Front Office Changes

 

Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman. Photo from USA Today Sports.

While the Eagles appeared to have done quite well in the combined free agency / draft upgrade period, Howie Roseman has had the additional challenge of hitting his targets with a morphing staff.  The Eagles have several recent front office staff leaving, either voluntarily through opportunities for advancement or by design given changes the team feels are necessary.  Let’s examine the losses:

• Vice President of Operations Catherine Raiche is heading to the Cleveland Browns to report to her Philly mentor and former Eagle front office consultant Andrew Berry.
• Co-Director of Player personnel (College Scouting) Ian Cunningham went to the Bears as Asst. GM
• Co-Director of Player personnel (Pro Scouting) Brandon Brown went to the Giants as Asst. GM
• Tom Donahoe, a long-term consultant and mentor in the Eagle organization, announced his retirement at the age of 75. 

This represents serious turnover of most of Howie Roseman’s top lieutenants.  And, in addition, VP of player personnel Andy Weidl has interviewed for the Steelers GM job. 

In conjunction with the above losses and potential loss, it is clear the Eagles are performing some kind of “reset” in their front office, so they voluntary added to the attrition:

• Casey Weidl, director of scouting operations, was fired by the Eagles.  Casey is the brother of Andy, the Eagles VP of player personnel.
• Southwest area scout Shawn Heinlein was let go by the Birds.
• Player Personnel executive TJ McCreight was let go.
• Scouting assistant Evan Pritt was let go.

Howie has begun to add replacements.  While Titles are being attached to the new hires, roles may not become fully clear till “the dust has settled” and the attrition (both voluntary and involuntary) appears complete, with subsequent replacement /reorganization finalized. 

• Matt Russell: A former VP of player personnel with the Broncos (12 years), looks to be returning to the Birds (He was a scout from 2006-2008).  It has been suggested Russell, an experienced personnel guy (both pro & college), can help fill the void left by Donahoe as a consultant/advisor.  Howie has known Matt and has a relationship with him.
• Jordon Dizon: Bronco’s assistant pro scouting director Jordon Dizon is joining the Eagles as a national scout.  Both Dizon and Russell were standout inside linebackers at the University of Colorado.  Dizon, a former 2^nd round pick for the Lions as a player, was Denver’s pro scout & assistant pro scouting director for 7 years, with Russell his mentor.  With the Eagles Dizon will switch to college national scouting.
• Charles Walls: The Eagles announced they are hiring the Browns National Scout as their new Director of Player Personnel.  Walls joined the Browns in 2019 after 7 years with the Packers, 5 as a college scout.  Walls years with the Packers undoubtedly groomed him well, where Green Bay has a solid reputation for training and developing scouts.  Walls then got a national perspective in Cleveland.
• Ryan Myers: After 6 years as an area scout, Ryan Myers is the new assistant director of College Scouting.  Prior to working in that role with the Eagles after being hired by Tom Gamble, he served with the 49ers and also brings UFL and CFL experience to his new role. 

In addition to Myers, at least 2 other in-house promotions are expected.  It’s anticipated both Alan Wolking (last promoted to director of college scouting in 2020) & Dave Caldwell (joined the Eagles a year ago after 8 years as the Jaguars GM and 26 years in NFL management with the Jags, Falcons and Indy under Bill Polian), will continue to receive additional responsibility.  And Howie continues to interview to supplement his recent hires:

• Brandon Hunt: Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, 65, is stepping down after 22+ years as a successful Steeler GM.  There is a short list of replacements for Colbert.  While Andy Weidl of the Eagles is one of the candidates for the Steelers GM job, another is Brandon Hunt, the Steelers Pro Scouting Director.  Interestingly, Hunt has also interviewed for a high-ranking position with the Eagles, likely increasing the probability that Hunt would come to Philly if he does not advance with the Steelers after Colbert leaves.
• Jim Nagy: Per reports, Nagy interviewed for a position with the Eagles last week. Nagy was most recently the executive director of the Senior Bowl, probably the most prominent college all-star game. Over 18 years in NFL front offices, Nagy has been part of 6 Super Bowl appearances and 4 Super Bowl wins, working in scouting for Washington, New England, Kansas City and Seattle.
• Morocco Brown: Geoff Mosher says the Indianapolis Colts’ director of college scouting interviewed with the Eagles earlier this week.  He was previously interviewed for GM openings in Chicago and Pittsburgh before those spots got filled earlier this year, and has been on the teams radar as a possible candidate for their front office since 2016.   He has both pro and college scouting experience, and worked with Nick Sirianni and Jonathan Gannon in Indy.

