DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum GM Dimitroff (former Browns scout) has Falcons on the Precipice

I think this fits here as it has the possibility of some great discussions.

This article has to do with the philosophy of building of a team from the top down. It talks about how the football guys, (GM down to players), and how they are set up to every man's thinking in the same direction, (A point Holmgren made when he got here). The GM also talks about how the coach and GM view players and the characteristics of the type of players they want. (It will sound very familiar to the thinking of our head coach. If everyone in the Browns organization is on the same page then that would mean Heckert is in on it too. Holmgren as well).

I think this is a very good article to kick-off a good discussion on our team's football guys and what we think they are attempting to do. and how we think they are attempting to do it. It could garner discussion on why certain players are moved and why certain players are brought in, be it FA or draft.

Holmgren talked about implementing a plan so that the entire organization, to a man, is agreeable with the plan and fully cooperative with each other in the common effort to make that plan successful. This article alludes also that the players fit into the plan in the same way the football guys do, common effort to make the plan successful.

GM Dimitroff will remind some of us of Phil Savage. They are both scouts at heart. Body and soul I'd say. There may even be some worthwhile discussion on why Dimitroff is having success vs. the type of successes Phil Savage had and the differences between their style. Any discussion about GM's here will automatically include our current GM Heckert, a guy we know a lot less about than Phil and possibly less about than Dimitroff since this article covers him much more than any article I've read explains Heckert's mind-set.

At any rate, discussions or not, the Falcons seem to have built a pretty damn competitive team, not a flash in a pan, and it may seem they've done with the same mind-set and general plan that we are building with.

It's very interesting.



Dimitroff's long journey has Falcons on the precipice

Atlanta's brain trust of coach Mike Smith and [former Browns scout] GM Thomas Dimitroff has the team contending for the NFC's top seed.


Thomas Dimitroff doesn't drive a Volkswagen conversion van anymore, even if he is trying to convince his wife that there's a spot next to his garage in Buckhead (an affluent area of Atlanta) where one could go. Those days of cooking on the propane stove and sometimes even sleeping in the back of that old bus on scouting trips are gone now. Even if he got a new rig for old time's sake, it would only be used to take his young son camping.

But marks of the hours spent in that van are all over his Atlanta Falcons, as the GM’s rebuilding effort, performed in collaboration with coach Mike Smith and his energetic, inventive staff, builds to its apex.

If the Falcons can win on Sunday in Tampa, Atlanta will own the league's best record and be the first team to get to 10 wins (joined by the winner of Monday night's Jets-Patriots game). Yup, those Godforsaken times of former coach Bobby Petrino yelling "woo pig sooey" on his way out of town to coach the University of Arkansas seem like a century ago. This regime's ability to unify a fractured organization has made it so.

These days, there's no split. Every Falcon is headed in the same direction. And that's because, finally, after three years of drafting and working the roster, and developing players, a like-minded group has emerged.



"You don't want to bring in guys who don't fit," Dimitroff says. "I'm not talking about just the criminal aspect of it, but also having personalities here that believe in the tenets of our team concept."



That old bus died a sad death, its transmission shot, after being with Dimitroff for stints working as an area scout for the Lions, Browns and Patriots out of Boulder, Colo. But the GM still tries to beat the bushes for players in the same manner he learned back then, and that means getting to know the guys as people, which has led to Atlanta having a team full of his kinds of guys.

"That's something Smitty and I, guys like Les Snead, Lionel Vital, David Caldwell and the entire personnel staff are very proud of," Dimitroff said. "This organization spent a lot of time, a lot of hours, a lot of money trying to acquire system fits, and locker room fits. If you get them young, and you keep them in the system from Day 1, that can be incredibly beneficial. Then you add the right veteran players, that are open to change in technique to go to Smitty's system schematically.


"I feel like we have an impressive nucleus of players, and best of all, they have each others' backs. That's something we're very proud of, too. This team comes to work every day and they want to be at work. They're enjoying the journey."

When you're 9-2, that's easy. But it's when it wasn't so easy that Dimitroff and Co. saw that quality shine brightest. While Dimitroff comes from New England, a place where they live and breathe "one week at a time," he believes the team's three-game winning streak to close out last year at 9-7 had a carryover effect this year.

It proved the resolve of a young core headed by quarterback Matt Ryan and middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, the headliners in a star-studded 2008 draft class. And it also validated Dimitroff's approach as a young GM, which brings us back to that VW bus.

See, back when he was riding through the Rockies and the Pacific coast, he got the chance to know the players he was scouting, both athletically and from a personal standpoint. The experience was invaluable, and while he can't spend the time he used to, he still makes a point to get out to a couple campuses a week to scout, before diving in headlong in the spring.

Thanks to Falcons owner Arthur Blank's generosity, he can be more efficient now, riding in the owner's Leer jet, rather than on the freeway. But the idea hasn't changed.

"You don't want to bring in guys who don't fit," Dimitroff says. "I'm not talking about just the criminal aspect of it, but also having personalities here that believe in the tenets of our team concept. It's something I look for, and it's something Smitty feels very strongly about. When we came in here, coming off 2007 and all the tumultuous events, three years later having what we have here, we're happy.

