Thomas Dimitroff follows own path to Super Bowl
Thomas Dimitroff is a graduate of Belichick U. The Atlanta Falcons general manager got a master’s degree in football philosophy in Foxborough, toiling in the Patriots’ front office from 2002 to 2007, five of those years as director of college scouting. But the most important lesson that Dimitroff learned from Bill Belichick — the one that has him facing his former boss in Super Bowl LI on Sunday — was to be an independent thinker.
Perhaps, it is not a coincidence that the Belichick acolyte who has tried the least to duplicate his demeanor and parrot his tight-lipped culture is the first one to reach a Super Bowl. Dimitroff has taken the teachings of the Patriot Way and applied them, but done things his own way since taking over the Falcons in 2008.
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