His name came up in connection to the head-coaching job in Kansas City, and now it apparently can be shot down. Those familiar with Iowa and Kirk Ferentz‘s thinking said Thursday that even if Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli wanted to hire the coach, they don’t think he could.

As new Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli tries to decide who should be his head coach, multiple league sources believe it’s worth paying attention to Dolphins defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni.

It hasn’t come up, and it might not. But if it should, here’s the answer to a question that some have posed since the Kansas City Chiefs hired general manager Scott Pioli on Wednesday.

There were 45 million reasons the Chiefs new general manager Scott Pioli was drawn to Kansas City. As in, the Chiefs are projected to be $45 million under the 2009 salary cap.

To understand how significant the hire of Scott Pioli was, simply read through the quotes that the Patriots released after the Chiefs hired him.

Now that the Chiefs have hired Scott Pioli, sweeping changes are expected to follow him to Kansas City.

The Chiefs have hired Scott Pioli to be the general manager. Pioli, 43, was considered one of the masterminds behind the Patriots dynasty.

When Cleveland hired head coach Eric Mangini, it lost two general manager candiates.

The Cleveland Browns have made their call. Eric Mangini is in, and Scott Pioli is out.

Outside of maybe Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan, no person has spawned more speculation this postseason than Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli. In the past week, my BlackBerry has lit up with the following messages:

Cleveland continues to be one of the most confounding situations in the league. First New England’s Scott Pioli‘s name was linked to the general manager job, then Baltimore’s George Kokinis, and now Philadelphia’s Tom Heckert.

With speculation around the league mounting that Cleveland and New England’s vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli will be unable to reach some type of deal, the Browns requested permission Tuesday to interview Eagles general manager Tom Heckert.

Multiple NFL executives believe Herman Edwards will not return as the Chiefs’ coach next season. They believe it’s only a matter of time before the change is made.

Though Cleveland has interviewed general managers and head coaching candidates, the Browns have told people around the league that it is most critical to get the head coaching hire right. Maybe it’s just that they were that impressed with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is said to have wowed Cleveland with his three-plus hour interview on Friday.

Cleveland’s search for a general manager is heating up and could be wrapped up as early as today.

Those within the league say the Browns would like an answer from the leading candidate, Scott Pioli, today.