Dimitroff shapes scouting department to his liking

By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has been methodical and strategic in building the personnel side of the organization.

He didn’t come in and take a wrecking ball to much. He went with the easy, slow, massaging method while trying to blend what he learn while in New England and merge it with what Bill Polian has in place in Indianapolis.

The dust has settled, and it’s now clear who Dimitroff’s lieutenants are.

● His top lieutenant is Les Snead, who was retained from the previous regime. Snead is the director of player personnel.

● Lionel Vital, who came over from the Baltimore Ravens but had worked in New England from 2001-04, is the assistant director of player personnel.

● David Caldwell, the director of scouting, is the Polian disciple who came over from Indianapolis.

● Marvin Allen, who spent the past 16 seasons with New England, is the Eastern Regional Scout.

● Mark Olson, who is in his 12th year with the Falcons, is the Western Regional Scout.

“Both Lionel and Les are close confidantes as far as discussing both sides of the scouting, pro and college,” Dimitroff said. “That lends itself to some very sound comparisons to what may be out there in free agency and what may be out there in the draft each year.”

Dimitroff and his staff had to spring into action over the past few days with Roddy White’s holdout and Harry Douglas’ injury. They brought in Dicky Lyons Jr., who was released after one practice, and later signed veterans Marty Booker and Robert Ferguson.

“We are feeling more and more comfortable each time that we make a move within the system,” Dimitroff said.

The structure is somewhat different from most teams, who split their pro and college operations into two divisions. Dimitroff likes to have those operations intertwined.

“It gives us an opportunity to discuss both at a high level instead of me sitting down with the pro department and then me sitting down with the college department and getting all of their information,” Dimitroff said. “We’ve had some very great, candid and thought-provoking discussions about personnel development.”

Also, during training camp, the entire scouting department is on hand to attend practices.

“During that time we sit down and watch every practice together,” Dimitroff said.

Also, the time is spent in sort of a “scouting school” with seminars and workshops for the scouts. The plan is to teach them how to identify system-specific players for the Falcons.

“The feeling is that while we are here, there aren’t many times throughout the year that we can get together and learn and grow as a group,” said Dimitroff, a former scout. “We talk about position-specifics, athleticism, the hips, football instincts. Those discussions take place day-in and day-out during training camp with this staff.”

The scouts are finalizing their schedules and will hit the road next week to start attending college camps and will be getting ready for the in-season scouting missions.

The first 2010 draft meeting will be held in December.