Scott Pioli: I'm Not Looking to Build a Franchise For One Season

We've got another Scott Pioli interview for you, this time from 610 Sports this morning. Here are some highlights from the notes I took down:

• Expect a lot of similarities to New England with Pioli in KC
• Belief in ownership was the main reason he came to KC
• Raising his family another big reason for coming to KC
• Deflects Tyson Jackson talk

And more of course, after the jump. This was a pretty good interview if you get a chance to listen to it.

You're all set to go. So much success in New England. Is this going to be a mirror image of New England or is there going to be a Chiefs way of doing things?

I don't think you can, no matter what system or what program or what company you come from and you go to something else you can never really replicate what you did somewhere else because the dynamics are different.

The organizational structures are different, the people involved, the time, the players, there are so many dynamics that are different. I'm only one person coming from that organization.

Certainly, I am going to be providing the vision for how we'd like to do things here. There will be a lot of similarities I hope, a lot of things that we did there that I believe in that I was a part of, that Bill and I brought to that organization, but no two situations can ever be the same. It will be different.

It's been a tough couple of years here for the fans. The Miami Dolphins had a big turnaround last year. Is there such a turnaround in store for the Chiefs?

Again, those are unique situations. Every season is different, every team is different. The Miami Dolphins had a lot going for them. They didn't come around until Chad Pennington got there. They had some things they changed offensively they did.

I'm not saying that it can but I'm also not saying it can't or won't happen. What we've got to focus on is improving this football team not only for this season but for future seasons.

That's one thing Clark and I talked about at length. I'm not looking to come in here and build a franchise for just one season. My goal, my objective, is to be here for a long time and have a lot of good seasons. Similarly, to what we did in New England.

We're going to continue to make moves here that build for the long term. Miami, Atlanta...I know they're all looking the long term too. If you spoke to all those people now, last year doesn't really matter to them. What they're more focused on is doing something that sustains itself.

Can you shed some light on Tyson Jackson's contract negoations? Will he be ready for camp?

I never get into talking about contract negotiations. It's a philosophy that I don't feel it's appropriate to talk about someone else's personal and financial business.

The bottom line is that our first practice is this weekend and we're hoping he'll be there. We're counting on him being there, we hope he's there. And we're continuing to talk as of this moment.

You had a number of other opportunities in the NFL. Why did you end up in Kansas City?

There were a lot of reasons. The primary reason was the belief in ownership. And the Hunt family and the legacy of the Hunt family. It was important to me, I wanted to come to an organization that I believed that I could trust with ownership that I could trust.

And there were a number of owners out there that I felt that way about. But there was something here that lured me. My wife is from Wichita, her family is out in Wichita.

It was important that if I was going to move my wife and my family, that there would be a support system.

It's about doing a job but also about raising my family and trying to do the right thing with my family.

I have one close friend in town and she's married out here. Every time I was out in KC I would make it a point to meet her so I knew  a bit about KC. I know about ten people from my hometown that know live in KC that have contacted me.

So there were reasons to come here and six months after making it, I really feel like I made a good decision not only professionally but personally because there is a really neat vibe in this city on a lot of different levels in terms of the things that there are to do.

I was explaining the city to people back East this summer and told them about the sense of community that exists here in the city. It's a sense of community, that's a throwback quite honestly to my community growing up.

Have you acquired all of the players you want to acquire in the off season? Or are there still moves to make?

I don't know if there is anything specific there on the horizon. T answer the question: Did we get evrything done? Absolutely not. No matter how good you are or good your team is percieved to be, you're never done. The work is never done.

Another part of the culture I come from, that I'm hoping to instill here is that no matter how successful you are, the work is never done.

This team has gotten to the point over the last few years where there are some things that not only need to be done but there are things that need to be undone. We're going to do the work.

What are you looking for in the preseason?

Todd and I are looking for the same thing. We're looking for players who are committed. It sounds very elementary but we're looking for players who know what the heck to do. There are times when you see players on a football team in the NFL that don't know what to do.

The teams that are successful are the ones that do the most remedial things well.

Sometime in New England you didn't take the most obvious player but he turned out to be the right player, at the right time.

I've made this statement before. What we're trying to do is build a football team. What you really want, in this city, what everyone wants, is a team that wins championships.

The best teams aren't always necessarily a collection of the most talented players. We're going to try to build a team. It's a matter of finding the right fit, and fit right with the head coach.

Guys like Corey Dillon. Corey Dillon took a $3.5 million dollar pay cut because winning had become such an important thing in his life that he didn't care about individual honors. And he was ready and willing to become a member of our team.

That's what we're trying to do. Fit the right pieces together.

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