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Solo Stove, the perfect flame for the big game. You ready for Super Bowl week? What are your thoughts on how things are set up already between the 49ers and the Chiefs? Look, I think it's going to be a really close game.
I'm just going to be really interested. As you can imagine, Atlanta, we know the story with Kyle Shanahan in a tough Super Bowl we lost a while ago. And Kyle's record, you know, this is a big game for him. You know, he's a really good football coach and he's won a lot of games. But the big one, this is a really, really important game. I'm really honed in on that after obviously what happened back in the 16 Super Bowl, 16-17 Super Bowl.
Thomas Dimitrov is here with us, the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, there's a lot of skin in the game based on your experience, former Falcons general manager. You obviously know about Mr. Shanahan. What makes him an excellent coach, just even from what you saw years ago when he was here in Atlanta? Yeah, look, I think his big deal is he's as close to genius as it comes with his system.
And I don't like throwing that word around a lot. I think he and Josh McDaniel are the two guys who have it wrapped up as far as understanding offense. What he does really well is he knows the personnel that he needs for that system, having been around it as long as he had with his dad, you know, Mike Shanahan, the former coach of the Broncos.
So that's a big thing. You parallel that with a guy like Bill Belichick who knew his system inside out. And those two men can be really, really obviously excellent coaches because they know how to utilize personnel.
Sometimes they can even do that at a good value. And I think Mike Shanahan, Kyle's dad, did it with running backs. You remember some of those fifth round running backs.
I think Kyle does it. Look what he did with with Purdy, right? I mean, it's a pretty special ability to know your scheme and know how to utilize your talent. Well, Thomas, you cut your teeth as a scout and you talk about Brock Purdy. People are still trying to figure out how he was the last dude selected in his draft class. What is your evaluation of Brock Purdy? Do you think he gets the credit that he deserves?
You know what? I've been back and forth on giving him the credit myself and I feel bad because obviously he's a very good football player. There are some times when, you know, when things go awry, like any quarterback, right?
I mean, we got a chance to see Matt Ryan do some great things and there were times where there was challenges. And I mean, I think the same thing. I mean, someone said the other day that he wasn't, you know, he's just kind of an okay athlete. And I thought, man, the way he was running in that past game came back after a bad first half and recovered.
And I'm a big believer in that, right? If you can recover and you have resilience, he has a quarterback and you have a tough element to you, you know, mental and physical. And then you have the skills like he does to throw the ball and get it off quickly. I think he's a good quarterback on his way to being very good. Now that's, you got to understand in the scouting world, semantics are huge, right?
Good and very good are two very different, very different places in the world. Former Falcons general manager, current CEO of Sumer Sports, Thomas Dimitrov is here with us on CBS Sports Radio. Just briefly, you mentioned Matt Ryan and you were able to draft him out of BC.
Unfortunately, you weren't there for his exit. You know, do you think he gets the credit that he deserves and do you believe we're going to see him in Canton? I think Matt Ryan is, I've always thought that he was an upper tier quarterback for sure, you know, at his top range when he was rolling and he had that MVP during the Super Bowl season. Man, he was, he was, I thought he was, he should have gotten even more recognition from that. I think eventually he is. I mean, look, I know, I know the people in the NFL and the people at the Hall of Famers don't like anyone throwing around first ballot and making it kind of flippant like that.
I mean, Matt will, Matt will get in there eventually and I think he deserves to be in there. Unfortunately, the city at times I thought were down on him and, you know, there were, there were some times when it, you know, look, we didn't, we didn't put together the O-line. We needed to do, you know, put together all the time. And there were other times that he did have it. Look, the one thing I do know is we put a lot of really good talent around him starting from, you know, I look, you can even look all the way back to Tony Gonzalez. You can look to Michael Turner, you can look all the way through to Julio and such. There were some good football players around him. We're proud of that. And I think Matt capitalized on it for the most part. I was disappointed to see him go as he did finishing up in Indy the way he did.
That's unfortunate. Well, Thomas, your tentacles kind of reached out to every place. We've talked about Shanahan and Matt Ryan. There were two gentlemen introduced today in two different markets. You have Raheem Morris here in Atlanta introduces the head coach of the Falcons and then Dan Quinn, you know, getting his second chance as a head coach, you know, up in DC with the commanders. What are those two respective teams getting with those new individual coaches? Well, look, you look at, you look at Dan Quinn, for instance, and I have a great deal of respect for Dan. I think Dan comes into the commanders with a really good understanding of all the really good things that worked out well for him as a head coach in Atlanta. But Dan's a very aware guy and he's a very smart football coach and awareness is big for him. He's always looking to get better. He's always looking to grow. And over the years that he's been out of everything, he's looked at some of the challenges and, you know, sort of misreads along the way that were both he and I.