"It's gotta be settling for Arthur. None of us in football are angels, a lot of guys have stuff in their background to get through, but that stuff hasn't caused major distractions."

So how has it manifested on the field? If the team avoids a turnover against the Buccaneers, they'll set a record for most consecutive games without one, at five. Part of that, Dimitroff believes, is good fortune, but a larger factor is the focus, drive and awareness of the players on the team.

The same things he saw in "opportunistic" players like Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Kevin Faulk and Tom Brady in New England, Dimitroff says he's starting to see in defensive guys like Lofton, Sean Weatherspoon, Mike Peterson, William Moore and Jonathan Babineaux. Just as significant, the timing between Ryan and weapons like Roddy White, Michael Jenkins and Tony Gonzalez has hit a new level.

All that came together three weeks ago against the Ravens, and the example was reinforced with another last-minute win against an elite opponent (Green Bay) Sunday.

"(Baltimore) was the monumental game for us," Dimitroff said. "What happened there, when we were in those spots against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh earlier in the season, we didn't rise to the level we expected. Coming out that many games later and hitting more consistently, we left that game with a confidence we've carried the last two games. Facing the Packers, I felt markedly different than I did against Baltimore.

"Before, I was waiting to see how we'd do against a top team. I had a different feeling against Green Bay. I had confidence in that team. I wasn't relaxed, but I had more assurance in this team, more settled nerves. We're not the youngest team in the league anymore, but we're still young at a lot of positions and these are big games. Just like we went through it earlier, we've been in so many battles now and that should pay dividends down the stretch."

Those days are, in a way, representative of these days, and these days are pretty good.

"We're where we wanted to be," said Dimitroff. "Last year was a disappointment. We got back-to-back winning seasons and that was important for our owner and our fan base, but speaking for myself and Smitty, we were agitated. This year, we're pleased with the progress. Last week was another step."

Dimitroff stopped short of saying he and his group have arrived in any way, instead pointing out that he'd like to see the team do a better job coming out of halftime and achieve more consistency overall.

But after a pleasant surprise of a 2008 season, and a disappointing year in 2009, the GM knows enough to enjoy the journey in 2010. And that's in large part because, for Dimitroff, that journey started a long time ago, on some pretty interesting wheels, and still is a long way from its end.

He has definitely done a great job with them.

They had a pair of WR (Smith and Jenkins) but no QB/RB ..... so his 1st off-season, he got both in Ryan and Turner. Last year he added Gonzalez at TE.

He added key defensive guys like John Abraham.

His first draft added starters Ryan, Baker, Loften, DeCloud, Biermann, and a backup in Douglas. That's an impressive draft.

2009's draft added Moore, and a few backups.

2010 added Weatherspoon and Peters as starters, and several more backups.

He's done a really impressive job in just a few years.

They had a pair of WR (Smith and Jenkins) but no QB/RB ..... so his 1st off-season, he got both in Ryan and Turner. Last year he added Gonzalez at TE.
We had Edwards and K2, Thomas and Steiny and Rogers. 2010 We got Peyton Hillis and Colt McCoy (hey, anybody want argue he gives us our best chance to win?)

He added key defensive guys like John Abraham.
Scott Fajita, Brown, Haden and maybe Ward


His first draft added starters Ryan, Baker, Loften, DeCloud, Biermann, and a backup in Douglas. That's an impressive draft.
Our first draft of this regime in 2009 and we got Mack. We are starting 2 receivers who seem suspect at best, maybe it's not all their fault. Really no one after that. Awful draft. Lost a year right there. Got Mack.

2009's draft added Moore, and a few backups.
'09 draft again, Mack and a couple backup receivers, maybe it's not all their fault.

2010 added Weatherspoon and Peters as starters, and several more backups.
Haden, Ward, Colt (hey, anybody want argue he gives us our best chance to win?), maybe something in Hardesty [we may never know] backup Lauvao.

There's a lot of similarities. Of course that's not evidence that we'll mirror they're recent success. But there are a lot of similarities in all elements of both teams.

I think that we have the right organization as well. I am incredibly impressed with Holmgren/Heckert/Mangini, and the way they all work together.

I think that working together is something that was going to happen no matter who the individuals are. It's part of the plan. Working together is the minimum requirement. Mangini could still get fired as could Heckert for that matter. But if at any point Holmgren thought anyone would be incapable of working together they never would have been hired. And when Holmgren talked about this when he first got here he was speaking beyond the GM and head coach to include most, if not all, of the organization.

At any rate, this something we've never even heard about in the past. And the Savage/RAC regime (there was no President after Collins was relieved) was found to not be working together well. Before that, the Davis/Garica regime, I guess that's what it was, was found to not work well with others beyond themselves. Before that, Policy totally had his own agenda.

I do believe it's something we have heard of before ddub. Problem is, it was among some in the fan base, and not the people running the show.

