Brian Gutekunst
The Green Bay Packers didn’t take long to find their new General Manager. Team President Mark Murphy has decided on long-time scout Brian Gutekunst to replace former G.M. Ted Thompson. The Packers are expected to make the announcement official today.
Gutekunst was chosen over fellow in-house candidates Russ Ball and Eliot Wolf.
The 44-year-old Gutekunst gets a five-year contract with the Packers and presumably will suit head coach Mike McCarthy just fine. Last week, McCarthy repeatedly sent the message that Thompson’s successor needed to be a good fit with the coach. It is likely that McCarthy’s comments last week at least had some influence on hiring Gutekunst, not to mention contacting the Seattle Seahawks about the availability of their general manager John Schneider.
Gutekunst becomes the sixth scout hired by Ron wolf to go on to become a general manager in the NFL.
Now the pressure is on McCarthy, who still needs to hire coaching staff replacements in a number of areas, including coordinators on both sides of the ball. McCarthy has two years left on his contract.
Gutekunst will be tasked with adding more talent to a team that lacked depth last season. Then McCarthy will have to turn that depth into wins on the field next season.
Gutekunst had interviewed with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers last year. He was also targeted by the Houston Texans’ for their GM vacancy. Mark Murphy didn’t allow Gutekunst to get away.
Brian Gutekunst played two seasons of college football at UW-La Crosse before a shoulder injury ended his career. He served as an assistant coach with the team in 1995-’96, serving as linebackers coach during the team’s 1995 Division III National Championship season.
Gutekunst became a scouting assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1998, then joined the Packers personnel department for the past 19 years.