http://sportstwo.com/NFL/Story/NFL/1512560 The job of rebuilding the Atlanta Falcons will fall on Thomas Dimitroff. Dimitroff on Sunday was officially named as the Falcons' new general manager. Dimitroff comes to the Falcons from the New England Patriots, where he was the club's director of college scouting. "I want to personally thank (Patriots owner) Robert Kraft for making Thomas available to us now," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. "In doing so, he is helping us complete our head coach search in a timely manner." The Falcons had been in the market for a new GM since Rich McKay was relieved of those duties to become the team president on a full-time basis. McKay received a 17-month contract extension Sunday. The 40-year-old Dimitroff has been with the Patriots since 2002, and was a candidate for the Minnesota Vikings' GM post two years ago. "I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to become part of the Atlanta Falcons organization," Dimitroff said. "I'm looking forward to working with Mr. Blank and Rick McKay, two highly respected men in the world of professional football." Dimitroff also has worked for Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City since moving south from the Canadian Football League. "Thomas is a really bright football mind who comes out of the most successful franchise in sports today," McKay said. "He has an excellent track record of evaluating players." Dimitroff has plenty of work to do in order to turn around the Falcons, who went 4-12 this season en route to a last-place finish in the NFC South. In addition to quarterback Michael Vick landing in jail on federal dogfighting charges, the Falcons endured a coaching change during the season when Bobby Petrino walked away after 13 games to take the Arkansas job. Dimitroff will be responsible for hiring the new Falcons' new coach. The team has already begun its search and interviewed a number of candidates, but the decision will rest with now rest with Dimitroff. Dimitroff's hiring could thrust Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back into the mix for the Falcons coaching job. On Thursday, McDaniels said he no longer was a candidate for jobs with the Falcons and Baltimore Ravens - two teams that had requested permission from the Patriots to speak with him. With Dimitroff making the hire, the Falcons may be willing to wait to talk with McDaniels. McDaniels is in his second season as offensive coordinator for unbeaten New England, which set an NFL record this season with 589 points - surpassing the mark of 556 set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/f...0114.html?imw=Y <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Falcons officially have a new general manager after former New England director of college scouting Tom Dimitroff signed his contract following the Patriots' AFC divisional playoff victory over Jacksonville on Saturday. He is scheduled to report to work as soon as Monday morning, the team confirmed. "I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to become a part of the Atlanta Falcons organization," Dimitroff said in a statement released by the team Sunday. Dimitroff, 40, has never held such a lofty title, but he brings 18 years of talent evaluation and scouting expertise to the position that has been vacated by Rich McKay. McKay will remain as team president, a job he shared with being the general manager since his hiring in 2003. McKay signed a 17-month contract extension that runs through 2010 to remain as president and will have limited say in football-related matters. The transition to his new role goes into effect immediately now that Dimitroff is under contract. "Thomas is a really bright football mind who comes out of the most successful franchise in sports today," McKay said in a statement. "He has an excellent track record of evaluating players, and I certainly look forward to working with him." Dimitroff's first tasks will be developing a personnel staff and hiring a new head coach to replace Bobby Petrino, who quit during his first season to coach at the University of Arkansas. Dimitroff is believed to have presented the Falcons a short list of candidates he would pursue for the coaching job during his satellite interview with Blank and other team officials last weekend. Before hiring Dimitroff, the Falcons interviewed Dallas offensive assistants Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano, Indianapolis assistant head coach Jim Caldwell, former Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, Jacksonville defensive coordinator Mike Smith and Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the head coaching job. It is not known whether Dimitroff plans to seek a candidate from that pool.</div>
They still want McDaniels? I'm not so sure he wants to go. He just started this year and I think he'll want to stick around for a bit more experience.
Dimitroff is looking like a really solid hire at the moment. His first draft class have had a number of contributors, and some key free agent pick-ups have helped Atlanta too.
