Bears Looking Outside for GM

[WindyCity]

But according to Bernstein this time, he said people he's called on trying to figure out who did what in the draft room, Raye is far and away the best guy to go to because he was heavily involved as well as being under one of the best GMs in AJ Smith for a long time, so he got to see how to do it right, according to who he talked to.

On Marc Ross, he said from what people told him, Ross is not as involved in the Giants war room, and the big knock he keeps hearing (and Dan McNeil said he had heard too) was there was a question on how hard Marc Ross works - whether he's committed to put in the time and effort most GMs do to do a good job.

They then all agreed its pretty much a crapshoot anyway trying to figure out for sure.

[JJ-28]

FT - Rory Sparrow e-mail answer from Scout.com

I know you won't like the answer but then I can't help that. You asked me to back up what I said and here is the answer I got.

Just so you know he is the
Jeremy Stoltz
Publisher
Bear Report

From:js11342
Subject:RE: NFL Rule
Sent:Today 2:18 PM CST
Delete Reply Next Message
This is the rule:

"Teams may not interview from another team for either a lateral move or a head coaching opportunity during the season. The lone exception to this rule comes when teams want to interview assistants for head coaching jobs while the current team is in the playoffs. As there is an urgency to hire new head coaches for some non-playoff teams, the NFL does allow teams to request permission to interview a postseason participant's during the wild card week for teams who have the bye that week. They can also request permission to do so during the first week of Super Bowl preparations as long as there is a two-week break between the conference championships and the Super Bowl."

JS

From:
Sent: 1/11/2012
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you tell where I can find the rule about when team and hire or even talk to FO personal that are still on a play off team. Someone keep demanding that I come up with the rule to show I am right. That you have to get premission in order to talk to someone of a team still in the play offs. I didn't know who else to ask.

Go ahead pick it apart I don't care all that matters to me is this is at least twice you have been wrong about me. I will wait for your next attack on me as you do other poster here that you don't care for, as I have found it to be fun. Oh and yes I highlighted the word BYE so you won't miss it.

[WindyCity]

Fact or Fiction: Ruskell should be a viable candidate for Bears GM

Jeff Dickerson: Fiction. It sounds as if Ruskell is the Bears' absolute last resort. Which he should be. How can you sell the fan base on the idea of closing the talent gap within the division if you simply promote Angelo's right hand man? If Ruskell ends up with the job, why did they fire Angelo in the first place? Say what you want about Angelo, he won four division titles and made the Super Bowl during his tenure in Chicago. It wasn't all bad. Angelo was a much more accomplished NFL general manager than Ruskell, who had success early in Seattle after he walked into an excellent situation with a Super Bowl-winning coach (Mike Holmgren), but after a rough 2008, was forced out 11 games into the 2009 season. Ruskell landed in Chicago the following spring and has been a mystery to those of us covering the team. He's been made available to speak to the media only twice. What does he do? How involved has he been the past two years? We simply don't know. All we know for sure is that Ruskell is an Angelo guy. Which is why it makes no sense for the Bears to hire him for this job.
Tim Ruskell
AP Photo/Ted S. WarrenWould the Bears really be getting a new start by hiring Tim Ruskell as GM?

Michael C. Wright: Ruskell’s batting average in talent acquisition and retention isn’t good enough for me. Sure, Ruskell started his tenure as Seattle’s president and general manager with the best run of postseason success in franchise history, which included four playoff victories from 2005 to 2007. Upon Ruskell’s ousting, however, the Seahawks had stumbled to an 8-19 from 2008 to his departure. In addition, the Seahawks yielded only one Pro Bowler (LB Lofa Tatupu, who is no longer with the team) in five drafts presided over by Ruskell.

Ruskell didn’t perform better outside of the draft, either. In his second season, the Seahawks let all-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson walk for no compensation, then re-signed aging running back Shaun Alexander to a huge contract, only to cut him two years later. In an attempt to remedy the Alexander fiasco, Ruskell brought in T.J. Duckett and Edgerrin James. Uh, no; that’s not going to get it. Considering Chicago’s need at the receiver position, we can take a look at Ruskell’s track record there, too. In 2006 Ruskell gave up a first-round selection in the 2007 draft to sign Deion Branch. After surrendering the first-round pick, Ruskell signed Branch to a six-year, $39 million extension. Branch, in turn, gave the Seahawks five forgettable seasons in which he never started all 16 games. He never caught more than 53 passes in a season for the Seahawks or gained more than 725 yards. So if Phillips values job security, he’ll pass on Ruskell.

Melissa Isaacson Fiction. To make a major move and fire Angelo, only to replace him by Angelo’s recent hire, good friend and someone with less-than-stellar reviews in his last job would not be the change Bears brass have promised. And how can the Bears feel that Ruskell would give them his complete loyalty? Weird that he is even being considered.