They can't just be put on him, right? I'm a big believer in raising the hand that we're going as partners, as head coaches and general managers. Yeah, there are certain things that happen on the field and the coaching side, certain things on the team builder side. But Dan's going to go in there with unbelievable passion, a really good understanding of where he was and where he is today. I think he goes in there also with a GM that's a first time GM. And normally when you're a first time GM, you really want to be able to work with a guy. And normally you don't get a guy that has that kind of experience as Dan Quinn. So I think Adam Peters is in a great spot to be able to go side by side with Dan Quinn. And remember, what Dan brings to the table versus other coaches, he has a real passion for player personnel and understanding the talent that he has. He's not just randomly saying, you know, bring me whoever and then blame the GM later for it, right? He's involved in a good way and not an over sort of exuberant way, right? Like he's not in there pushing himself around.
I think it's a really good thing that they got up there as far as that goes. And, you know, he's hiring the right coordinator. I mean, he has a chance to pick a big time quarterback, maybe a little bit earlier in Atlanta. I think it's three, right? Three or two or something. Eight. Falcons later. Falcons are eight. Oh, two, two. Right? Correct, two, two.
Yeah, they're two. So, I mean, both of those guys, I mean, Rah, and we can get over to Rah, look, I love Rahim. I'm so happy that Rahim got another chance.
I was pretty outspoken about it early on in the process. And I thought, I was surprised he was at Atlanta. Quite honestly, I thought Bill was going to end up in Atlanta, Belichick. But this is an interesting hire for Arthur and Co.
The way they're putting it together there. I think he brings an unbelievable amount of energy, even more energy than Dan, of course. Guy is sharp. I mean, I've told him and I've told other people and other owners, you're not going to meet a guy who's sharper, quicker. He's not only quick-witted, man.
That guy does not miss a beat. And I think it's going to be really good. He's so well-respected by the players out there. And I think that organization, no beat on Arthur Smith. I think it's going to benefit from the energy that Rah brings to the table, as well as his football intelligence, which I love his defensive intelligence.
They get the right offensive coordinator there. And they brought a guy in there that has a lot of background in data as well, in a good way, not it. And believe me, I know that there's this place for data and there's also a place where you have to step back and be football people.
Thomas Dimitrop is here with us. I want to talk about what you got going on with data and all the information you're utilizing with Sumer Sports. You talk about Rahim Morris being someone who's relatable and brings energy.
I know the NFL Players Association, following their most recent poll, they said he was one of the top five defensive coordinators in the game. If I got to take a look up in D.C., there are horror stories right now being written about Ben Johnson and potentially burning bridges. And not being as personable in his interview process. How does that situation typically work, given your experiences? I mean, are bridges burned in that process? Do you think it's going to be difficult for him to get a job in the future? No, you know what I'm thinking? And just like players sometimes, right?
Whether it was players who were extremely talented or had a brush here and there, you know, potentially with substance or something stupid that we saw over the years back in the days. And everyone's like, well, that guy's going to have a hard time getting back to wherever he was. I don't believe that at all. If you're excellent at what you do, you'll weather the storm. There may be some people that don't want to go after you. Yeah, but a guy like Ben Johnson, he's getting a job. He's getting it fast whenever he wants to. There are way too many people out there.
I don't necessarily, from what I know, and I don't really know what it is, I think, and I did say this a little bit earlier. I think it's better for the commanders to have Dan up there because of what I mentioned about the relationship between the GM and the head coach versus having two knee-up fights in that job. And I did that with Mike Smith, and we were very fortunate.
I mean, Mike Smith, my God, he was a three-time coach of the year and five years in Atlanta. That's a big deal. So, yeah, I get what you're saying. You know, it may put a little bit of a burn bridge element to it, but I don't think it's burnt through.
No way. Thomas, you've seen a whole lot, including a Super Bowl week. What is this week like from a management perspective? How do you eliminate those distractions? We know two hours from now we're going to have Patrick Mahomes ask about his dad.
People are going to request tickets all week long. It's in Vegas. How do you or can you shut out the noise? You can. I mean, I was pretty impressed with how we shut it out.
We weren't in Vegas, of course. It's a little different, right? There's a lot going on here. I mean, this city is always popping. Very quickly, we were at a steakhouse the other night.
It was called Poppy Steak. It's the best place in the world. And you go in there just to have a nice, quiet dinner, and they're raising the roof left, right, and center. I mean, there's energy coming out. So you have to be careful of that.
Ultimately, I was talking to someone about this earlier. The head coach needs to rely on the general manager and his people to make sure they're taking care of everything else so that as much as you can, you're out on the practice field, you're at a good hotel, and you're able to keep the families at bay in the right way, of course, respectfully. That's a big part of everyone else so that the head coach and his staff can really focus with the team. And you just pray to God that no one gets in trouble out on the strip. Listen, I'm hoping that we don't hear about anything next week, two weeks, two months, two years, 20 years.
