Thomas Dimitroff
Encyclopedia
Thomas George Dimitroff, Jr. (born 1966 in Barberton, Ohio
) is the current general manager
for the Atlanta Falcons
of the National Football League
. Before joining the Falcons in 2008
, Dimitroff was with the New England Patriots
for six years. He joined the Patriots in 2002
as a national scout
and then was named director of college scouting a year later.
was a football coach with the Ottawa Rough Riders
, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
, and the University of Guelph
in Ontario
. In 1983, Dimitroff served as an equipment manager for the Guelph football team. From 1985–1990, he played a defensive back
for the Gryphons football team and was team captain from 1988–1990. Dimitroff graduated from Guelph with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in 1990. His brother Randy played quarterback for Guelph from 1982–1985 and the two were teammates in 1985.
of the Canadian Football League
as their Canadian scouting coordinator, but worked in many areas of the team's operations for the two seasons he was there. In 1992, he worked in the Dallas, Texas
office of the World League of American Football
, tracking NFL player transactions and rosters. When the league folded later that year, Dimitroff moved to Japan
, where he helped coach a friend's corporate American football team.
Dimitroff then considered leaving the football world for business, but instead he went back to the United States, where he joined the Cleveland Browns
' grounds crew; his father was a scout for the team at the time. There he worked under then-head coach Bill Belichick
and then-pro personnel assistant Scott Pioli
. At the same time, he worked as a part-time scout for the Kansas City Chiefs
in 1993. In 1994, Dimitroff became a full-time area scout for the Detroit Lions
, a position he held through 1997. He then held a similar college scouting position with the Browns from 1998 through 2001.
, Dimitroff re-joined Belichick and Pioli with the New England Patriots
as a national scout. He spent the season reporting on the nation's top prospects before being promoted to director of college scouting on June 11, 2003. He oversaw the team's college scouting operations through the 2007
season.
In the 2008 NFL Draft
, Dimitroff and the Falcons drafted both quarterback Matt Ryan
and offensive lineman Sam Baker in the first round. The Falcons also signed free agent running back Michael Turner from the San Diego Chargers
, who was selected to the 2009 Pro Bowl
in his first year with the team. The Falcons, under first-year head coach Mike Smith, reached the playoffs
in 2008
for the first time in four seasons, but lost to the Arizona Cardinals
in the opening round. Soon after, Sporting News named Dimitroff their 2008 NFL Executive of the Year.
The Falcons finished 9–7 in 2009
, missing the playoffs
. In 2010
, the Falcons finished 13–3, earning homefield advantage for the duration of the playoffs
; however, they lost to the Green Bay Packers
in the Divisional round. He was named the 2010 NFL Executive of the Year by the Sporting News, his second time receiving the award.
http://video.thescore.com/watch/1-on-1-with-thomas-dimitroff
http://video.thescore.com/watch/thomas-dimitroff-profile
Barberton, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,899 people, 11,523 households, and 7,443 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,095.2 people per square mile . There were 12,163 housing units at an average density of 1,349.4 per square mile...
) is the current general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
for the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. Before joining the Falcons in 2008
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, Dimitroff was with the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
for six years. He joined the Patriots in 2002
2002 New England Patriots season
The 2002 New England Patriots season was the 33rd season for the team in the National Football League and 43rd season overall. They finished with a 9–7 record, good enough for second in the division but not a playoff berth....
as a national scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
and then was named director of college scouting a year later.
Early years
Dimitroff grew up in Canada, where his father, Tom Dimitroff, Sr.Tom Dimitroff, Sr.
Thomas George Dimitroff was a Gridiron football player and coach. He is the father of current Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff....
was a football coach with the Ottawa Rough Riders
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
, and the University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. In 1983, Dimitroff served as an equipment manager for the Guelph football team. From 1985–1990, he played a defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
for the Gryphons football team and was team captain from 1988–1990. Dimitroff graduated from Guelph with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1990. His brother Randy played quarterback for Guelph from 1982–1985 and the two were teammates in 1985.
