First, the Bears are set to interview former Bucs OC and former Bears quarterbacks coach (under Jauron) Greg Olson for their vacant QB coach/passing game coordinator position. Olson has a great deal of NFL pedigree and would be a solid choice. But one need only watch Tom Thayer’s interview with Mike Tice below to recognize this position is not a primary coaching role. Tice knows what he wants from both the run and pass game. And he’s going to get it.
As for the GM candidates, Brad Biggs does a terrific job summarizing them in the Trib. So good, in fact, I am just copying a bulk of his article for you here. (Side note on article: my full support continues to be behind the Giants’ Marc Ross. I love the Giants scouting department, love how they draft and just quite simply have faith in their organization to promote the right people.)
Eight days after general manager Jerry Angelo was fired, the club announced Chiefs college scouting director Phil Emery, Patriots director of pro personnel Jason Licht, Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye III and Giants college scouting director Marc Ross will interview for the position.
Emery is a known commodity at Halas Hall. He joined the team as an area scout when Mark Hatley was in charge of personnel and covered the Southeast from 1998-2004. He was the scout who endorsed Rex Grossman as a first-round draft pick in 2003. Emery spent six seasons with the Falcons, five as their director of college scouting, and has been with the Chiefs for three years under general manager Scott Pioli.
Licht, an all-conference defensive tackle at Nebraska Wesleyan, has worked for five organizations, serving as a vice president of player personnel for the Eaglesand as a personnel executive for the Cardinals when they reached the Super Bowl in the 2008 season. He’s in his second stint with the Patriots and can be credited with key moves such as the addition of guardBrian Waters and running back Danny Woodhead. He started as a college scout.
Raye, who played wide receiver briefly for the Rams, oversees the college and pro scouting departments for the Chargers and was the team’s director of college scouting from 2000-2007. He gets a lot of credit for drafts that included center Nick Hardwick, linebacker Shaun Phillips and running backMichael Turner in Rounds 3 through 5 in 2004 and in subsequent years Shawne Merriman, Luis Castillo, Vincent Jackson, Darren Sproles,Marcus McNeill and Eric Weddle. Raye’s father, Jimmy Raye II, was a longtime NFL assistant.
Ross, an All-Ivy receiver for Princeton, has been Giants director of college scouting for five seasons. Like Licht, he came up through the Eagles, for whom he was a regional scout before becoming the NFL’s youngest college scouting director at 27 in 2000. The Eagles drafted longtime standouts Brian Westbrook, Lito Sheppard and Derrick Burgess and he has continued to acquire top talent during his run in New York, including Jason Pierre-Paul,Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Phillips and Terrell Thomas.