I want no stories. I'm not all that confident, though, Thomas. We'll see. We'll see. I know.
We'll see. We'll make sure that it's pretty clean here as much as we can. Well, listen, with all your current work and all of your experience as a scout, as a general manager, what are you up to currently with Sumer Sports?
Yeah, thank you. Sumer Sports, we started two years ago. Our founder was Paul TV Jones, huge money guy out of Connecticut, one of the biggest macro traders out there. He was so interested in putting together a football analytics company. He hired me as the CEO, and we've been rolling for two years. We started with just three of us, and we're at 60 data scientists and engineers. We just hired about 12 former NFL guys.
We have over 400 years of experience, so we created our own internal scouting staff. Remember, in analytics, and I've told Paul Jones this and anyone else in these third-party analytics companies, if you have the right football foundation and you supplement properly with data, and I'd say that to anyone, I'm an old-school football guy, but I understand the evolution of this league. And if you utilize data, and remember, I always say this to people, this is not about man and machine.
Sorry, this is not black box, this is man and machine, meaning black box, people think, oh, you just throw it into the algorithm and it turns out what you're supposed to do. We don't believe in that at all. We believe that the person that's in charge, a general manager, for instance, can take the data that is available to him along with his very good evaluation prowess, and that's what I believe, and then you can supplement with your choices, whether it's in free agency or the draft. Remember, Sumer Sports, we're not providing coaches with the decision-making ability on game day.
That's a whole other part of data, and we believe it. We're about roster optimization. It's all about building the team the right way and all the data that we have and hopefully making the correct choices. I'm really, really excited about it. I'm trying to sell Arthur on it.
He hasn't bought my product yet, but I'm knocking on his door a lot. I understand. Well, Thomas, we know that there are a lot of folks, and it doesn't matter if it's in the NFL or NHL, Major League Baseball especially, how about society? There are a lot of folks who are afraid of utilizing data, utilizing technology to get optimization because they think it's a quote-unquote replacement. What do you tell these teams in regards to, hey, we're not trying to eliminate folks. We're trying to help you out.
How do you sell that? That's a great way of leading, and it has everything to do with what I said a little bit earlier. It's an augmentation tool. It's what I believe takes a good GM to being a very good and a very good GM being a Hall of Famer because there is so much data out there that's just criminally underutilized. You don't use that necessarily to make the decision, but you juxtapose what you already have. Let's say your scouting staff has graded 2,200 players in the NFL and other teams. You take the data that we have that backs it up, and you look at it side by side with your information, and it helps you make a better informed decision.
Why in the world would we ever not look at that? In the end, it's up to that person who's making the decisions. I used to go to Arthur Blank in those earlier years in 2008 through 2015 and say, man, it's just in my gut. This is what I believe.
That's change. You can't go to someone like Arthur Blank or someone like David Tepper. Whatever you think about some of the owners out there, they're not just listening to a football person saying, there's just something I feel about this guy.
That doesn't play anymore. You have to be able to back it up with data. It's not making your decision, but it is, and it ends up being a situation where you can either justify, rationalize, or you can really, I can use data not only for the judging of the players that you're evaluating, the most fascinating part that I'm really interested in because there's so much wasted money in coaching in the NFL and in the NCAA. You can utilize data algorithms to make better coaching, higher decisions, not only with your head coaches, but potentially in time with your coordinators, of course, and your position coaches who, by the way, can be catastrophic to the success of your team if they're not doing the right thing. Everyone thinks it's all about the head coach. Down the line, you better have the rest of your coaches. And I think our data out there right now can do some unbelievable stuff as it's evolving.
It's amazing to see just how technology has evolved, how you or we as people can evolve in our current positions. Thomas Dimitrov, former Falcons GM, now CEO of Sumer Sports, I'm going to need this from you. I need the gut answer, and I need what you got analytically, too, Thomas. Who do you edge toward walking away with the Vince Lombardi come Sunday night?
You know what? I believe it's going to be San Francisco, and I think what I said a little bit earlier, I think Kyle's going to finally walk away with his Lombardi, and I think that's what our data is saying as well. It's going to be a really close game, however. It's just going to be really interesting. I think the time has come. We're going to find out sooner than later.
We're now less than a week away. Hey, Thomas, I appreciate you taking the time to come on and share this information, share your insight. It's certainly very unique given all of your experiences in the NFL and what you're currently doing now as the CEO of Sumer Sports. Where can people follow you and keep up with the product as well?
Go to Sumersport.com. We have a 40-something page downloadable for the Super Bowl that is fascinating. Jump in and check it out. Great graphics, really easy to understand.
There's a glossary on the bottom for any of those of us who aren't data aficionados. It's pretty cool. Hey, Thomas, thank you so much for taking the time.
Have fun out in Vegas and enjoy the game and sell it to everybody, okay? I love it. I love it. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
A Peanut Butter M&M's Production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.
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