The Eagles were also interested in Ran Carthon, the respected 49ers director of pro personnel, but that interest was blocked by the 49ers. 

The Good:

• Success: The unusually high number of internal candidates that became desirable hires across the NFL clearly demonstrates the Eagles have a very solid front office, both in terms of process and personnel. 
• Rule Change: The loss of both their directors of scouting (Cunningham and Brown) soon BEFORE the NFL draft, helped get approval for a new rule to address "secondary football executive positions" by enabling current employers to deny permission for a front office staffer to interview for those types of roles until after the NFL draft.  This will help the Birds protect their future draft personnel/process.
• New Blood: The Eagles are looking for top quality outside candidates to add to the organization.  This mentality brings fresh ideas and knowledge of other organizations to add both valuable data and appropriate concepts to the Eagles ever improving personnel processes.
• Loyalty: The Eagles are also hiring deserving candidates from within for certain roles… This provides incentive to existing personnel while showing appropriate loyalty.  
• Process Improvement: The Birds personnel processes continue to evolve.  Their success is transparent, the process improvement may not be but it too is part of the culture.  Evolving process improvement is critical to team success. continued competitive advantage and forward thinking.
• Leverage Titles: The Eagles will use titles to strategically position people in the organization.  Example- Till now, they had avoided “Assistant GM” but this may be required and thus used to land a desirable candidate. 
• Youth: The Birds personnel staff in general is getting younger, bringing a progressive layer of thinking and set of relationships into the organization.  At some point the “baton must be passed.”
• Attitudes: Buy-in from coworkers will be easier with the number of new faces starting virtually simultaneously.  Resistance to change should be less fractious.
• Julian: Front Office perspectives tied to Julian Laurie will evolve more organically with newcomers.  They will be engaging with Julian in his “position-less role” from day 1, which, through his increased engagement, more frequently places him as an active observer or even participant in various processes.  The relationships will unfold more naturally for folks new to the organization, as opposed to in house folks that perhaps saw a recent (and perhaps uncomfortable) insertion of Julian into their work streams.   

The Bad:

• Competitive Disadvantage: The lack of the new rule preventing front office change during the draft hurt the Eagles this year.  They had to deal with losing 2 key Roseman lieutenants during the draft process, folks whose internal knowledge was likely used to benefit both the Bears and the Giants, and may have put the Eagles at a competitive disadvantage.
• Turf: A lot of moves are being made simultaneously to decide the future of the franchise.  These roles need to settle and coalesce during a period of dramatic front office change.  Power vacuums can create undesired conflicts and/or turn wars.  Howie will need to manage this.
• Knowledge is Power: A lot of knowledge and relationships walked out the door.  It will prove difficult to replace them in total. 
• Productivity: Change is hard.  And it is not always good.  There is little “down time” in the NFL, and as people adapt and learn their new roles and the corresponding process, mistakes are easier. 
• The GM: Howie’s “permanence” in the organization is a good thing based on his performance and forward thinking, but it is a clear, potentially undesirable ceiling for ambitious prospective talent. 

The Ugly:  

•  Fired: There is a difference between the terms “Let Go” and “Fired.”  The details behind Casey Weidl being fired are not clear, but this terminology can only be ugly, especially since Casey’s brother Andy remains with a key role in the Birds personnel organization. 
• Power: Howie Roseman’s special relationship with Jeff Laurie recalls the quote of the Historian Lord John Action: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."  Both Roseman and Laurie must combat the true elements of Lord Acton’s remark.

T   These changes remain a work in progress.  More soon!