Jon Greenberg: Fiction. New blood means new blood. At the goodbye Angelo press conference, Bears’ Head Accountant Phillips said what fans have been saying for years: The Bears need to better utilize the draft to build the team, and Ruskell’s record is spotty. Not terrible -- he hit on some picks in Seattle -- but it’s far from sterling. At this point, the Bears need to start fresh with some fresh eyes, not settle for Angelo’s hand-picked deputy.

[WindyCity]

John Clayton

-The Bears did not go for splashy guys and instead seem to be looking into the next big guy.

-The Bears GM job is a minimum 8/10, Lovie is an asset and makes year 1 easier.

-Ruskell has experience working an office.

-Licht is an under the radar guy who has had a strange couple of years, but is incredibly well respected.

-Lovie needs to meet the guys and see how he would work with them.

[Uman85]

Fuck Lovie. Get rid of him and Tice as OC and bring in a GM who can bring in his own staff.

[JackieJokeMan]

Originally Posted by Uman85

Fuck Lovie. Get rid of him and Tice as OC and bring in a GM who can bring in his own staff.

Thats usually what happens anyway. See Oakland.

[Anytime23]

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Chargers' Raye to interview with Bears
SCOTT KRINCH


While the Bears have their list of four candidates that they will interview for the open GM position, San Diego Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye will be the first one to visit Halas Hall for an interview, according to CSN's Kip Lewis.

Raye has been with the Chargers since 1996, spending four years as a scout and eight years as director of college scouting before being promoting to director of player personnel in 2007.

He played his college football at SDSU and is tied for eighth on the school's all-time receiving list with 111 catches. Raye spent parts of three NFL season's with the Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans and Chargers. His father, Jimmy Raye II, spent 34 years as an NFL coach, most recently with the San Francisco 49ers as their offensive coordinator in 2010.

One area that plagued Jerry Angelo was his failure to bring in young talent through the NFL Draft. Raye's resume speaks for itself, he's helped infuse San Diego's roster with multiple Pro Bowl players through the draft.

After the Chargers selected Ryan Leaf using the No. 2 overall pick in the '98 NFL Draft which proved to be one of the biggest busts of all time, the organization needed an overhaul. So in need of a change, the very next year Raye was promoted to director of college scouting. Raye then went on to help the Chargers lay the foundation for a perennial playoff team with the likes of:

LaDanian Tomlinson, RB (1st Rd. - 2001)
Drew Brees, QB (2nd Rd. - 2001)
Quentin Jammer, CB (1st Rd. - 2002)
Philip Rivers, QB (1st Rd. - 2004)
Nate Kaeding, K (3rd Rd. - 2004)
Shaun Phillips, LB (4th Rd. - 2004)
Michael Turner, RB (5th Rd. - 2004)
Shawne Merriman, LB (1st Rd. - 2005)
Luis Castillo, DE (1st Rd. - 2005)
Vincent Jackson, WR (2nd Rd. - 2005)
Darren Sproles, RB (4th Rd. - 2005)
Antonio Cromartie, CB (1st Rd. - 2006)
Marcus McNeill, OT (2nd Rd. - 2006)
Eric Weddle, S (2nd Rd. - 2007)
Louis Vasquez, OG (3rd Rd. - 2009)
Ryan Matthews, RB (1st Rd. - 2010)
Donald Butler, LB (3rd Rd. - 2010)
Cam Thomas, DT (5th Rd. - 2010)
Corey Liuget, DE (1st Rd. - 2011)

cont

Chargers' Raye to interview with Bears



Update: CSN's Kip Lewis confirms the Bears will interview Chargers' Raye on Thursday.

Nice article. Some people believe that Buddy Nix was the mastermind behind many of the successful Chargers drafts over the years. Myself, I've always been a big fan of AJ Smith and believes he keeps a great cast of talent evaluators around him.

As good as the Chargers have been with drafting, they also do a great job finding UDFAs, the greatest one being Antonio Gates. Idk how in depth I got in the thread but a couple pages or so back you might be able to find my AJS vs JA thread.

[WindyCity]

My Amended List

Jimmy Raye III [Chargers]

The fact that we have gotten some information that he was heavily involved in a successful franchise has pushed him above Ross for now. Raye also has a talent for finding offensive talent and has done a nice job with Free Agents and UDFA who make an impact on the team.

Marc Ross [Giants]

I do not really believe the reports that he is not overly involved in the NY Giants operation, but it does give you some cause for concern. Ross has drafted some great DLmen and brought in some impact recievers, but his lack of experience in the Pro Personnel side scares me a little.

