Scott Pioli was named the fifth General Manager in Kansas City Chiefs history by Chairman Clark Hunt on January 13th. Regarded as one of the league’s brightest player personnel evaluators, Pioli has justifiably earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s top executives. He joined the Chiefs after serving as the Vice President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots.

During his nine-year tenure in New England (2000-08), the Patriots compiled an NFL-best 102-42 (.708) regular season record, won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX, claimed the Lamar Hunt Trophy four times as the AFC Champion and won six AFC East titles. A four-time winner of NFL Executive of the Year honors from national media outlets, Pioli has final authority over all football operations in Kansas City and reports directly to Hunt.

“With his proven track record of success, Scott is the finest player personnel executive in the NFL,” Hunt said. “We look forward to his leadership in building a championship organization.”

Over the past 17 NFL seasons, teams that Pioli has been associated with have won seven division titles and have made eight playoff appearances, participating in a total of 21 postseason games.

During his nine-year run with New England, the Patriots became widely recognized as one of the NFL’s model franchises. Working in close concert with head coach Bill Belichick, that duo rapidly developed the Patriots into a consistent championship contender. Partnering with head coach Todd Haley in Kansas City, Pioli has embraced the challenge of developing a comprehensive plan to return the Chiefs to pro football prominence.

“The mission of this football team, and the direction is to build a football team,” Pioli stated. “My job is not to collect talent, it’s to build a team. Individuals make Pro Bowls, teams win championships. That’s our goal here. Win championships, win football games — to build this team with the right kind of people, with the right kind of players, to consistently compete for championships.

“We’re going to build a big, strong, smart, fast, tough, disciplined football team and we’re going to do that by going out and finding big, strong, smart, fast, tough, disciplined football players. It sounds very simple and hopefully in certain ways, it will be.”

Pioli and Belichick’s collaborative efforts over nine seasons in New England resulted in 14 playoff victories, tying the Pittsburgh and Dallas squads of the ’70s for the most playoff wins by a franchise in a single decade. New England accumulated 11 playoff victories from 2003-07, the highest total by any team over a five-year span in NFL history. Pioli and Belichick became the first personnel director/head coach tandem in league annals to win three Super Bowls during a four-year span (2001-04). They also helped the Patriots register nine or more victories each of the last eight seasons, including the NFL’s first 16-0 regular season in 2007.

Thanks to his numerous astute player personnel acquisitions that fit within the Patriots team concept, Pioli has regularly received national recognition for his talents. He was named the George Young NFL Executive of the Year by The Sporting News following the 2003 and 2004 seasons, an award voted on by NFL executives. The youngest individual ever to win that accolade, Pioli joined Bobby Beathard (Washington ’82-83) and Bill Polian (Carolina ’95-96) as just the third person to ever win that honor in consecutive seasons.

Pioli was named NFL Executive of the Year by the Dallas Morning News in 2001 and also received NFL Executive of the Year honors from Pro Football Weekly and Sports Illustrated in 2003. In 2004, Pioli’s accolades included the NFLPA’s Award for Executive Achievement in addition to NFL Executive of the Year awards from USA Today, the San FranciscoChronicle and SI.com. In 2007, Pioli again earned NFL Executive of the Year honors from Pro Football Weekly, the Dallas Morning News and the San Francisco Chronicle.

The depth and versatility of New England’s roster compiled by Pioli were key components to the Patriots success in recent seasons. In 2005, the Patriots set a post-merger league record for a division champion by utilizing 45 different starters. In 2003, the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII despite using 42 different starters, the most in league history by a Super Bowl champion. In 2004, the Patriots employed 40 different starters as they won their second consecutive Super Bowl. In 2006, New England won its fourth straight AFC East title while using 39 different starters.

Under Pioli’s direction, the Patriots used an effective combination of draft picks, free agent signings, trades and waiver claims to continually upgrade their roster. Since his arrival in Kansas City,he has already upgraded the Chiefs roster using similar methodology.

