The New Sheriff In Town

John Dorsey was by far the best candidate for our vacant General Manager job. When rumors began to swirl that we had a chance at landing John Dorsey as our GM, there is not a fan that could be unhappy with that prospect. From his playing days, to scouting, to being promoted to a director, he has always been a well sought after candidate in many positions. Other teams have pursued John as a General Manager candidate in previous years, but he has never engaged in serious talks about leaving the Packers. He is very well educated and has decades of experience at different levels in the National Football League.  It is very comforting going into such a crucial draft to have a trustworthy talent evaluator.

Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Dorsey began his ascent through the ranks of the NFL starting in 1984. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers to play linebacker. The Connecticut alumni relished five years playing LB before moving on with his career. He did not have any playing time in his final year due to being placed on injured reserve.  In 1991, Dorsey was hired as a college scout for the Packers. He served in that position until 1997, when he was promoted to director of college scouting.

During his tenure as a college scout for the Packers, he worked with Andy Reid.  Coach Reid was hired as an assistant coach and the two worked together from 1992 until 1998. Dorsey has always impressed everyone he has worked with.  This was evident when Mike Holmgren went to Seattle and made sure to bring his best personnel man with him. Dorsey resigned from the position just over a year later with hopes of returning to Green Bay and was hired back with the Packers as the director of college scouting. He retained that position until last year.  The Packers brass was so impressed with the job he had done, they again promoted him to be Director of Football Operations.

The former Packers director had much success with his drafts. While Brett Favre was still on the roster, he picked up Aaron Rodgers. Our new GM also selected Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings and B.J. Raji among many others.

After viewing John’s press conference, it would be hard not to like the guy. He seemed to be a very straight to the point kind of guy. There was no sugarcoating anything in the interview and he seemed extremely focused on his philosophy. What I thought was one of the biggest things he mentioned, and has been missing in Kansas City for a long time, was how closely the General Manager and head coach need to be for success. One of the biggest complaints that fans had about Scott Pioli was his ego and his hard headed personality. Hearing Mr. Dorsey say that everyone needs to check their ego at the door was quite refreshing.

When he continued on to call Kansas City his “dream job,” every fan had to feel a bit excited. Since his wife is a KU graduate and has a successful law firm in the area, it makes a lot of sense for him to make this his home off the field. It was a bit surprising that he saw the Kansas City Chiefs job as a dream job though. As the interview went on, there was nothing not to like about the new king in town.

It’s quite an exciting time to be a Chiefs fan, and what happens in the coming weeks is crucial to the 2013 season. It is going to be a very fun off-season and I can’t wait to see some of the moves that are made!