Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Thomas Dimitroff, a former Patriots scout, nears summit as Falcons GM

HOUSTON -- Arriving at Super Bowl LI, Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has been reflecting on a roller coaster of emotions, as the past few years have been among the toughest in his career and personal life.

It has been nine years since Dimitroff left the New England Patriots, whom the Falcons meet on Sunday. He was the Patriots' director of college scouting from 2003 to 2007 before leaving to turn around the Falcons at a critical point in their history.

After a five-year stretch of unprecedented Falcons success under Dimitroff (2008-12), things plummeted quickly when they slipped to 4-12 during an injury-ravaged 2013 season and then went 6-10 the following year.

"I had come from New England, where we won a ton, and then we had those five years where we didn't lose back-to-back games," Dimitroff told ESPN.com. "Then all of a sudden, it smacks you in the face. Those were really difficult times."

Those tough times extended into 2015 when the Falcons, under first-year coach Dan Quinn, started 6-1 before fading fast to finish 8-8, leading some in the Atlanta media to call for Dimitroff's job.

In a moment that perhaps best captured how everything seemed to be caving in on Dimitroff that season, he found himself stranded on the side of Route 985 in Georgia during a torrential downpour after hitting a pothole and blowing out his tire.

That's when he called one of his close friends from his Patriots days, Scott Pioli, who had joined the Falcons as an assistant general manager. A trusted friend, he has been there for Dimitroff at some of the lowest points in recent years, whether it was facing uncertainty about his job or needing a ride on the side of the road on a stormy day.

"I get in his car, we look at each other, and it's just one of those moments where you're saying, 'Can you believe this? What else can happen?'" Dimitroff said.

In addition to the Falcons' downward spiral, Dimitroff and his wife were in the midst of a separation.

One of the few behind the scenes to witness Dimitroff navigate that rocky work/family terrain was Quinn, and what he saw led to his still-growing admiration for Dimitroff.

"We all go through difficult times when there are a lot of things going on, and that's when you get tested. With Thomas, that's when I realized what a mentally tough guy he is, how committed he is, how strong he is," Quinn said. "He was able to manage both sides, never let it show outwardly. It shows professionalism, resiliency."

Climbing the mountain

Dimitroff said he has great admiration for many in the Patriots organization, where he first served as a national scout in 2002 before earning a promotion to director of college scouting the following year. Preparing to face the Patriots in the Super Bowl is a moment he always hoped he would have the opportunity to experience.

"It's that fantasy game that you have in your mind, the team playing one of your mentors," he said of Bill Belichick. "I don't want to go overboard, but I do believe Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the history of the game to date. I obviously learned a great deal from that organization and how they approached things."

He credits the Patriots with teaching him things such as "indisputable role understanding" during his New England tenure. But when he left the Patriots he had quite the task ahead.

His ascent as a football general manager began with the Falcons in 2008 and there truly was nowhere to go but up. The Falcons were coming off a season in which head coach Bobby Petrino abruptly quit and quarterback Michael Vick was suspended after an admission of guilt in a dogfighting scheme. Dimitroff was hired to help clean up the mess.

When it comes to big decisions, Dimitroff boasted a track record in his early seasons with the Falcons that any GM would want: drafting quarterback Matt Ryan third overall in 2008, signing free-agent running back Michael Turner, trading for veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez, pulling the trigger on a hotly debated draft-day trade-up for receiver Julio Jones, and hiring a coach in Mike Smith whose keen understanding of the critical linkage between coaching and personnel was the perfect fit.

The Falcons amassed a 56-24 record under Smith and qualified for the playoffs four times in five seasons, including an NFC Championship Game appearance in 2012.

The climb, in fact, was proceeding better than many could have imagined. And then … boom!

"You're thinking it's going well and all of a sudden, you hit the precipice and it's 'Holy s---!' It's really difficult," he said of the two-year stretch in which the Falcons went 10-22 and his drafts and free-agent signings didn't produce the desired results. "These are really trying times on that mountain."

The analogy of the mountain climb is fitting for Dimitroff, who developed a passion for it when he was based in Boulder, Colorado, during his scouting days.

And now he's with the Falcons preparing for the Super Bowl.

"You've hit those tough spots and then all of a sudden the light shines through," Dimitroff said. "You're not hitting the same potholes and ice fields, no longer on the edges of some of those crevices. You're climbing again and you're hoping to hit that summit of the mountain, which is what we all want."

'Check your ego at the door'

Dimitroff bounced back from tough decisions. He missed on a big-money free-agent signing of defensive end Ray Edwards in 2011 and was part of a couple of drafts that failed to produce a steady contributor.

The Falcons plummeted from NFC finalists in 2012 to back-to-back seasons below .500, putting Dimitroff's job on the line.

Owner Arthur Blank fired Smith, and there were questions about whether Dimitroff would remain, even as he participated in head-coaching interviews. For seven years, Dimitroff had final say on the 53-man roster, with Smith reporting to him.

