So much for analytics.
New Cleveland Browns GM John Dorsey is wasting no time in restructuring his front office with men who have legitimate football pedigrees, as opposed to what we saw over the last two years.
Instead of Sashi Brown, who had spent zero time as a scout or personnel man before being placed in charge of the football operations of the Browns, we have Dorsey and his 27 years as an NFL scout, executive, and general manager.
The men who will have Dorsey's ear in making decisions are experienced, respected professionals.
Eliot Wolf spent 14 years with the Packers organization, learning the ropes of personnel from his father, Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf. He became Green Bay's director of player personnel in 2015 and spent his final two seasons (2016-17) as director of football operations. Wolf will serve as John Dorsey's Assistant General Manager.
By the way, Wolf could have stayed in Green Bay or joined Jon Gruden out in Oakland. He chose to join Dorsey and the Browns.
Alonzo Highsmith parlayed a successful college and NFL playing career into a 19-year tenure in Green Bay's football operations staff as a scout and personnel executive. His role will be as Vice President of Player Personnel.
Dorsey also has brought over three men who worked under him in Kansas City: Jimmy Noel as Assistant Director of Pro Scouting, Matt Donahoe as Scout and Dan Zegers as Personnel Coordinator.
Folks, these are legitimate football people. This isn't a leap of faith or going outside the box. It's not throwing stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks because no one else has done it before. This is how you build a successful football operation.
The GM knows all of these men intimately. He's worked with them, scouted players with them, put draft boards together with them, and so on.
Wave good-bye to the days of coaches getting last-minute text messages and then convincing the front office making shoot-from-the-hip draft picks.
You won't see the backstabbing sideshow of a team president and GM trying to go around each other to curry favor with the owner.
For the first time in a long while, you can take a deep breath and feel like the men who are in charge of the roster are up to the task. Don't believe me? Here's a sample of how this is being viewed around league circles:
The men are in place. Now begins the herculean task of building the Cleveland Browns into a championship franchise.
