Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff.

BY JIM LANG
sportsnet.ca

How many general managers in the NFL can honestly say that they once had to ride a mountain bike through the snowy streets of Regina because they couldn't afford a car?

Long before he became GM of the Atlanta Falcons, Thomas Dimitroff was making a mere $16,500 a year working as a Canadian college scout for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Dimitroff is part of the new breed of sports executives. He is cerebral, worldly, open to new ideas, willing to have a little fun but most all, driven to succeed.

Based on what he has accomplished in his three years in Atlanta, you could make a strong case that Dimitroff is the best young executive in the NFL right now. This begs the question: how in the world did a kid who once played football for the Guelph Gryphons go on to become one of the brightest GMs in the NFL?

Dimitroff was kind enough to take time out of his hectic schedule recently to discuss his story. Throughout our lengthy conversation, I found him to be one of the most informative and enjoyable subjects I have ever interviewed.

Dimitroff's journey to the NFL really began as a kid in the 1970s when he was growing up in Ottawa. At the time, his father, Thomas Dimitroff Sr., was the offensive assistant coach for the Rough Riders. Like a lot of kids living in Ottawa at the time, he was a big Conredge Holloway fan, but what set the younger Dimitroff apart from other kids was his dream of what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"Having been around football since the day I was born, it wasn't necessarily like I had this epiphany coming out of the womb that I was going to be a general manager,” Dimitroff said. “But I always knew that, if ever afforded the opportunity to sit in this type of seat -- whether it was this or as a head coach -- that I was going to do all in my power to have this combination of an enjoyable journey of having fun doing what we were doing while also striving to be as successful as we possibly can.

“It wasn't until my football was coming to an end at the University of Guelph that my dad had sort of advised me to look into the personnel side of things as well."

Heeding his father's advice, Dimitroff’s journey began after graduating from the University of Guelph in 1990 and subsequently being hired as the Canadian scouting coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Nobody could ever say that Dimitroff didn't pay his dues to get where he is. On his way up the ladder, Dimitroff has worked in the CFL, World League of American Football and finally a 15-year apprenticeship in the NFL. Through it all, Dimitroff has done every conceivable job within the sport and, in his mind, that is why he is so successful today.

"Having the opportunity to work at every level in football has been beneficial. In my non-professional days, growing up around my father who was involved in football, I have dabbled in every aspect of the sport from picking up dirty laundry, to working in the film room, to working in the training room, to working out on the field as a ball boy, to coaching, to scouting and to managing within scouting.,” Dimitroff said.

“I think that, combined with working at all levels, working in the collegiate level, the CFL level, the World League level and the different levels within the NFL, have really helped me."

Much like Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, Dimitroff feels all those years being involved with the CFL gives him an edge when it comes to evaluating talent.

"Having a background in evaluating Canadian players and Canadian talent no question had helped develop my skills as an evaluator in the National Football League."

From 2002 to 2007, Dimitroff received the NFL's equivalent of a PhD in player evaluation while working as a scout with the New England Patriots. During his time in New England, the Patriots won 75 games and two Super Bowls. Quietly, Dimitroff emerged as a candidate for potential front office jobs around the league because of his sterling reputation as a talent evaluator and his work ethic.

The pedigree that comes with working as a scout for an organization that is viewed around the league as the blueprint on how to build a team helped land Dimitroff a job as the general manager of the Falcons. Dimitroff was taking over a franchise that was viewed as a complete mess. The Falcons were 4-12 in 2007, coach Bobby Petrino quit during the season to take a job in the NCAA and Michael Vick was in jail. But Dimitroff arrived in Atlanta in January of 2008 with a bold plan to do what was previously thought of as impossible: turn the Falcons into a perennial winner.

"We came in knowing we needed a quarterback and a running back as well as a left tackle. We knew that we couldn't get all three of those players in the first round. We knew that we could get two. We acquired our running back through free agency, we picked up Matt (Ryan) as the third pick overall, then we got creative in the backend of the first round and moved up to get Sam Baker, our left tackle in the first round.

“Within a couple of months we had a quarterback, a left tackle and a running back -- three very, very important pieces. The very first acquisition we made was Michael Turner. Michael Turner set the stage for us to be able to jump up and take Matt early and, knowing that, we were getting two very important pieces to our offensive puzzle in the same year. Michael Turner was huge for us."

So huge that Michael Turner has scored 35 touchdowns in his first 39 games since coming over as a free agent from San Diego. The triumvirate of Turner, Ryan and Baker helped fuel a remarkable turnaround in 2008 as the Falcons went from 4-12 to 11-5 and a playoff berth. While 2009 wasn't quite so successful, the Falcons still went 9-7 and the team put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time ever.

Now in his third year in Atlanta, Dimitroff is the architect of a team that is 10-2. It was not by chance that the Falcons are among the best teams in the NFC in 2010, because in Dimitroff's mind, he always thought of the third year of his tenure as the tipping point in his blueprint for the Falcons.

"Three years was a very important timeframe for us. We figured that first year we would go heavy on offence to provide Matt all the tools we could. The second year, if you look at our draft, we went almost solely on defence. This year we came back and we really focused on acquiring both sides of the left over holes we perceived and thought we were very productive in the draft and as well in free agency."

Like anyone who works under Bill Belichick in New England, Dimitroff learned a lot about what it takes to build a winning team. Dimitroff was passionate when he explained the key lesson Belichick imparted upon him, a lesson that he used to implement the major turnaround in Atlanta.

"One of the main things I refer to all the time, this understanding of this ‘Indisputable Role.’ It's very, very big here. People can focus on their job at hand, perfect their craft and their job and not worry about everyone else in the building and what they're doing. But really, truly hone in on their skills and if we all do our jobs to the best of our ability, then we have a very good chance to be successful."

To Dimitroff, the ultimate example of what he calls the "Indisputable Role" is Patriots running back Kevin Faulk.

"To me, he was year in and year out one of -- if not the most -- valuable players on that team and he may have only touched the ball 10 times a game. But he was so valuable and he accepted that role. On those 10 plays, he gave 110 per cent all the time and I respected that a great deal."

Humble by nature, Dimitroff never says "I" when talking about the Falcons or what he has accomplished in Atlanta. And in typical Belichick fashion, Dimitroff is very cautious when talking the potential of his team.

"We have some very solid and significant expectations within our building. We talk about them within our building but we don't publicly thump our chest stating how good we may be and what our expectations are and how far we are going to go. Our ownership has high expectations, I do as a general manager and our head coach does as well as our players. We continue from game to game to achieve some of the goals that we set forth."

Despite Dimitroff's humility, the Falcons are on the verge of locking up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Considering their amazing home record and the fact Matt Ryan is 19-1 as a starter at the Georgia Dome, the rest of the NFC could be in for a rough ride on the road to Super Bowl 45 in Dallas.

"The proverbial arrow is up for us and we feel very encouraged by the development of a relatively young team. We believe that we are moving towards being a very significant player in the this league."

Whatever ends up happening this season, the seeds for any Atlanta Falcons success were originally planted by Thomas Dimitroff on Canadian soil.

"My opportunity to live there (in Canada) through my younger years was good for me."

Indeed it was.