Early career
After graduating from college, Dimitroff joined the Saskatchewan RoughridersSaskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
as their Canadian scouting coordinator, but worked in many areas of the team's operations for the two seasons he was there. In 1992, he worked in the Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
office of the World League of American Football
World League of American Football
The World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with support from the National Football League to play professional American football in North America, Europe and later possibly Asia...
, tracking NFL player transactions and rosters. When the league folded later that year, Dimitroff moved to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where he helped coach a friend's corporate American football team.
Dimitroff then considered leaving the football world for business, but instead he went back to the United States, where he joined the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
' grounds crew; his father was a scout for the team at the time. There he worked under then-head coach Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick
William Stephen "Bill" Belichick is an American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After spending his first 15 seasons in the league as an assistant coach, Belichick got his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991...
and then-pro personnel assistant Scott Pioli
Scott Pioli
Scott Pioli is a professional American football executive, currently serving as the general manager for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League . Pioli was previously a front office executive for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and New England Patriots...
. At the same time, he worked as a part-time scout for the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in 1993. In 1994, Dimitroff became a full-time area scout for the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
, a position he held through 1997. He then held a similar college scouting position with the Browns from 1998 through 2001.
New England Patriots
In 20022002 New England Patriots season
The 2002 New England Patriots season was the 33rd season for the team in the National Football League and 43rd season overall. They finished with a 9–7 record, good enough for second in the division but not a playoff berth....
, Dimitroff re-joined Belichick and Pioli with the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
as a national scout. He spent the season reporting on the nation's top prospects before being promoted to director of college scouting on June 11, 2003. He oversaw the team's college scouting operations through the 2007
2007 New England Patriots season
The 2007 New England Patriots season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and 48th season overall. They finished with a perfect 16–0 regular season record but lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII....
season.
Atlanta Falcons
After six seasons with the Patriots, Dimitroff was hired as the Falcons' general manager on January 13, 2008.In the 2008 NFL Draft
2008 NFL Draft
The 2008 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so...
, Dimitroff and the Falcons drafted both quarterback Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan (American football)
Matthew Thomas "Matt" Ryan , nicknamed "Matty Ice," is the starting American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round as the third overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft...
and offensive lineman Sam Baker in the first round. The Falcons also signed free agent running back Michael Turner from the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, who was selected to the 2009 Pro Bowl
2009 Pro Bowl
The 2009 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2008 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 8, 2009. This was the last time that a Pro Bowl game was held after the NFL Super Bowl game...
in his first year with the team. The Falcons, under first-year head coach Mike Smith, reached the playoffs
NFL playoffs, 2008–09
The National Football League playoffs for the 2008 season began on January 3, 2009 and led up to Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.-NFC: Arizona Cardinals 30, Atlanta Falcons 24:...
in 2008
2008 Atlanta Falcons season
The 2008 Atlanta Falcons season was the 43rd season for the team in the National Football League. Overcoming a disappointing 4-12 record, quarterback Michael Vick's dog fighting scandal and head coach Bobby Petrino's abrupt resignation in 2007, the Falcons, who were expected to be in a rebuilding...
for the first time in four seasons, but lost to the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the opening round. Soon after, Sporting News named Dimitroff their 2008 NFL Executive of the Year.
The Falcons finished 9–7 in 2009
2009 Atlanta Falcons season
The 2009 Atlanta Falcons season was the 44th season for the team in the National Football League. The team looked to match or improve upon their 11–5 record from 2008 and return to the playoffs, however the Falcons were eliminated from contention in Week 15...
, missing the playoffs
2009–10 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2009 season began on January 9, 2010 and led up to Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida...
. In 2010
2010 Atlanta Falcons season
The 2010 Atlanta Falcons season was the 45th season for the team in the National Football League. In 2009, the team posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history, with a 9–7 record, but did not make the playoffs...
, the Falcons finished 13–3, earning homefield advantage for the duration of the playoffs
2010–11 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2010 season began on January 8, 2011 and led up to Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas....
; however, they lost to the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
in the Divisional round. He was named the 2010 NFL Executive of the Year by the Sporting News, his second time receiving the award.
External links
http://video.thescore.com/watch/1-on-1-with-thomas-dimitroff
http://video.thescore.com/watch/thomas-dimitroff-profile