On February 28th, he pulled the trigger on a trade with the Patriots that brought QB Matt Cassel and LB Mike Vrabel to Kansas City in exchange for a second round draft pick. In addition to re-signing several key players, Pioli has acquired a number of proven performers for the Chiefs via unrestricted free agency such as LB Monty Beisel, WR Bobby Engram, C Eric Ghiaciuc, G Mike Goff and LB Zach Thomas. He also added eight players to Kansas City’s talent pool via the draft and has made a number of other off-season free agent acquisitions.

Eight New England draft choices acquired during Pioli’s nine seasons with the Patriots have gone on to earn a combined 16 Pro Bowl berths. That list is headlined by four-time Pro Bowl QB Tom Brady (D6b-00), who has twice earned Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honors and was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2007.

Other Pro Bowl draft picks during the Pioli era in New England included five-time selection DE Richard Seymour (D1-02) and two-time Pro Bowl T Matt Light (D2-01). Players drafted by Pioli in New England with at least one Pro Bowl to their credit include: C Dan Koppen (D5-03), G Logan Mankins (D1-05), CB Asante Samuel (D4-03), DT Vince Wilfork (D1a-04) and K Stephen Gostkowski (D4b-06). Pioli’s most recent first-round pick, LB Jerod Mayo (D1-08), was named the 2008 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year after leading the Patriots with 137 tackles.

Notable Patriots free agent signees during the Pioli era included S Rodney Harrison (FA-03), LB Mike Vrabel (UFA-01) and three-time Pro Bowl special teamer LB Larry Izzo (UFA-01). Meanwhile,New England also acquired several key performers via trades. WR Randy Moss (T-07) was acquired from Oakland and set an NFL single-season record with 23 TD catches in 2007. WR Wes Welker (T-07) was acquired from Miami in 2007 and led New England with 112 receptions in his debut campaign with the Patriots. Welker earned his initial Pro Bowl berth in 2008 after producing a team-high 111 catches. RB Corey Dillon (T-04) joined the Patriots from Cincinnati and set the franchise’s single-season rushing record with 1,635 yards in 2004.

The Washingtonville, N.Y. native enters his 18^th NFL campaign in 2008. Prior to his seven-year stint as New England’s Vice President of Player Personnel (2002-08), he held the titles of Director of Player Personnel (2001) and Assistant Director of Player Personnel (2000) for the Patriots.

Pioli began his NFL career when Belichick hired him as a Scouting Assistant for the Browns in ’92. He then served as Pro Personnel Assistant from ’93-95, where he was responsible for the evaluation of both college prospects and veteran free agents, as well as negotiating various player contracts. He was promoted to Pro Personnel Coordinator after the franchise moved to Baltimore in ’96. He spent one season with the Ravens, where he oversaw all aspects of pro personnel and negotiated the contracts of free agents and several draft choices.

In ’97, he was hired by the N.Y. Jets as Director of Pro Personnel. He was credited with the signing of a number of veteran free agents who played critical roles in the Jets rebuilding process. In just two seasons working with head coach Bill Parcells, the Jets completed a worst-to-first turnaround, rebounding from 1-15 in ’96 to 12-4 in ’98. Those 12 wins in ’98 were the most in franchise history and gave the Jets their first division title since ’68.

Pioli played defensive tackle at Central Connecticut State (’83-87), where he was a three time Division II All-New England selection. In ’88, after graduating with a degree in communications, he accepted a two-year graduate assistant position at Syracuse University, where he also earned a master’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

He accepted a full-time coaching opportunity at Murray State, where he spent one season as the offensive line coach (’90) and one season as the defensive line coach (’91). He left the coaching ranks to join the Browns personnel department in ’92.

Pioli was born on March 31, 1965 in Washingtonville, N.Y. He currently serves on the board of directors for various non-profit foundations and serves on the board of directors for the College for Every Student Foundation, a national non-profit organization that partners with public schools in high-need communities to raise student aspirations and performance. He remains actively involved in fundraising for several organizations in his hometown (Washingtonville, N.Y.) and at his alma mater of Central Connecticut State, where he was enshrined in that school’s Hall of Fame in 2005.

He established the Rose Pioli Scholarship in the name of his grandmother to benefit children of educators, professional firefighters, police and other emergency medical service providers. Pioli and his wife, Dallas, have a daughter, Mia Costa Pioli.