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Pioli reportedly to interview soon
New England personnel executive Scott Pioli reportedly is scheduled to interview with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt sometime soon -- possibly as soon as today.

Several media outlets reported this weekend that Pioli would meet with Hunt no later than Monday -- and might have met with him Saturday -- to discuss the Chiefs' vacant general manager job. Pioli interviewed last week with Cleveland for the Browns' vacant GM position, and he is believed to be Hunt's leading candidate to replace Carl Peterson as Kansas City's top football executive.

The Chiefs are keeping quiet on the GM search; Hunt has authorized only himself to discuss the search. Sources close to the search have been reluctant to disclose any information, in part because other jobs within the organization could be in danger -- and Chiefs insiders don't want to step any closer to the firing line.

Former Kansas City coach Marty Schottenheimer told The Star last week that he had discussions with Hunt but said those conversations were "not a job interview of any kind."

The 43-year-old Pioli seems to match what Hunt is seeking for Carl Peterson's replacement as GM. Pioli is young and competitive, and he has a history of winning, having been a part of building three Super Bowl champions in New England.

But other reports suggest Pioli will leave New England only if he is offered total control of an organization. Hunt has said he will split the president and GM roles that Peterson held for 20 years, and he has given no indication he'll consider amending that plan to attract even a top candidate. ESPN reported Saturday that Pioli's demands with Cleveland were "extreme" and that they might disqualify him from the Browns' consideration.

League sources said last week that Hunt has no set timetable for hiring a GM, preferring instead to find the right fit than settle for an impulse hire.

Read a detailed piece on Hunt's hiring strategy, and how his choice could affect the Chiefs for years, in Sunday's edition of The Star.

Submitted by Kent Babb on January 3, 2009 - 4:42pm.
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I would think it all depends on how high Pioli is on the list. There's no indication of who Clark's preference is, but if Pioli is far and away his #1 guy, I wouldn't expect Clark to risk losing him because he still wants to talk to candidates who are a distant third, fourth, fifth, etc. Especially if he and Pioli have a good interview.

So is WPI still close to breaking something on this story? ROFL

For the record, Athan claimed that Hunt and Pioli met yesterday, and that Pioli was made an offer that he was expected to decide on last night. Coincidentally, though, when reports came out that Hunt and Pioli werent meeting until Saturday at the earliest, and maybe not even until Monday, Athan suddenly backed off saying that Pioli would decide on Friday night.

Now to show you the gall of this fraud, he is now acting like, well, Hunt and Pioli met on Friday or they will meet today. Either way. Its all good.

Yeah, he was just lying to his paying customers and leading them on for 24 hours, but no big deal.

Someone told me that they heard on am610 that the Chiefs have a press conference scheduled for Monday, the said it could be the announcement of our new GM or the firing of Herm Edwards.

There was speculaiton in this thread as to what the press conference is for. Everything from naming rights of Arrowhead, new GM, Herm fired, etc.

No one really knows - but the Eroneous One is probably spouting off about it to the $109.95 (thanks for the clarification Claythan) premium viewers.

So it's true that there is going to be a press conference, but we just dont know why.

Yes, it's scheduled for Tuesday. It probably has something to do with Papa Johns pizza.

With all this going on, why isn't Hunt getting a Polian/DeCosta/Colbert/etc interview out of the way?

There is a little thing called the playoffs going on right now.

How many time must this be said?

:banghead: SH*T, I FORGOT ABOUT THAT.

LOL.

Pioli, Browns talking, but he may stay put
by Mary Kay Cabot
Saturday January 03, 2009, 9:27 PM

The Browns are continuing their dialogue with Patriots vice president Scott Pioli, but Pioli is still weighing his options, which include staying in New England, a source close to the negotiations told The Plain Dealer.

Pioli is also expected to go through with his interview with the Kansas City Chiefs sometime over the next couple of days. If Pioli takes himself out of the running, the Browns will focus their attention on fired Jets coach Eric Mangini, a source said.

Atlanta President Rich McKay can also get back in the mix now that the Falcons are out of the playoffs following their wildcard loss to the Cardinals on Saturday. McKay postponed his interview with the Browns on Thursday so he could focus on the game, and will thoroughly research the situation before deciding whether or not to formally interview with Browns owner Randy Lerner, a source said.

Two other head coaching candidates -- fired Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz -- are on the backburner for now. Shanahan was contacted by the Browns, but told them he will be on vacation with his family for the next two weeks and will not be interviewed during that time, a source said. If the Browns haven't hired a coach by then, they might still reach out to him. Their scheduled interview with Schwartz on Saturday was canceled because of a scheduling conflict. He also was scheduled to interview with the Lions Saturday. If the Browns don't interview him by today, they must wait until the Titans are eliminated from the playoffs, or until the week before the Super Bowl to talk to him.

As reported Friday in the Plain Dealer, the Browns were weighing the pros and cons of their top two candidates -- Pioli and Mangini -- knowing they'd probably have to make a choice between the two. Their research showed that landing the right coach was more imperative than finding the right general manager, a source said.

Pioli will require the authority to hire his own head coach, and reportedly favors either Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz or Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, whom the Browns were impressed with in his interview Friday. Lerner, who has said he would be "apprehensive" about hiring a college coach, would have to be sold on Ferentz. Likewise, it probably wouldn't be a deal-breaker for Pioli if the Browns didn't want to go the college route.

A source close to Pioli said he headed into the Browns interview with serious reservations about the job. Multiple league sources have pointed to the fact the Browns have squandered many draft picks over the past few years -- including the third, fifth and seventh in 2009. The team is headed for salary cap trouble after giving huge signing bonuses to free agents over the past several years, and the contracts of a number of players are up after 2009.

One league source noted that the roster is in bad shape after the reign of fired general manager Phil Savage, and that only one current defensive player -- Shaun Rogers -- would be good enough to start for the Ravens or Steelers. Another said that neither linebacker Beau Bell nor Martin Rucker, two players the Browns traded up to select in the 2008, will be able to cut it in the NFL.

Mangini, who's been the front-runner among coaching candidates since he interviewed Tuesday night, told the Browns that he had his own general manager in mind, a source said. That person is believed to his close friend George Kokinis, the Ravens' director of pro personnel. The Browns feel that Mangini and Kokinis could be similar to the Bill Belichick/Pioli tandem that has produced three Super Bowl victories in New England, the source said.

-- Plain Dealer reporter Tony Grossi contributed to this report

Report: Pioli scheduled to sit with Chiefs on Monday
Posted by Karen Guregian at 11:52 pm

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Pats VP of player personnel Scott Pioli is scheduled to be interviewed by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday for their vacant GM post. According to their sources, however, that interview may be pushed up to Saturday - at Pioli’s request - so he can come to a decision between the Browns and Chiefs.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/

That obviosly didn't happen... my guess is that he wanted to use it to put pressure on CLE to pick him of Mangini. Definately seems like an either/or deal.