What to expect from Pioli: Explaining the "Patriot Way"

[OnTheWarpath15]

Since there's been so much talk about what to expect from Pioli, especially regarding the draft, I thought I'd share some excerpts from the book "Patriot Reign" in which author Michael Holley is given 2 years of access to all parts of the organization.

It's a really good read for those of you who want to see how a championship organization is built.

Belichick and Pioli have a "manual" that they abide by regarding the organization.

Part of this manual is expectations for their QB:

1) Be the mentally toughest and hardest working player on the team.

2) Be able to take a big hit, and then walk into the huddle and call the next play.

3) Have his head screwed on straight enough to handle all the pressure and scrutiny to which all NFL QB's are subjected. (A Ryan Leaf fiasco can cripple a franchise for years - "You couldn't get anyone to say anything nice about Leaf when he was leaving," Pioli said. "His teammates were happy to see him leave Washington State. He was an asshole.")

4) If you want to know who the good QB's are, watch the passes they complete under a heavy rush. Watch the 1st downs they get on 3rd and long, passing into heavy coverage. Listen to what their teammates say about them.

Regarding the combine:

The Patriots were getting a feel for the players they wanted in the draft. None was a workout star.

They liked a center from BC, Dan Koppen, who had short arms and whose forty-times averaged 5.26. They needed help on the DL, that wasn't news. But who would have guessed they were falling for the shortest lineman there? A kid from Temple named Dan Klecko that wasn't quite 5-11?

They were eyeing Asante Samuel, who was one of the lightest CB's at 185 pounds. On his strength reps, Samuel bench-pressed 225 pounds nine times, which tied for the fewest among DB's. Not good.

It wasn't about numbers and stats. The Patriots said it, and they lived it.

Regarding the draft:

They love picks. Lots of picks. They had traded Tebucky Jones to New Orleans for picks, the night befor the draft, they took one of those picks from the Saints and made a swap with the Dolphins: The Patriots 3rd round pick for the Dolphins 2nd round pick the following year.

They were going into this day with 13 picks, and the plan was not to use them all. Those picks are your passport, allowing you to go wherever you wanted. You could stalk the board, getting who you wanted, and where you wanted them.

More on the draft:

Belichick and Pioli apply a theory to the draft. Write down the names of 25 college players they wanted to see on the Patriots. Put them into two categories, 1st day draftees and 2nd day draftees. If they needed to move up they had enough capital to control the board. They had a plan to strengthen the Patriots with draft choices.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Anyone else have more books or resources like this? I will have a book report to do in one of my classes this semester and these Front Office types of books are perfect.

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by MGRS13

Oh come on you know you'll hear it again. Some guys on this board think we should spend the next 5 or 6 years putting together the best o and D lines in the history of the league and then and only then begin the process of finding a QB. Because you know that makes so much since. By the time that QB is really ready to play those guys on the lines will all have 1 more year to play.

Well, you'll just have to excuse some of us, since you obviously can see what a lack of common since we have....

[Kyle DeLexus]

Originally Posted by MGRS13

Oh come on you know you'll hear it again. Some guys on this board think we should spend the next 5 or 6 years putting together the best o and D lines in the history of the league and then and only then begin the process of finding a QB. Because you know that makes so much since. By the time that QB is really ready to play those guys on the lines will all have 1 more year to play.

BUT DAMN....that'll be a great year eh? haha

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Zouk

Actually it's exactly the same. They list the few players they really want - and regardless of others' opinions (all the idiots thinking they're smart by screeching "reach") they make sure they get him. That's just what happened with Herm and Carr.

The article that I read incinuated that it was an out of the blue pick. Not one that was maticulously broken down and chosen on merit. It sounded like he had seen this kid play and was taking a flyer. It has been documented that Herm doesn't watch much game tape. I really REALLY don't think it is the same.

[Stryker]

Great work OTW!

I like this one:

2) Be able to take a big hit, and then walk into the huddle and call the next play.

Well, that rules out Croyle!

