Mellinger: First three months of Dorsey’s Chiefs regime far cry from *****’s

[Tribal Warfare]

First three months of Dorsey’s Chiefs regime far cry from *****’s
By Sam Mellinger
The Kansas City Star
John Dorsey knows Kansas City. By now you’ve heard that part of his story. His wife is from the area, and their first date was at Jack Stack. When the Chiefs introduced him as their new general manager, he called it his dream job.

But living in a place can be very different than visiting. He just bought a house here. This is real now. Working a dream job can be very different than dreaming about it. So we wanted to check in after three months and see if anything had changed.

“No way, this place is awesome, man,” he says. “Here’s an example. We went down to Oklahoma Joe’s (on Wednesday), Andy and I and some other guys, and we sat in line for 40 minutes. The people were great. This is the good thing about the Midwest: Everybody respects your space. It’s a cool thing.

“Some guys would come up and talk to us; they’re genuinely excited. That’s what it’s all about. It’s the people, man.”

Dorsey will talk your ear off about Kansas City. The other day, as the lawn mower was going by his office window, he realized it was never this nice in Green Bay until mid-May, at least. You hear Dorsey talk, and you hear others in the Chiefs offices talk about him, and you begin to understand a franchise-defining change.

We don’t know if Dorsey will succeed in Kansas City. Nobody does. But after three months, there are clues about how the Chiefs are, and will continue to be, different.

He doesn’t spend any time trash-talking his predecessor, for one. This was a favorite pastime of Scott *****’s. Publicly and privately, directly and indirectly, ***** wanted you to know what kind of mess he inherited.

Dorsey never mentions that he arrives on the heels of what many involved called the worst football year of their lives.

“We’re just trying to get people excited, because that’s a good working environment,” Dorsey says.

The second major difference between this regime change and the one that preceded it is that Dorsey isn’t overhauling the front office. ***** talked constantly of changing the culture and spent a lot of time firing and hiring people. Dorsey has spent a large chunk of his time meeting and working with and listening to people who were here long before January.

“Not one guy has all the answers, my God,” Dorsey says. “This is a hard job now. There are going to be some people here who are going to help and it’s good to have everybody here to do this.”

That leads to the third major difference between Dorsey and *****. Whenever possible, ***** would namedrop Bill Belichick. Dorsey doesn’t talk much about Green Bay. Doesn’t tell stories about drafting Aaron Rodgers or winning the Super Bowl with the league’s youngest roster or what they saw in Clay Matthews that 25 other teams passed on ... unless you ask.

Dorsey isn’t coming to Kansas City expecting people to kiss his Super Bowl rings as much as he’s hoping the people here can help him win another one.

“I think you’ve got to earn everybody’s respect,” he says. “I’m trying to earn everybody’s respect in the organization. I only know one way. I have no ego. I like to work. I like work, I like football, and I love my family.”

The Chiefs’ last four years were filled with drama. Carl Peterson ran the organization for two decades, and although he probably should have been replaced a year or two earlier, you can now look back and see a professionalism that went missing when he departed. He had his quirks — quite frankly… — but people genuinely liked working for him. There’s something to be said for that.

It’s only three months, of course, but there seems to be a steadiness and professionalism returning to the Chiefs’ offices. You don’t hear stories of paranoia, or micromanaging, or bizarre rules about who can make color copies.

This is still an NFL organization, so secrets are still closely guarded. Besides, NFL teams are bigger than the general manager. Owner Clark Hunt was going to push his franchise in this direction no matter who he hired as general manager.

But the sense from the inside is one of confidence, comfort and a renewed optimism. You can see that in Dorsey as he talks about the rewards of hard work and the focus on empowering his scouts. Get people invested, he says. Get them excited. That’s how you build a winning culture.

Again, we don’t know how this story will end. Dorsey is only three months into the job. His first draft is three weeks off, his first game six months away. All we have are these hints. But all these hints are positive.

[BlackHelicopters]

Dorsey has made good and bad moves IMHO. We shall see. Mellinger=journalist.

