Scott Pioli’s new team will be in Foxborough to face his old team on Monday night and Pioli is using the occasion to defend the personnel work done by Bill Belichick.
During an appearance on WEEI, the Chiefs general manager called criticism of Belichick’s drafting and personnel record “ridiculous.” Belichick has caught some criticism of late for the team’s acquisitions of Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco with additional scrutiny paid to drafts that have failed to uncover enough defensive backs to keep the team’s defense playing at a high level. Pioli isn’t a buyer of such notions, especially if they are tied to his departure for the K.C. job.
“What happened dring our time here together for the nine years was special. ... A lot of things came together, the alignment of a lot of things: ownership, coaching, players and all the other people,” Pioli said. “It’s inevitable that things are going to change. I’m not sure why Patriots fans are disillusioned at different times, because they’re gong to be in the hunt every year. They still have great ownership, they still have the best coach in the NFL and there’s a lot of good people there that are finding players. It’s still a special place. Don’t worry, Patriots fans.”
While you can certainly take issue with some of the moves Belichick has made in recent years, you can’t really argue with the results. The team is in first place in the AFC East after going 14-2 in the regular season last year. The bar for success has been set very high in New England, but the Patriots are still in better position than most teams in the NFL.
