Dimitroff introduced, outlines initial plans

ATLANTA -- Tuesday the Atlanta Falcons introduced one of the new faces charged with turning around a franchise that just finished a frustrating 4-12 season.

New General Manager Thomas Dimitroff, 40, met with members of the media for the first time Tuesday morning. Dimitroff, various team officials and members of the press gathered for a luncheon at the Arthur M. Blank Family Office in Buckhead. Dimitroff mingled with attendees for about 15 minutes before taking questions for just more than an hour.

Dimitroff, who spent the previous five seasons as director of college scouting for the New England Patriots, was hired over the weekend to take over General Manager duties from Rich McKay. McKay remains Team President and, in terms of the company's organizational chart, sits ahead of Dimitroff. Officials said again Tuesday, however, that Dimitroff will have the say when it comes to any and everything football -- that includes hiring a new head coach and preparing for April's NFL Draft.

"The immediate goal as you all know is to get a head coach in place," said Dimitroff, who has 18 years of football personnel experience. "I've had much discussion with Mr. Blank and Rich as to what type of coach we want -- that being a very good leader and a very good football man with an acute sense of football intellect. We have some very viable candidates and we're excited about continuing this process."

When it comes to building the team, Dimitroff will look to college.

"Our approach will be to build through the draft and supplement through free agency," he said. "We all know an anemic draft can make or break an organization."

Blank introduced his new employee to the crowd, which eagerly waited to ask questions on everything from the effort to replace former head coach Bobby Petrino to how the Falcons plan to make football decisions. First Blank spoke to the process of hiring Dimitroff, which featured an interview done via the Internet and web cams.

"That was a result really of a very busy first week," said Blank who, along with McKay, have been around the country interviewing potential coaches and general managers. "We simply ran out of time. We got permission to speak to Thomas pretty late in the process. Some of our folks and, actually Thomas being more technologically advanced than this owner, came up with the idea of a web cam.

"It works well; It was very, very effective."

Blank went on to say that all the candidates for the general manager spot expressed excitement in working with McKay, a veteran league executive. McKay will remain the team's primary liaison with the National Football League and co-chairman of the league's competition committee.

Dimitroff echoed the sentiment, saying teamwork will be a key feature in the "Atlanta Paradigm" he hopes to create.

"I truly believe that culture (and) environment needs to be readdressed," said Dimitroff, who helped build a Patriots team that has won three Super Bowls since 2001 and currently sits in the playoffs at 17-0. "I'm very happy with what is here presently, obviously there will be a lot of re-assessing from the bottom up, but I believe culture is a big thing -- to have people really believing we can get this back on track and moving in the right direction.

"Obviously there's a lot of work to be done here, but I don't in any way feel it's a daunting task."

Dimitroff said he will evaluate members of the Falcons scouting department, but expressed confidence in their ability.

"I will say I've worked shoulder to shoulder with most of the people in the NFL," he said. "I've been around a lot of these men. There will be assessment from the bottom to the top. I will look at all the departments and all of the department heads and asses their abilities. I will say they are a very sound group. They work hard; They're diligent and they're driven to be successful."

In building the Atlanta Paradigm, or plan for success, Dimitroff said he'd look for the right people, traits, skills, system and approach.

McKay, who was in attendance, was asked about his role in scouting and signing players. He said he will be a resource for Dimitroff, whom he has every confidence.

"You're going to find a guy who works extremely hard," said McKay. "I think he'll hit the ground running."

Dimitroff also said he's looking forward to working with the team president and owner to build a winner.

"I'm very clear of where I fit in the (organizational) chart," he said. "For me, Rich Mckay has an incredible wealth of knowledge of the league and I'm very much looking forward to tapping into the knowledge. My position here, as general manager, it's final say on the football side and I really look forward to working with Rich and Mr. Blank on this approach."