FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Atlanta Falcons hit rock bottom in 2007. Quarterback Michael Vick was sent to federal prison for dogfighting charges, the Falcons lost 12 games and head coach Bobby Petrino quit on the team midway through the season.
Not wanting to face any further embarrassment, owner Arthur Blank overhauled his football staff, and his first major move was to hire Thomas Dimitroff as the team’s general manager in January 2008. Dimitroff, who worked in the New England Patriots’ scouting department from 2002-07, has since turned the Falcons from being one of the league’s sorriest stories into a potential Super Bowl contender in the NFC.
“He’s gone down to Atlanta and done a great job down there in a pretty short amount of time,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who is planning for a meeting with Dimitroff’s Falcons at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. “[I am] very, very impressed with the team he’s built, put together, the way they play and the way they do things.”
Belichick worked with Dimitroff on two occasions. While Belichick was in Cleveland working for Tom Dimitroff Sr., the younger Dimitroff worked in the scouting department with fellow future success stories Jim Schwartz, Phil Savage, Ozzie Newsome and Mike Lombardi. Dimitroff Jr. picked up on his father’s hard-nosed, old-school football mentality, and that has translated to much of his success in the NFL.
Belichick and former Patriots director of player personnel Scott Pioli brought Dimitroff to New England as a national scout in 2002, and he was promoted to the director of college scouting in 2003. Players who were scouted and drafted under Dimitroff’s tenure included defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, defensive end Ty Warren, cornerback Asante Samuel, safety Brandon Meriweather and offensive linemen Dan Koppen and Logan Mankins.
“[Dimitroff] did a really good job running our scouting department,” Belichick said, “and adjusted some of the things that we were doing grading-wise — evaluations and things like that we may have overhauled a little bit as the game has changed over the last 10, 15, 20 years, the players and the systems that they play in and the type of things that they’re asked to do. He played a big part in that.”
Just days after joining the Falcons, Dimitroff hired former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith as head coach. In the ensuing months, Dimitroff signed running back Michael Turner, traded away malcontent cornerback DeAngelo Hall and drafted franchise quarterback Matt Ryan with the third overall pick. Quickly, Dimitroff and Smith dumped anyone who wasn’t committed to resurrecting the fallen franchise and signed a new crop of players to lead the next generation.
The Falcons won 11 games in 2008 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Turner was named a First-Team All-Pro, Ryan was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and Smith was the NFL Coach of the Year. Dimitroff was busy again in the 2009 offseason, acquiring tight end Tony Gonzalez from the Kansas City Chiefs, drafting talented defensive tackle Peria Jerry (who was placed on injured reserve this week) and signing Pro Bowl wide receiver Roddy White to a contract extension.
With a lot of help from Dimitroff, the Falcons are 2-0 for the first time since 2006 and the second time in the last 11 years. Despite the fact that he has turned them into a formidable opponent and one of just nine undefeated teams in the NFL this season, there are plenty of New England executives who are looking forward to seeing an old friend this weekend.
“I have a lot of respect for Tom and what he’s been able to do with the organization,” said Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who worked directly with Dimitroff in New England’s scouting department. “He took a club that was sort of at the bottom, and last year they turned it around, won the division and made the playoffs. So I think everything that Thomas has done, he’s earned, and he’s a smart football man who has a great personality and a great demeanor. He kind of went into a little bit of a firestorm [in Atlanta], but he handled it as well as anyone could deal with it, so I have a lot of respect for Tom.
“I would say along with Scott [Pioli], Tom and I had as close a relationship as anybody through the years. He kind of taught me the ropes. As a matter of fact, my first time on the road, he and I spent quite a bit of time together, so I have nothing but respect for Thomas and I look forward to seeing him here this weekend.”
