Tag Archives: NFL GM

A Few Thoughts on our NFL GM Prospects List

11 Thursday Jun 2020

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This week, I’ve been talking to several of my friends in the industry about the best GM candidates in the game. My goal was (and is) to put together a list that isn’t agent- and/or media-driven. In other words, I don’t want the guys that are photogenic and have good bloodlines, per se, or simply the “next up” guys from winning organizations. I’m looking for guys who are less about politics and more about grinding. At least, that’s my aim.

Here are a few thoughts gathered from talking to people this week.

  • It was really, really hard to get a consensus. I started off wanting a list of 10 candidates, but struggled to get 5-6 that were on several lists. I attribute that to the nature of the business. Most scouts tend to work in one or two organizations, so they don’t get to see many people truly work. In addition, the very nature of the business lends itself to secrecy, so it’s easy to get in a silo and stay there.
  • As a matter of fact, I had a lot of friends who were very careful about even giving their opinion on GM possibilities. No one wants their bosses to even think in terms of advancement. Next week, we’ll be hosting the ITL GM Academy with four ex-GMs, and similarly, our attendees don’t want anyone to know they are trying to grow and develop themselves, which to me is kinda crazy. The “keep your head down and grind” philosophy is alive and well.
  • As I was compiling the list, one thing came through loud and clear: when a scout would give me a name, he’d almost always talk about how much he likes the guy, how he has a great personality. We’ve all heard about how fiery and tough “Battlin” Bill Polian, one of the truly great GMs in the game, was during his career. I think today’s scouts and executives want to work with someone they can relate to, rather than be subservient to.
  • I worked hard to get perspectives from guys on the pro side, but most of them recommended guys with strong college backgrounds. It’s interesting. I guess scouts  will always see the draft as the wellspring of team-building.
  • On that topic, one scout I trust opened my eyes to something I’d seen, but never really noticed. When you sift through the names of college and pro scouting directors, it’s striking how many more pro directors are black than on the college side. It’s easy to see why — pro directors have to be a bit more persuasive, almost have a recruiting side to them. To me, this is a clear focus of attention as we try to remove obstacles in the path to the GM seat for minority candidates. I’ve seen a lot more movement toward the pro side for scouts with college backgrounds; maybe this will help break down these walls.
  • I’m sure tomorrow’s list will be controversial because we’ll have a few outside-the-box names, and won’t have some of the names you typically see on these lists. Please re-read this if you take issue with tomorrow’s newsletter: JUST BECAUSE A NAME ISN’T ON OUR LIST TOMORROW DOESN’T MEAN HE’S NOT A GREAT CANDIDATE. I’m just trying to present the people rank-and-file scouts and executives that I speak to know and trust. It’s one snapshot of many.

Anyway, we’ll have 6-7 guys whose names you’ll probably know if you read this blog regularly in tomorrow’s Friday Wrap, though they may differ greatly from the names you most often see. I hope it will be fun and provocative. Make sure you don’t miss it by registering here.

The Browns Turn the Page (Again): What Is Berry’s Biggest Hurdle?

31 Friday Jan 2020

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As you know, it’s been a pretty interesting week for the Dawg Pound. Cleveland set sail on several of its top evaluators while bringing in a new GM, Andrew Berry, who, though highly regarded, was also part of a previous unsuccessful Browns regime.

Berry, 32, gets the unenviable task of turning around a team that has missed the playoffs 17 straight seasons and has had only two winning seasons since it was reconstituted in 1999. The problems are various and substantial. However, I see three as most pressing.

  • One of the head coaches on the sidelines Sunday, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, was Cleveland’s offensive coordinator five seasons ago. Until Dec. 31, the Browns’ GM, John Dorsey, was the man who built the other team, the Chiefs. Meanwhile, Green Bay went to the NFC Championship game with a defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine, who was Cleveland’s head coach as recently as 2015. None of them got more than two years in Cleveland. Why in the world would a talented coach or executive come to Cleveland?
  • The GM prior to Dorsey, Sashi Brown, was tasked with making analytics front and center in Cleveland. He tried without success, and his reward was getting unceremoniously dumped after just two years. Meanwhile, the presumed architect of all things analytical, Chief Strategy Officer Paul Depodesta, remains. Is Berry going to have the flexibility to experiment until he finds the right mix? Will DePodesta allow that?
  • I get it that, more and more, you better have instant results to last more than a year in the NFL. Still, during the ownership of Jimmy Haslam, five head coaches have had at least one full season. Just one — Hue Jackson — got more than two years. Meanwhile, Berry is the fifth GM Haslam has hired. Not one of them so far — not Michael Lombardi, Ray Farmer, Brown or Dorsey — has gotten more than two seasons. That’s high-octane dysfunction.

At the end of the day, I think Berry’s biggest obstacle will be trying to satisfy an owner that doesn’t know what he wants. Berry has a five-year deal, but most certainly won’t live to see the end of it unless he either (a) has immediate success or (b) is able to convince Haslam that it’s a big job turning around an NFL team, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Today, for our Friday Wrap, we asked dozens of NFL scouts what they think Berry’s toughest job will be. We got several meaty responses, and we’ll present them today at 6:30 p.m. CT when the Wrap goes out to thousands of people across the industry (and you, if you register here).

Meanwhile, you can let it be known your feelings on which of the three issues is the biggest in our Twitter poll, which you can access here. We’ll continue accepting responses until late this afternoon. Please vote!