We’re getting toward midseason and the good teams are starting to sort themselves out from the bad ones. Maybe that’s one of the reasons the topic of new GMs came up in this week’s edition of the Scouting the League podcast. It’s something I hadn’t really given much thought until this week, but there are definite “traits” — as Rodrik described them.  

In the old days, you were looking for a guy with decades of experience, probably from within your own organization, to come in and “fix” the franchise – hire a head coach, draft all the players, sign all the free agents, and create a culture (Bill Polian, Jim Finks, Ernie Accorsi, Ron Wolf, Bobby Beathard.) Today, it’s very different. Here are things that I’ve observed owners to prefer in a GM candidate.

It’s important to come from a successful program: Most teams used to have a line of succession in-house, but more recently, owners look outside the franchise to a team that’s a proven winner. For the past 10 years, we’ve seen owners pick off the Patriots tree (Bob Quinn in Detroit, Nick Caserio in Houston, Jon Robinson in Tennessee, Monti Ossenfort in Arizona, Dave Ziegler in Las Vegas, Eliot Wolf in New England and Jason Licht in Tampa). More recently, we’re seeing them pick from the 49ers tree (Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota, Martin Mayhew and then Adam Peters in Washington, Ran Carthon in Tennessee and Trent Baalke in Jacksonville). 

Having a background on the road is not enough: In the past, you were looking for a pure evaluator to run the draft for you. However, more recently, we’ve seen owners bring in cap guys to be part of the GM structure (Carolina) and we’ve seen more analytics-minded hires (Minnesota), especially with teams owned by “new guard” owners who are more from the business world than the football world. We’re seeing more and more scouts/executives come to us for CBA/cap work than we did five years ago. 

Youth and appearance: I think we’re in an era where it’s important to “win the press conference,” and it’s easier to do that with a hot new name, especially if that person is on the young side. George Paton in Denver, Jerry Jones in Dallas, Tom Telesco in Las Vegas, Chris Grier in Miami and Mickey Loomis in New Orleans are among the few over 50. You also want someone who looks sharp and professional. You don’t see any GMs who are overweight, and I think that’s because they are part of the face of the franchise. That may be unfair, and it probably is, but it’s still true. 

Good representation: Scouts always tell me they are lightly regarded within their own staffs but when they get accolades outside the team, that’s when owners/executives take notice. This is why it’s been cool to start the BART List to give the unsung scouts out there some recognition. Media can help with that, too, and media attention usually comes from the agencies, especially the bigger ones. This probably isn’t necessary until a scout gets to the director level; if you’re a scouting assistant, hold your horses and prove yourself first.

An impressive alma mater: You might not think that where you went to school matters when it comes to football acumen, but you may not think like the modern NFL owner. They are used to working with upper-level professionals with strong pedigrees, and they see their general managers as just such people. So if not Ivy League, a GM today needs a degree from Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, or other comparable schools, at least in most cases.

We’ll discuss this topic and more in the Friday Wrap, our free weekly newsletter that goes out to members of the football industry. Register for it here.