Before Ryan Poles was named the Bears’ general manager or won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs — or even before he cashed his first $40,000 per year entry-level paycheck in an NFL front office — he was a Boston College graduate assistant in fall 2008.
Poles was working in the football office when he met Scott Pioli, then the Patriots’ vice president of player personnel. Pioli knew Poles as a standout college football player before tore his Achilles’ tendon, went undrafted and was cut by the Bears at the end of training camp. A month later, Poles took the job at his alma mater. With BC’s Chestnut Hill campus about 25 miles from the Patriots’ home base, Pioli stopped by the football office often to watch tape. He quickly noticed the grad assistant.
