mayock: Scott, from a
personal standpoint you and Bill have been kind of joined at
the hip. And the success, three Super Bowls in the last four
years. You've been the George Young Executive of the Year,
which is a tremendous honor given that it's voted on by your
peers around the league. I would imagine that all of us have a
little bit of an ego. Wouldn't you love to get out there and
create your own animal? Just go somewhere else, start over,
and build another Super Bowl champion. Is there something
inside you that yearns for that?
Pioli: You know, Mike, ego
is an interesting thing. It depends on what drives your ego.
And again, what drives my ego is being a part of something
that's very successful. When I first got into this business my
goal wasn't to 'be the man,' that wasn't the thing that I got
into this for. To me, it's a quality of life decision. We're
fortunate enough to be in a business. And Mike, you've been in
this game a long time yourself. My passion is about football.
I love being around football, I love being around football
people. And again, to me what's most important is coming to
work every single day with people that I not only like, but I
respect, and that I care about, and that share a lot of the
same values not only personally, but professionally, and
respect for the game. And right now that's the way things are
here. Bill and I have a relationship that also transcends
the professional, and it makes coming to work every single day
a real treat. And again, my ego isn't such where I sit there
and think about being 'the man' or being 'the guy.' Right now
I'm enjoying what we have here right now. I really am.
Mayock: Scott, your
passion for the game is obvious. We appreciate your time. You
know, it's funny, my father always teased me – my dad coached
for forty years and he thinks it's a riot that I get paid to
talk about football. [Laughter] I appreciate it just as much
as you do. So thanks for your time. Scott Pioli, the Vice
President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots. |
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