"I knew that hierarchy would change," he said of the 2015 offseason. "No question, you had to check your ego at the door."

Dimitroff still didn't know for certain that he would still have a job until Blank -- who at that point had decided to hire Quinn as the Falcons' next head coach while giving him final say over the 53-man roster -- invited him to his sprawling Atlanta residence and essentially said, "I want you to stay, but you have to tell me if you can work through this. Do you have it in yourself to navigate these challenges and the perception of being demoted?"

Dimitroff did, as the Falcons' structure was tweaked: Unlike 2008-14, both GM (Dimitroff) and coach (Quinn) would now report to Blank.

Through the uncertainty, Dimitroff kept the thought of his late father, Tom, in mind. Tom Dimitroff was a football lifer whose career began as a player before he transitioned to coaching and scouting between college, the Canadian Football League and NFL. His final job in football came as a scout with the Cleveland Browns from 1987-96, which meant he worked under Belichick (1991-95).

"For as long as I can remember, I was taught by a real hard-nosed, tough-minded father who always stressed, 'When you get kicked in the shins and knocked in the stomach, you get back up and trudge through those difficult times,'" Dimitroff said, noting his appreciation for Blank for sticking with him. "So I felt like I was conditioned from day one with a football father who knew all about the football journey."

Yet as he drew from the strength of one of the most important influences in his life, Dimitroff also was deeply affected by changes that were unfolding in his own home: He and his wife Angeline, who have two children ages 9 and 3, were going through the early stages of a separation.

Dealing with the uncertainty of his professional career was one thing. Stepping away from his marriage and remaining as upbeat and positive as possible for the children was something entirely different.

"We agreed that the most important thing about the situation were the kids and that we'd do everything in our power to co-parent as best as possible," Dimitroff said.

'Our system'

By the time Quinn came on board in 2015, the 50-year-old Dimitroff was working through a range of emotions. So he focused on football. The two didn't have a personal connection, but quickly learned they had a personnel connection, sharing many of the same core beliefs about X's and O's, mental toughness, what they value most in players' skill sets ("speedy and urgent-type players"), and enjoying the journey with a positive approach.

Quinn, 46, was coming from the Seattle Seahawks, where he had served as defensive coordinator, and envisioned that he and Dimitroff could form a partnership similar to what head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider have created in Seattle. He said those he respected around the NFL told him they believed the two were a good match, and soon enough Quinn came away with the same feeling.

"As I got to know Thomas through the interview process, we had an interesting connection. For me, it was very easy to see he had his stuff together," Quinn recalled. "So we spent as much time together as we could, on scouting trips, watching tape. There was a definite hole in the carpet between my office and his office."

Meanwhile, Dimitroff told Quinn he hoped to form a bond that was similar to what his good friend R.C. Buford has with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. Buford was promoted from vice president/assistant GM to general manager in 2002, and Popovich has been head coach since 1996.

With the Falcons, Dimitroff and Quinn began by creating "vision statements" of their "composite philosophy" for each part of the organization. To reinforce what they hoped to create, they erected signs on the walls of various parts of the team's Flowery Branch facility (e.g., "Building a fast and physical team") as they focused on transitioning the roster from bigger, less athletic players to faster, more urgent ones.

The early returns were positive with a 6-1 start before the Falcons had a dramatic downturn to finish 8-8. But behind the scenes, Quinn could sense positive momentum.

"Having those disappointments to go through actually makes you a little stronger. I think we often say that about a team, but I think it's also true between a head coach and general manager," Quinn said. "We said, 'We're staying the course, sticking to our plan,' and I think that's when our connection got even stronger."

Buford, in San Antonio, has been impressed by what he calls "a powerful relationship."

"Obviously I've been fortunate to share Pop's vision for a long time, and that type of relationship is very unique. As a friend, it's been gratifying for me to see Thomas develop that type of relationship with Dan, to see them share curiosity, to see them eager to learn together," he said. "That can have a big impact on the success of a program."

The Falcons had a terrific 2016 offseason. They signed free-agent center Alex Mack and receiver Mohamed Sanu, two moves that produced immediate results. Meanwhile, the draft was devoted to adding more speed on defense, where safety Keanu Neal (first round) and linebackers Deion Jones (second round) and De'Vondre Campbell (fourth round) have all emerged quickly.

"The philosophy came together and it wasn't vaguely understanding each other, but spending hours and hours and hours to truly make that connection," Dimitroff said. "It wasn't only Seattle's system or New England's system, which is where we both came from. It became 'our system' and that was a brotherhood bonding experience for us."

Now they find themselves in a position they could have only dreamed about two years ago.

"The difficult times, the challenges -- those aren't always easy to navigate," Dimitroff said. "But you always believe there's a golden spot on the other side of it."

The golden spot arrived in a big way in 2016, with Dimitroff earning a three-year contract extension in November.

And now the summit of the climb, at Super Bowl LI, is in sight.

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