"I think it's about getting it right," he said. "When we decide what is right, we'll make that announcement. We can't spend too much time worrying about what other people are going to do. It's a delicate balance between being methodical and being aggressive."
Pioli has been given much credit for helping build a Patriots team that won three Super Bowls and four AFC championships. He was considered the hottest general manager prospect in the league. He's also the fifth graduate of the Belichick/Patriots tree to gain promotion to other jobs.
Romeo Crennel went from New England defensive coordinator to head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and was fired after this past season. Eric Mangini, who replaced Crennel as defensive coordinator, followed Edwards as head coach of the Jets but was fired after three seasons.
Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator on all three of New England's Super Bowl winners, became head coach at Notre Dame. Thomas Dimitroff went from New England's director of college scouting to general manager at Atlanta and helped turn the Falcons around this season.
Hunt said Pioli was "head and shoulders above everyone else we talked to."
"I went into the interview with him thinking there's no way this individual can live up to the hype surrounding him," Hunt said. "At the end of the interview, I was like, `Wow!' Not only did he live up to it, he exceeded it."
Pioli said he would focus on building a football team, not a collection of players, and declined to offer an assessment of the Chiefs' talent level.
"The first thing in building a team is that it's not necessarily the best 53 players, it's the right 53 players," he said.
"We're going to build a big, strong, fast, tough, disciplined football team. We're going to start from the ground up and build a foundation and move ahead and touch every part of the football operation. The patience I know Clark has told me he's going to show is going to be rewarded."