Jason Licht [Patriots]

There is so little information out there about him and even John Clayton said that the Boston media does not know what he does exactly. But he also said that he is well thought of and respected and has been involved in some successful front offices.

Phil Emery [Chiefs]

After looking closer at the drafts he has been involved with I have become more impressed, but his age and connection to the existing regime has me scared off. I want a clean break from Lovie and Jerry.

[Rory Sparrow]

Originally Posted by JJ-28

FT - Rory Sparrow e-mail answer from Scout.com

I know you won't like the answer but then I can't help that. You asked me to back up what I said and here is the answer I got.

"Teams may not interview from another team for either a lateral move or a head coaching opportunity during the season. The lone exception to this rule comes when teams want to interview assistants for head coaching jobs while the current team is in the playoffs. As there is an urgency to hire new head coaches for some non-playoff teams, the NFL does allow teams to request permission to interview a postseason participant's during the wild card week for teams who have the bye that week. They can also request permission to do so during the first week of Super Bowl preparations as long as there is a two-week break between the conference championships and the Super Bowl."

JS

From:
Sent: 1/11/2012
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you tell where I can find the rule about when team and hire or even talk to FO personal that are still on a play off team. Someone keep demanding that I come up with the rule to show I am right. That you have to get premission in order to talk to someone of a team still in the play offs. I didn't know who else to ask.

Go ahead pick it apart I don't care all that matters to me is this is at least twice you have been wrong about me. I will wait for your next attack on me as you do other poster here that you don't care for, as I have found it to be fun. Oh and yes I highlighted the word BYE so you won't miss it.

The guy's answer has no relevance to our discussion (unsurprisingly). We aren't talking about coaches, we are talking about front office personnel.

Even worse is your synopsis of our discussion. You clearly stated multiple times that the Bears have to wait until after the playoffs to interview candidates on playoff teams. And you said the only reason the Raiders could talk to Reggie McKenzie is because the Packers had a bye week. You then clearly stated multiple times that the reason for this was because it was an NFL rule. But the question you posed to the Scout guy was "That you have to get premission in order to talk to someone of a team still in the play offs."

WTF?

That wasn't the issue. Its not even close. The issue was that you said the Bears would have to wait until after the playoffs to interview candidates on playoff teams, and you said the Raiders were allowed to bypass this "rule" because the Packers had a bye week.

You just made that shit up, and are still trying to pretend that you have some clue as to what you were talking about. Aside from all the asshattery that you've contributed to CCS, its funny that at one point you were claiming "Yeah, I'm not an expert on the rule...I'm just repeating what I've heard", yet you can produce no evidence of anyone else having the same ludicrous "interpretation" of NFL hiring policies.

I ask again...can we please ban this ass clown once and for all?

[Rory Sparrow]

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Michael C. Wright: Ruskell’s batting average in talent acquisition and retention isn’t good enough for me. Sure, Ruskell started his tenure as Seattle’s president and general manager with the best run of postseason success in franchise history, which included four playoff victories from 2005 to 2007. Upon Ruskell’s ousting, however, the Seahawks had stumbled to an 8-19 from 2008 to his departure. In addition, the Seahawks yielded only one Pro Bowler (LB Lofa Tatupu, who is no longer with the team) in five drafts presided over by Ruskell.

Ruskell didn’t perform better outside of the draft, either. In his second season, the Seahawks let all-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson walk for no compensation, then re-signed aging running back Shaun Alexander to a huge contract, only to cut him two years later. In an attempt to remedy the Alexander fiasco, Ruskell brought in T.J. Duckett and Edgerrin James. Uh, no; that’s not going to get it. Considering Chicago’s need at the receiver position, we can take a look at Ruskell’s track record there, too. In 2006 Ruskell gave up a first-round selection in the 2007 draft to sign Deion Branch. After surrendering the first-round pick, Ruskell signed Branch to a six-year, $39 million extension. Branch, in turn, gave the Seahawks five forgettable seasons in which he never started all 16 games. He never caught more than 53 passes in a season for the Seahawks or gained more than 725 yards. So if Phillips values job security, he’ll pass on Ruskell.

This is the most damning evidence. All of Ruskell's initial "success" was due to Mike Holmgren's coaching and talent acquisition. Ruskell was TERRIBLE as a draft guy...even worse than Angelo. His decision to let go of Hutchinson (who still had several years left in his career) was mind-boggling, considering Hutchinson was the best OG in the NFL. The big money deals he gave to an obviously over-the-hill Alexander and a mediocre WR in Deion Branch was more of Ruskell grasping at straws because he couldn't draft.

Sorry, but all evidence points to Ruskell being another Jerry Angelo.