[tk13]

On the flipside, I'm sure Kansas City probably seems like Florida to Dorsey after living in northern Wisconsin for 20 years.

[RedDread]

How long did it take for the warning signs to come out regarding Pioli though? There were questionable moves but the inter-office stuff was about two years later wasn't it?

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

BOOOOOO

[tk13]

Originally Posted by RedDread

How long did it take for the warning signs to come out regarding ***** though? There were questionable moves but the inter-office stuff was about two years later wasn't it?

To be fair, Whitlock wrote his first column saying Pioli's ego was going to railroad the team pretty early on. Not sure if it was before the first game but it was definitely early in Pioli's first year.

[007]

Originally Posted by RedDread

How long did it take for the warning signs to come out regarding ***** though? There were questionable moves but the inter-office stuff was about two years later wasn't it?

As soon as he signed a QB before getting a coach.

[OrtonsPiercedTaint]

***** probably cleared out a bunch of Peterson croonies that needed the boot. He may have saved Dorsey a bit of dirty work there.

[DaFace]

This is just a fluff piece, but it's good to know that Dorsey's not an egomaniac douche at least. I hope he lets the Chiefs be more involved in the community that Pioli ever allowed.

He seems like the kind of guy you could have a beer with. Now it just remains to be seen if he can actually build a team or not.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by DaFace

This is just a fluff piece, but it's good to know that Dorsey's not an egomaniac douche at least. I hope he lets the Chiefs be more involved in the community that ***** ever allowed.

He seems like the kind of guy you could have a beer with. Now it just remains to be seen if he can actually build a team or not.

I don't think anyone could ever make Arrowhead more of an impenetrable fortress than how Pioli did it. That place was on lockdown from day 1, and he loved it like that.

The article does two things -

1) Gives us all a breath of fresh air as to how our team is now run
2) Provides conclusive evidence that the "Patriot Way" starts with Bill Belichick and ends with Tom Brady.

[DaWolf]

Originally Posted by Guru

As soon as he signed a QB before getting a coach.

Yeah, and say what you want about Smith, but that move is all Andy Reid. The good thing I suppose is that the coach got to pick his QB this time rather than being forced one.

It's going to be tougher to evaluate Dorsey than Pioli however, because Reid for all intents and purposes hired the guy and is calling the shots, despite what anyone says. This is Reid's show. Dorsey needs to be able to hold him in check and convince him not to make bad decisions, but unlike Pioli, he's not the overseer...

[Mother****erJones]

He doesn’t spend any time trash-talking his predecessor, for one. This was a favorite pastime of Scott *****’s. Publicly and privately, directly and indirectly, ***** wanted you to know what kind of mess he inherited.


What a POS Pioli was. This was his excuse for his failure.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by tk13

This country would literally be better off if everyone who 1) worships Obama and 2) has an obsessive vile hatred of Obama were all put on an island and blown up by North Korea. I really think all of these people are mentally ill. I don't know how you could worship or have an obsessive hatred of another human being so much. Drives me nuts.

That's why we had to ship you idiots off to a different forum in the first place.

It's also what keeps sane people from ever trying to discuss politics in polite company. Which is a recipe for disaster.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

I believe Dorsey is a Genoite.
Posted via Mobile Device

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DaWolf

Yeah, and say what you want about Smith, but that move is all Andy Reid. The good thing I suppose is that the coach got to pick his QB this time rather than being forced one.

It's going to be tougher to evaluate Dorsey than ***** however, because Reid for all intents and purposes hired the guy and is calling the shots, despite what anyone says. This is Reid's show. Dorsey needs to be able to hold him in check and convince him not to make bad decisions, but unlike *****, he's not the overseer...

Don't care who has the final say.

When it all goes wrong, they'll both be culpable.

[FloridaMan88]

Unfortunately Dorsey has already done one important thing identical to what Fat Scott did when he arrived in KC... trade for a true fan-wet dream-caliber veteran QB to be the Chiefs starting QB.