[FringeNC]

(A Ryan Leaf fiasco can cripple a franchise for years - "You couldn't get anyone to say anything nice about Leaf when he was leaving," Pioli said. "His teammates were happy to see him leave Washington State. He was an asshole.")

Did other teams predict Leaf would be a disaster, or it is more along the lines the Leaf fiasco changed the way a lot of teams evaluated quarterbacks?

[Chiefnj2]

Curry sounds like a guy Pioli will love.

[greyhoodie]

Originally Posted by MWagg72

Anyone else have more books or resources like this? I will have a book report to do in one of my classes this semester and these Front Office types of books are perfect.

It is not a front office book and may not be as interesting to KC fans because it is about BB and doesn't have much on SP. But "The Education of a Coach" by Halberstam is a great read if you want to know more about the smartest coach in the NFL.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Did other teams predict Leaf would be a disaster, or it is more along the lines the Leaf fiasco changed the way a lot of teams evaluated quarterbacks?

IIRC, there were a lot of people talking about Leaf's personality problems and how there were red flags. However, there were a lot of teams completely enamored with his physical skills. I do believe that it changed the way most teams evaluated players psychologically after he blew up.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by MWagg72

Anyone else have more books or resources like this? I will have a book report to do in one of my classes this semester and these Front Office types of books are perfect.

Originally Posted by greyhoodie

It is not a front office book and may not be as interesting to KC fans because it is about BB and doesn't have much on SP. But "The Education of a Coach" by Halberstam is a great read if you want to know more about the smartest coach in the NFL.

Greyhoodie is right, it really covers all aspects of the team, but focuses on BB. The good thing is, BB and SP have this vulcan mind-meld thing going on, so most of what applies to BB applies as well to Pioli. There are two chapters that feature Pioli and the scouting department prominently.

As for other books, I HIGHLY recommend "Next Man Up" by John Feinstein.

He follows the Ravens for a year, and it's MUCH more in-depth than Patriot Reign, IMO.

[OnTheWarpath15]

I've got quite a bit to post today...

There are phone calls, draft meetings, contract negotiations and film studies all rolled into Pioli's job. But what it can be reduced to is this: every day he goes to the office wondering how and where he can find the right kind of players for BB and the Patriots.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Regarding the "Patriot Way"

What makes the leaders of Patriots football operations different is the value they place on jobs that have no glamour. They truly respect those who do grunt work, so much so that they are willing to promote them if they show the aptitude to be promoted.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Regarding picking the "right guys" and how they fit into the chemistry of the organization:

They were a close team, something Christian Fauria noticed as soon as he arrived in Foxboro. "It wasn't like this in Seattle," he says. "I'll use Traingin Camp as an example. There was a serving tray where they has the salad, and it was kind of like a divider in the room. There were tables on both sides. I'm telling you, all the white guys were on one side, and the black guys were on the other. Now, I'm not saying it was prejudice or a race issue, but it always seemed to happen that way."

"I don't see that here at all. You see these domino games in the locker room? You have guys like Marc Edwards and Mike Vrabel saying 'slap the domino, mother****er' just like everyone else. Seriously, I think it's a credit to Scott [Pioli]. He really brings good guys in. And I felt that right away. All the guys have the same emphasis on winning."

[OnTheWarpath15]

Regarding player evaluations:

Before they can know what they need, they need to know who they are. This is one of BB's core philosophies, and it is why he's sitting in this Gillette Stadium room with a binder, noteboo, pens, and pages of football statistics. All of the coaches were there. Adams and Pioli was there. For a couple of days Kraft was there too.

Every Patriots player was under discussion. There were strengths and weaknesses for each one. There were comments and sometimes stats on his mental errors, his performance in the weight room, his ability to be coached, his attitude, he ranking compared to others at his position leaguewide and his ability to help the team next year.

[OnTheWarpath15]

More on Pioli:

For Pioli, it is about being so thorough so that his scouting department can hold up its end of the deal with BB. The coach wants players who can fit in, or adjust to his system. Pioli is responsible for making sure his staff knows what that system is, can communicate in that system, can make comparisons to other players who have been or are in the system, and can ultimately recommend players who might replenish the system and reject those who don't.