Seahawks Chasing Pats' Executive

Here is some good news from the Seattle Times:

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Saturday, February 12, 2005 - Page updated at 01:03 a.m.

Team might be eyeing Pats executive
By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter

Sources in Boston have indicated the Seahawks have received permission to speak with Scott Pioli, the New England Patriots' vice president of player personnel, regarding the Seahawks' team-president position.

Pioli, 39, is widely regarded as the top young executive in the NFL for his work with coach Bill Belichick in building the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

Seahawks officials could not be reached last night to confirm that Pioli had been approached.

Pioli, under contract through the 2006 draft, said in December he intended to honor his contract with the Patriots.

Pioli was named the NFL's Executive of the Year after the 2003 season, the youngest person to receive the honor. He would immediately vault to the top of the list as the most high-profile candidate for team president among those the Seahawks have spoken to or are considering.

If the Seahawks are interested in talking to Pioli, it might provide an explanation for the time it has taken for the team to name a president. Pioli was busy with Super Bowl preparations and the Seahawks would have had to wait until the game was over to approach the Patriots.

Those believed to be candidates for the Seattle job are former Seahawks executives Mike Reinfeldt and Randy Mueller; Denver general manager Ted Sundquist; Bill Kuharich, Kansas City vice president of pro personnel; and Miami CEO Bryan Wiedmeier. Tony Softli, college scouting director for Carolina, also has been talked about but not directly contacted.

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
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Now THIS is an intriguing scoop.

Consider this comments from Troy Aikman and Randy Mueller, regarding the Patriots' and Eagles' organizations, taken from Seahawks.com:

Aikman:

""These two teams are almost mirror images of each other as to how they go about trying to win. You walk through the door at both places, and it doesn't take long to figure out why they are successful. You just feel it. They have a chain of command, lines are clearly defined as to what people do, there is tremendous respect for everyone within those buildings, and they get good, quality people. And they do sacrifice individual for the team. There is a culture right now where players want it to be about them. But not with these two teams. That is the bottom line."

Also from Randy Mueller:

"The gap can be eliminated, no doubt about it, but it's different than it used to be when I was the Saints' general manager (2000-02). These two have taken talent evaluation to the next level. They have shown that it is not necessarily the most talented teams that win. It is more the way their head coaches and staff bring them together as a team; how they use the chemistry, the IQ of the players and fit the players' strengths into the team's schemes. You need to pay special attention to 'team' and chemistry now when putting together your roster."

This is the kind of GM I'm hoping the Seahawks hire. Holmgren needs to know clearly where his boundaries are, and the same goes for rest of the front office. Besides that, it looks like Pioli and Hasslebeck go to the same barber.

I guess it goes without saying I highly support the hiring of Pioli. Hopefully Paul Allen is truly pursuing this objective. So far, it looks like he is.