Pioli/Chiefs Quotes from "War Room"

I put together a list of best quotes and passages from "War Room".  One of the most interesting books I have ever read.  These quotes do not do the book justice and I highly recommend it.  I leave it feeling even more respect for Pioli and with fully belief in the system.

Patriot Years

-Pioli and Belichick settled on Stephen Jackson before Vince Wilfork fell to them

-Huge scouting rift between scouts and Belicek on the Maroney and Chad Jackson picks.  Belichick wanted the players and scouts/Pioli didn’t.  Led to the unravelling of things.

-Belichick on the Patriots system in the draft “The first round you want guys with the fewest questions.  The second round you find a lot of players with first round talent but not first round performance or production.  The third round, you see guys who are maybe better football players than a lot of guys in the second, but dont have the measurements.  The highest bust factor is in the second.

Pioli Interview/First Year

-Hunt thought just getting Pioli to interview was good.  When he accepted, Hunt was ecstatic.

-Pioli to Hunt during interview on all organizations but later it said how the Chiefs personified this: “There’s this living, breathing dysfunction with football organizations and it pits lifetime employees vs. temporary employees.  It’s insane.  You need the help of all these people to do the job well.  It’s not just the players.  It’s the equipment people, the grounds crew, community relations, marketing...”

-Came here because of his love for Lamar Hunt and because he feels like it would be the ultimate challenge to win a championship here.

-Said the first week in the office he saw this as copies were printed out in all color for no reason costing the organization minimum $10,000 per year for no reason.

-Also saw it when scouts were messing around and surfing the internet during tape review.

-As soon as he got in, he tried to get Gonzalez to stay by selling him on a rebuild but Tony balked and wanted out.

-Book vaguely blames the 3 months of prep time as the reason for the first year draft not panning out

Pioli Offseason 2011

-After last year “We’re just not good enough.  At the end of the year, when we couldn’t sneak up on teams and we played good teams, we felt it.  What do we need?  There aren’t many positions we can look at and say we don’t need help there.  We’ve got holes today, but we also have holes a year from now.  I’ve seen a great roster.  We are so far away from a great roster.  So far away.  You know we couldn’t get anyone open to catch a pass in the play-offs.”

-In Mobile for Senior Bowl, Chiefs scout Jim Nagy wanted two guys Rodney Hudson and Ricky Stanzi.

-Nagy on Hudson- “This guy is gonna be a good pro.  Really impressive guy.  He was essentially an offensive line coach on the field”

-Nagy on Stanzi- “If I could pick a quarterback who we will all look back at in 5 years and say ‘Can you believe he lasted that long,’ it would be Stanzi.  Most improved player I saw all year.  He was watching tape of Senior Bowl practice on his own.

-Haley is a huge Zorn fan and considers Zorn to be a Quarterback guru, which admittedly he is not.

-Chiefs beat out the Titans and Jags for Zorn.

-Each scout report asks six questions in the Chiefs scouting system

1. What will this player’s role be as a Chief?
2. Will the role change from year one to year two?
3. How many downs can he be expected to play?
4. Which current player on the roster will he beat out?
5. What’s his value on special teams?
6. Does he have positional versatility?

-On how the scouts see Weigman:  They rave about his durability, toughness and willingness to compete, but all agree that his starting days are over.

-Pioli high on Pouncey and Jason Kelce, who reminds him of Dan Koppen and Olin Kruetz.  Kelce sounds like a perfect Chief “throwback, mean, nasty, agressive”

-Scouts on Ingram: “For the Chiefs, he is a younger, more athletic version of Thomas Jones.  He’s not as fast as Jamaal but is a more complete back that can stay healthy on the field for three downs.  See him as a replacement for Jones and a compliment to Charles.”  However, Chiefs brass knew they were not spending a first rounder on Running Back.

-Final Question to all first rounders, “Is he a guy who can help us win championships or a guy who will be the REASON we could win championships.”

The Draft

-One of the top 3 players on the Chiefs board was Aldon Smith.

-Pioli was willing to trade up 6 spots from 21 to 15 to take Mike Pouncey but could not agree on a deal.  They viewed him as “day one starter int he league, with smarts, toughness, and the type of talent to transform the entire line.”

-Chiefs felt good at 21 because they saw several players that they would take.  Deal from Cleveland was “too good to ignore”.

-Haley “delighted” at the Baldwin pick.  Chiefs are “thrilled” to get him because Haley gets the most out of wide receivers.  Haley saw the same traits in Baldwin that he saw and brought out in Fitzgerald, Owens, and Keyshawn.  Specifically picked him because of how the Ravens took Bowe out of the game.

-Falcons rated Wisnewski as a “fourth or fifth rounder”

-Rams called the Chiefs and offered 112 in the fourth for our 118 in the fourth and 223.  Pioli turned it down.  112 was Greg Salas and 118 was Jalil Brown.  Haley excited about Brown.  Pioli, “He’s got a chance to be a good player.”

-Chiefs looking to deal up to get ahead of Buffalo at 133 for Stanzi.  Calls the Ravens and offers our fifth (135) and one of the two 7ths we have next year.  Ozzie Newsome calls back and wants next years 5th.  Pioli says no.  Pioli thinks he has a deal with Houston for 127, so much so that he called our guy in New York and wrote down Stanzi’s name, but the Texans pick instead.  Colts call and offer next years 4th for our 5th this year and Pioli says no.  Stanzi is approaching.  Dallas calls and want to give up 143 and 175 for 135.  Pioli says no again sensing Stanzi.  Buffalo picks Johnny White at 133 and we get Stanzi.

-Chiefs picked Gabe Miller off his individual workout, which was so good scouts talked about it around the office.

-Hunt says to Houston “I’m excited to see you play.”  Houston says back, “And I am going to make sure I give you a reason to notice me on the field.  I’m excited to play.”

-Pioli has his eye on Kelce at 199.  Pioli is stunned when Philadelphia picks him.

-New target at 199: Powe.  Concerns- Health and Weight.  Scouts were fine on his intelligence and Pioli was livid when it was even brought up because he was dealing with Attention Deficit Disorder and was a determined student who got respect in the classroom.  Haley tells him to keep in shape.

-Everyone thought the last day of this year’s draft was very good.

And Finally, Pioli drives around town dreaming of places to hold the Championship parade and settled on Union Station.