Bill Belichick had big ideas about turning the Browns into winners. He had an all-star cast on his coaching and personnel staffs, but when it was time to bring his scientific player-evaluation system to the field, he wasn’t surrounded by enough of the right players. (John H. Reid/Getty Images)
Not many people in America expected red, white, and blue confetti to be falling on the New England Patriots after facing the mighty Saint Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The game’s MVP was quarterback Tom Brady, pictured here celebrating next to Belichick’s father, Steve (blue sweater). (Heinz Kluetmeier/Getty Images)
Belichick hired Scott Pioli as a low-paid scouting assistant in 1992. Ten years later, Belichick and Pioli became synonymous with team-building at a championship level. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
After a letdown in 2002, the Patriots needed reinforcements. Pioli and Patriots owner Robert Kraft found a safety with the temperament of a linebacker in free agent Rodney Harrison. A couple of longtime Patriots veterans had to train Harrison how to be their kind of enforcer. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
Wide receiver Randy Moss was a controversial acquisition for the Patriots in 2007. Touchdown catches like this one against the Cincinnati Bengals became so routine that it carried Moss, Brady, and the Patriots to a historic regular season. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
For six seasons, Michael Vick wasn’t just the Falcons’ quarterback; he was one of Atlanta’s most dazzling entertainers, too. But in 2007, his secret life brought the franchise to its knees. (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
One of the best decisions Arthur Blank and a few partners made came in 1978, when they cofounded retail giant the Home Depot. Thirty years later, the stylish owner of the Falcons had to figure out the best way to restore trust and stability to the team. (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
When Belichick and Thomas Dimitroff first worked together, it was a head coach—groundskeeper relationship. Years later they would speak as fellow team-builders. (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
Dimitroff witnessed the seamless relationship between Belichick and Pioli in New England. He wanted to have something similar with his head coach in Atlanta. He interviewed bigger names, like Rex Ryan, but went with the smart and steady Mike Smith. (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
Many Belichick disciples were able to leave Foxboro and still enjoy a good relationship with their mentor. But this photo of Belichick and former Jets and Browns head coach Eric Mangini, who used to be one of Belichick’s star pupils, says it all. (Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
Lionel Vital has worked with two generations of Dimitroffs. When Thomas got the job in Atlanta, one of his first calls was to Vital, a man who always gives unfiltered analyses of players. (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
AFL founder Lamar Hunt, playing football here with five-year-old son Clark in 1970, is credited with numerous sports innovations. One is naming the Super Bowl, which the Chiefs won in January 1970—and haven’t returned to since. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
Clark Hunt had no idea that Pioli had connections to the Chiefs long before Kansas City asked permission to interview him. Hunt thought getting Pioli to interview was a coup; having him accept the offer to be general manager was even better. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
Quarterback Matt Cassel’s fortunes literally changed when Brady was injured against the Chiefs in the first game of the 2008 season. The next time Cassel saw a Kansas City uniform, he was wearing it and Pioli was once again one of his bosses. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
Officially, the drafting of Alabama receiver Julio Jones was an organizational decision shared by the likes of Blank and Smith. But Dimitroff had begun dreaming of the possibility six months before it happened. On the afternoon of the draft, Dimitroff told one of the people he respects most in the league of his plan to acquire Jones. The response was “I wouldn’t do it.” (Atlanta Falcons/Jimmy Cribb)
Pioli, a student of NFL history, hired the son of a legendary scout as his first head coach. Todd Haley’s scouting genes allowed him to see a lot, and his fiery tongue was a guarantee that he’d always share what he saw. (Courtesy of AP Photos)
Belichick often gave a young Pioli unsolicited family advice. And to this day, when he’s on the job, Pioli has managed to stay close to his eight-year-old daughter, Mia. (Courtesy of Kansas City Chiefs)