Patriots' Dimitroff to be named Falcons' GM
New England talent evaluator will get to hire Atlanta coach
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/13/08
The Falcons have agreed to hire Tom Dimitroff, New England's director of college scouting, as their new general manager. Once he signs his contract, which is expected at any point, it will end the first phase of establishing a new franchise hierarchy.
His first task will be resolving Phase 2: hiring a head coach.
Dimitroff, 40, has been afforded the authority to hire the coach, even though outgoing general manager Rich McKay, team owner Arthur Blank and other team officials have spent the past two weeks interviewing potential coaching candidates.
It is believed Dimitroff, as well as every candidate interviewed, provided names of potential head coaches they would like to pursue to replace Bobby Petrino, who resigned before the season ended to coach at the University of Arkansas.
One coaching candidate who is off the list is USC's Pete Carroll. Though Blank spoke to Carroll about his interest in joining the Falcons, the courtship was short-lived. New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has turned down requests to interview for head-coaching jobs, including one by the Falcons.
Dimitroff is a highly respected talent evaluator who with the Patriots has worked in the shadow of coach and final decision-maker Bill Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, considered one of the best personnel men in the business. Dimitroff faces a challenging task of re-tooling a Falcons roster that was beset by injury, age and ineffectiveness in finishing 4-12 last season.
Despite working behind the scenes for the Patriots since 2002, Dimitroff, who has 18 years of scouting/personnel experience, is well known for his work throughout the NFL. He was considered for the Minnesota general manager job two years ago.
Before joining the Patriots, Dimitroff worked as a scout for Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City. He broke into the pro ranks working in the Canadian and World leagues.
His diligence in finding talent — typically late in each round of the draft because of the Patriots' success — is something Blank was searching for after making the decision to replace McKay as general manager three weeks ago. McKay had served as president and general manager since he was hired from Tampa Bay in December 2003.
FULL STORY
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...s_gm_0113.html
Patriots' Dimitroff to be named Falcons' GM
Patriots' Dimitroff to be named Falcons' GM
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