The University of Guelph football team held its inaugural coach’s gala June 11, hilited by a talk by U of G alumnus and former Gryphon Thomas Dimitroff Jr., general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.
Named the National Football League (NFL) executive of the year in February, Dimitroff discussed management of an NFL team and how to build a successful professional sports franchise.
The Gryphons raised in excess of $40 000, an amount that will be earmarked for football recruiting and scholarships. In attendance at the event were former Gryphon head coaches Tom Mooney (1957-1961), John Musselman (1984-1987), and representing the late Tom Dimitroff Sr. (1979-1983) was widow Helen, sons Randy and Tom Jr., and grandson Dylan.
Thomas Dimitroff Bio:
Dimitroff, a 1990 BA grad, played five seasons for the Gryphons and was team captain from 1987 to 1989.
After beginning his career as a scout in the Canadian Football League (CFL), he moved to the World League, where he scouted all NFL, CFL and World League rosters. He worked with three NFL teams, including the New England Patriots, who won the Super Bowl in 2003 and 2004 and who had been undefeated in 2007 before Dimitroff signed on with the Falcons.
In Atlanta, he received an award as executive of the year — his second in three seasons — for helping the team post three consecutive winning seasons. Since 2008, Atlanta has had a 33-15 record, tied for third-best in the NFL.
Dimitroff has deep roots in Guelph. His father, Tom Dimitroff Sr., coached the Gryphons from 1979 to 1983, and his brother, Randy (BA ’86), played for the squad that won the 1984 Vanier Cup. Randy’s son, Dillon, is now a Gryphon.
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