Michael Lombardi - Gridiron Genius

A lot of people write books about football. But only a few of them have Mike Lombardis credentials.

In 1991, when I became the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, one of the first things that I addressed was our scouting system, and for that I turned to Mike Lombardi. Mike and I worked together on building a grading scale and value system for college scouting that would be consistent with our pro scale. Mike directed Dom Anile, our director of college scouting, and Jim Schwartz, a college scouting assistant, to refine, cross-check, and re-cross-check that system until they had created something that still works today.

Mike was brilliant. The value system and scouting manual he developed were unique, because each players skill evaluation incorporated the priorities of our coaches (including Nick Saban, defense; Ozzie Newsome, offense; Scott OBrien, special teams; Pat Hill and Kirk Ferentz, offensive line; and Jim Bates, defensive line). In each of the next three years, Mike and I read through literally every player in the NFL, as well as every player on our draft board, to make sure he was valued properly and might fit into our schemes. Our grades, which were closely monitored by Jim Schwartz, deviated from other systems, which graded players as starters and backups. Mike and Jim categorized nonstarters into roles, and three-down players were valued more highly than first- and second-down starters. Also, special teams players had real value in this system. It was and is no coincidence that our special teams units in Cleveland and New England have consistently ranked near the top of the league.

A decade later, when I became the head coach of the Patriots, I replaced the existing personnel system with the one Mike developed. Ernie Adams and Scott Pioli made some adjustments to it that reflected the changes in the NFL, in personnel and schemes, over the previous 10 years. But Mikes system never lost its usefulness. I have had the great fortune to have an outstanding staff of coaches and personnel people throughout my coaching career. Many have moved to other programs, in the NCAA as well as the NFL, and took the fundamentals of Mikes system with them. The roots of that system have been replanted so many times that it is all over the game today.

Another of Mikes many strengths is his ability to dig up undervalued players. He was relentless in the pursuit of talent. In Cleveland, we had an outstanding offensive line made up of players that Mike had identified in collegeTony Jones, Wally Williams, Orlando Brownlong before they became some of the highest-paid players at their position. Mike also signed defensive tackle Bob Dahl, with the idea of converting him to the offense. He was soon starting at guard.

In 2014, I hired Mike to assist me in New England. His knowledge and experience proved again to be invaluable, as he helped me, Nick Caserio, and our staff assemble our Super Bowl XLIX championship team. His recommendation to sign running back Dion Lewis and his successful pursuit of free agent center David Andrews are just two examples of his many contributions to that team.

Mike is one of the smartest people I have worked with. He has a thorough understanding not only of personnel but of coaching, team building, and the salary cap, too. His work ethic, attention to detail, and near-photographic memory made him both valuable and versatile to me at the two organizations at which we worked together. This is my chance to thank him for his contributions.

BILL BELICHICK