Many of us have played sports growing up, some of us a variety of them. I believe those who have played under both scenarios understand the full value of everone being on the same page and being able to work together as a unit. Not only by your players, but by your coaching staff. ( Common sense dictates that continue on up the ladder but not playing pro sports, I can't say first hand )

I liken it to gears in a machine. If they don't all work together as a unit, the entire machine goes down. Let's face it, many of us are the eternal optimists no matter how hard we try to hide it. Every regime we have had high hopes for.

Only this time, the things MH said coming in here, were music to my ears. Something that seems so basic, yet we seemed to never quite have. A situation where.................No player/players, no coach, no one singular element is bigger than the sum of the whole.

I feel if MH had any doubts of how important that really is, it was all settled in his mind as his stint neared its end in Seattle.And even though it may cause some unsettling posts, many of the people on this very board don't get it either.

I know I harp about New England in my posts, but let's face it. Until Bledsoe was hurt........Tom who? Until the need arose for him.....Wes who? Those things don't happen by accident.

But if you have a well oiled machine and a gear breaks, you simply replace a gear and the machine moves on. You don't just go out and sign a bunch of high $$ FA's and make a run because that's far too risky and only a very short term fix.

I'm not going to keep on going.....for now.

But we are on the right path now. We are moving in the right direction. We signed some FA's, but mostly good journeymen football players. Nothing more. We are building through the draft and not looking for so many band-aids. While that takes a while longer, the product you build that way lasts a lot longer too.

I think we are a much improved "team" now than we were then with more highly taughted players "then". Because one must remember the McNugget saying.................."parts are parts" and nothing more.



jmho

Quote:

---

These days, there's no split. Every Falcon is headed in the same direction. And that's because, finally, after three years of drafting and working the roster, and developing players, a like-minded group has emerged.

---

This is total BS.. it shouldn't take 3 years. If you don't win 10 or 11 games by year 2 then your whole outfit is a miserable failure and you need to blow it up and start over. I don't want to hear anything about their second year where they went 9-7 and won their last 3 meaningless games.. I don't want to hear anything about a process or progress or learning.. they sucked then and they suck now, only they suck with a better record.. the only thing the Falcons can do to save face now is blow it up immediately following this season and start over. Because if there is one thing we know about the NFL, it is that there is only way to achieve true success and that is through constant turnover and rebuilding..

[/sarcasm]

Wow. What a shocker. Ryan coming into his own and the Falcons are having mad success.

Now there are articles popping up about how great a job their FO is doing, what a great coach Mike Smith is, everyone in the locker room has "bought in" ... it's one big happy family.

Funny how that happens when you get a great player at the most important position in any sport ... a guy that really makes the difference between wins and losses.

Yes, you want a vision. Yes, you want "good" guys. Yes, you want a good staff. You can have all of that, but if you don't have the QB, you got nothing. With a vision, a good FO, a good staff, good character guys, and no QB you've got 8-8 every year. That's what you got.

Just the way the NFL is.

Hopefully for all of our sakes McCoy is the guy. Then we can read all these fluff pieces about our team.

There may be some fluff inserted here and there, but there's a lot of truth to it as well.

Unless of course you think Doug Williams was a great QB.

As Pit said,, lots of truth there..

I'm just pointing out that people often times gloss over the the most important reason for success in the NFL.

I know you know it's true.

Of course, there are always exceptions. Doug Williams and Dilfer are two exceptions over the ... what ... last 25 or so years. Not sure if you were trying to make an argument with that, but it wasn't a very good one if you were.

And don't get me wrong, the rest of it is important ... it really is. But no one would be talking about the Falcons with the exact same FO and roster makeup right now sans Ryan ... because then they would most likely be closer to a .500 team. Great QB play has been the difference for them this year.

Quote:

---

I'm just pointing out that people often times gloss over the the most important reason for success in the NFL.

I know you know it's true.

---

It is true, but the reverse can also be true.. Archie Manning with the Saints... solid QB... got nowhere.

Another thing that can be true,,, the Ravens,, win a SB with Dilfer at QB.... But they had Lewis and a #1 D.. there you have it, there really is more than one way to win it all..

I just happen to believe that without a Decent QB,,, you don't win on a consistent basis....

No, your point can't really be glossed over. I was only pointing out there are acceptions to every rule.

Question is, when and how do you know you have "your guy"? I mean let's look at Mark Sanchez for example. Is he the Jets "guy"? And if he is, at what point did you think so? Or at what point and why don't you think so?

I'm becoming more sold he's "their guy", but not totaly convinced yet. I look at last year. They didn't ask Sanchez to do much. He wasn't asked to "carry his team" but to compliment the running game. He locked on to his main target a lot and while I saw the potential, he was by no means NFL gold.

This year, from what I've seen, he is going through his progressions better. He is maturing. I actually saw more "NFL QB" in Colt than Sanchez when looking at their first five starts on the field of play. But is colt "our guy"? Who knows at this juncture?

So while I agree with your point, determining when you have "your guy" at QB doesn't come overnight. At least very, very rarely. Many of the greats would have never been so if they had not gone through a maturization process to find out.

Along with having someone in charge who could see it and work with them to get there. So while your point is well taken, it's not nearly as simple as it sounds IMO