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McCarthy reportedly contacted by the Browns

By

Mike McCarthy

According to a Toronto Sun report, the Cleveland Browns have reached out to Mike McCarthy about their head-coaching vacancy.

McCarthy was fired by the Green Bay Packers back on December 3.

Browns GM John Dorsey is familiar with McCarthy from their days working together in Green Bay.  McCarthy went 125-75-2 in his 13 seasons with the Packers, winning a Super Bowl in 2010.

The Browns also have a pair of former Packers personal people in their front office in assistant GM Eliot Wolf and Vice President of Player Personnel Alonzo Highsmith.  They’re both very familiar with McCarthy’s work as well.

The Browns will consider McCarthy, but they’ll also interview interim coach Gregg Williams, who went 5-3 in his eight game stint.

 

College Scout Alonzo leaving the Packers

By

Former Packers scout Alonzo Dotson

College scout Alonzo Dotson is leaving the Green Bay Packers for a job with the New York Jets.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dotson’s exact title with the Jets is unclear, but the franchise needs a national scout and a director of college scouting.

Dotson joined the Packers in 2013 after two seasons at the University of Houston.  His departure means the Packers are looking for his replacement, as well as executives Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf, both of whom joined the Cleveland Browns.

 

Wolf is headed for Cleveland

By

Eliot Wolf

When the Green Bay Packers hired Brian Gutekunst as their next general manager, they passed on Eliot Wolf.  Now Wolf is taking his expertise with him to Cleveland, joining John Dorsey and the Cleveland Browns.

Wolf was a 14-year veteran of the Packers scouting team.  He had an offer to remain with the Packers and could have joined Reggie McKenzie and Jon Gruden in Oakland as well.  But in the end, after meeting with the Browns on Tuesday, he decided that would be the best place for him.

Wolf served as the Packers director of football operations from 2016 to 2017.  He most likely would have been named as an assistant GM in Green Bay, working alongside Gutekunst.  But Wolf being passed over for the position that his father Ron Wolf once held, likely played a factor in his decision to move.

It’s not a matter of whether or not Wolf becomes a GM in the NFL some day.  It’s more a matter of when.  Wolf was qualified for the Packers opening and will continue to get other opportunities moving forward. [Read more…]

Wolf interviewing in Cleveland with the Browns

By

Eliot Wolf

After being passed over for the GM job in Green Bay, Packers Director of Football Operations Eliot Wolf is interviewing with the Cleveland Browns today.

The Browns just hired John Dorsey as their new General Manager and he quickly hired another Green Bay Packers personnel executive, Alonzo Highsmith as a vice president in the personnel department.

New Packers GM Brian Gutekunst offered Wolf a prominent position to stay in Green Bay, but he may be looking to move on.

Former Packers GM Ron Wolf was not happy to see his son get passed over for the GM job in Green Bay.  he told ESPN on Sunday night, “Obviously the people up there don’t think he’s worthy or they would’ve hired him. End of discussion.”

Eliot Wolf is still under contract with the Packers and Gutekunst could prevent him from interviewing for any other NFL job except for GM.  But it appears Gutekunst would let Wolf go elsewhere, even though he’s like to see him return to Green Bay to allow the two, who have become good friends, to work together.

 

Packers stay in house, selecting Brian Gutekunst as next GM

By

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. [Read more…]

Thompson steps down from GM post

By

Ted Thompson

It would appear that the Green Bay Packers are serious about shaking things up after a disappointing 7-9 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

The NFL Network first reported that GM Ted Thompson would step down and a search for his replacement would begin immediately.  Thompson’s contract is set to expire after next season and he’s expected to move into an advisory position within the personnel department.

The search won’t be limited to just in-house candidates.  That list includes director of football operations Eliot Wolf, director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, senior personnel advisor Alonzo Highsmith and vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball.

Among the top candidates outside of the organization are Minnesota assistant general manager George Paton, Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas and Baltimore Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta.

Also to be considered is what to do with head coach Mike McCarthy, who is entering the final year of his contract.  Team president Mark Murphy must decide whether to extend McCarthy’s contract regardless of who the new GM is, or he can leave McCarthy’s fate in the hands of the new GM.

Thompson was hired by Ron Wolf in 1992 and stayed with the Packers until 2000, when he left to join former Packers coach Mike Holmgren with the Seattle Seahawks.  Thompson served as Seattle’s vice president of football operations until 2005 when he was hired to take over the general manager position in Green Bay.

Mark Murphy is expected to meet with reporters to discuss the latest move on Tuesday.

 

 

Wolf staying put in Green Bay

By

Eliot Wolf

Even after getting another raise in Green Bay, Packers personnel man Eliot Wolf drew further interest from the Indianapolis Colts for their general manager’s vacancy.

But Wolf’s pursuit of a general manager position in the NFL fell short for the second time.  The Colts named Kansas City’s Chris Ballard their new general manager on Sunday.

Ballard replaces Ryan Grigson, who was fired Jan. 21 after five seasons with the organization.

Ballard joined Kansas City as director of player personnel in 2013 and was later promoted to director of football operations.  The Chiefs won as least nine games in each of the last four seasons and were the number-two seed in the AFC playoffs this season.

Besides Ballard and Wolf, the Colts also considered Jimmy Raye (Indianapolis), Scott Fitterer (Seattle), Trent Kirchner (Seattle) and George Paton (Minnesota).

Wolf to stay in Green Bay, Gutekunst still in 49ers GM hunt

By

Eliot Wolf

Green Bay Packers Director of Football Operations, Eliot Wolf, withdrew his name from consideration for the San Francisco 49ers general manager and has reportedly signed a new deal with the Packers.

The Packers increased Wolf’s salary but isn’t believed to have received a new title with his latest deal.

The 34-year-old Wolf, who is the son of former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, is most likely a strong candidate to succeed Ted Thompson when the 64-year-old general manager decides to retire.

This is Wolf’s fifth promotion since Ted Thompson took over as general manager in 2005.

Packers director of player personnel, Brian Gutekunst, is still a strong candidate for the 49ers GM position and some believe he is the front runner to replace the fired Trent Baalke.

Packer executives set to interview in San Francisco

By

Eliot Wolf

According to several media reports, Green Bay Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst will interview for the San Francisco 49ers general manager vacancy.

Wolf has been considered a potential general manager in waiting with the Packers.  It’s not known how much longer the 63-year-old Thompson plans to keep working in that capacity for the Packers.  He is under contract through the 2018 season.

Both Wolf and Gutekunst were promoted to their current jobs in March.  The 34-year-old Wolf is the son of former Packers Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf.  Eliot was reportedly the top consideration for the Lions GM vacancy last year, but the Packers denied a request to interview him.

The 49ers fired general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly after the 49ers final game on Sunday.

 

 

Packers promote Wolf and Gutekunst

By

Eliot Wolf

Eliot Wolf

The Green Bay Packers have promoted Eliot Wolf to director-football operations and Brian Gutekunst to director of player personnel.

Wolf is in his 13th season with the team and spent the past year as the director of player personnel after serving as the director of pro personnel for three years.  He originally joined the Packers as a pro personnel assistant in 2004 and spent four seasons in that position.

Gutekunst, who is entering his 18th season with the Packers, has spent the past four years as the director of college scouting after previously working 11 seasons as a college scout in the Southeast region.  Before joining the Packers full-time, he was a scouting assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1998, a scouting intern for the Packers in the summer of 1997 and assisted the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff in training camp in 1995. [Read more…]