Random Commanders Thoughts

Well I just read the relevant sections of the NFL’s Tampering Rules and it’s still not entirely clear to me. Here is the main relevant blurb:



It sounds to me like an absolute prohibition - you can’t even request to speak to a candidate in-season.

There is other language later that references it being a requirement to ask permission to speak to an employee under contract (I assume that applies to during the off-season and that the team is NOT required to approve this (unless otherwise stipulated in that individuals contract). I don’t see specific stipulations about agents but I am guessing that would be considered the same as directly approaching the employee.

If anyone wants to parse the legalese, here you go:

In my example, AZ hired a Head Coach off a Super Bowl team and they really couldn't have hired him any sooner than they did.

The GM hire took them 8 days from the final game of the season and they reportedly interviewed 6 candidates. That is crazy fast for what is essentially an Executive level position in the business. Those types of hires usually take months in most companies which is why I'm speculating about back-channel comms.

I think the idea of agent contact is also supported by the comments I heard from NFL insiders regarding the Belichek to Washington rumors. All of them said that Washington wouldn't reach out formally to Kraft about Bill without having first gaged Bill's interest in the position via his agent. Informal approaches to executives of competitors to gage interest in a move happen all the time in the "normal" business world. I can't imagine that the NFL is any different.

Maybe it happens all the time, but I doubt it because when you do and you get caught you get suspensions, fines, and may lose significant draft picks. It just happened last year with the Dolphins owner talking to Brady and Sean Payton (and they weren’t even working at the time).

Washington isn’t allowed to even ask Kraft about Belichick in-season - that alone would be tampering. Talking to Belichick in-season = tampering. Talking to an Owner about talking to an employee = tampering. Talking to an agent I presume = tampering.

I don’t think any of it is allowed and we have to remember that the team you are potentially tampering with is highly motivated to see anyone messing with their staff punished for it.

I agree that there’s nothing we can likely do about having to wait other than do as much homework as humanly possible in advance and be able to go after the top candidates asap once it’s legal. I still think we are at a disadvantage with the HC search because of the requirement to hire a GM first.

I found this interesting. I was under the impression that clubs could not block employees from taking a promotion w/ another club. I'm almost certain that is the case with coaches.

This is from the "High-Level Club Employee (Non-Player, Non-Coach)" section of the doc Boone linked to above.

Yeah - the rules are different depending on category of employee. Apparently the ‘can’t block a promotion’ only applies to coaching staff?

There’s a reason why teams have a shitload of attorneys on staff. Very complicated.

Yeah, it's beyond me for sure.

I assume (and have to trust) that Harris & Co are doing everything legal within the system to line up the right candidates to get in ASAP.

Signed up long ago forgot I had done so and never got involved - has anyone talked about local sports pod cast? Wondering what are the favorite ones of those here? I listen to AL Galdi every day and I listen to Take Command Pod cast semi regularly .

I listen to Galdi and Sheehan and Stink’s pod often. Btw, we have the BGO Pod Finder on the homepage where you can visit most of the Commanders pods very easily.

tomwvr said:

Signed up long ago forgot I had done so and never got involved - has anyone talked about local sports pod cast? Wondering what are the favorite ones of those here? I listen to AL Galdi every day and I listen to Take Command Pod cast semi regularly .

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This one is pretty good. 😉

I think there a

Neophyte said:

I have thought about that a lot actually.

First, Harris has a list of guys he is at least interested in talking to by now. I think putting that list together was part of bringing Shen in when he did (unless he is thinking Shen might be his new GM? hmmmm). I figure that there has to be some back-channel communication going on with agents for prospective GM candidates on that list. By now, Harris should know who is interested and who isn't, and candidates know they have to be prepared to talk.

If I have aspirations of being a GM one day, I keep a living list in my back pocket of guys I think I want to work with - both in my front office and on my sideline. This list is important because it is likely figure large any interview process with an Owner looking to turn over the operations of their organization to me. I'm also watching tape of any team interested in me every night after the wife and kids go to bed to prep for formal interviews.

Many of the top coaching candidates are on playoff teams so there is only so much that can be done until their season is over anyway which means we have a bit of breathing room on the GM front.

Arizona did the GM/HC double change last year. They announced their GM hire on Jan 16th (Monte Ossenfort, former Dir of Player Personnel with Tennessee) and their new Head Coach on Feb 14th (Jonathan Gannon, former Eagles DC). The regular season ended on Sunday, Jan 8th.

Here is last year's official timeline, per NFL rules, on interviews for coaching candidates. I haven't found an official timeline for front office personnel but I would be shocked if there isn't a significant amount of informal communication going on right now.

The Rooney Rule is also in effect for both GM and HC positions - minimum 2 minority or women candidates for both positions.

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I'm leaning a lot more toward this than the alternate.

We all know that teams and players have their ways around the rules, and they do it 'legally'. Players share agents, so do executives and coaches. Agents are 1000% gauging the temperature around their clients ALL the time. Someone like Shen knows people as he's spent time in multiple locker rooms. He also knows A LOT of agents. These conversations don't need to be formal, or official, it can literally be a question of "Hey Agent X, if we were to hire GM Y, how would coach Z feel about that?"

The other aspect is that this league is an absolute fraternity. EVERYONE knows EVERYONE. Conversations can be had to similarly 'gauge the temperature' between guys directly, whether it be on the golf course, or via phone call.

I'm sure GM candidates have conversations with people they know, or people on their current staffs, about the upcoming offseason. Mike Borgonzi from the Chiefs likely knows he's on track to be a GM, whether that be this offseason, or another one. I imagine he has talked to coaches, and other staff members about what their 'availability' would be if he was to get that opportunity, and where.


The other factor is that I think we're going to be a sought after destination. I don't think this is a situation where we're going to have to overpay, or scramble to get a coach like we have in the past. This is not Jim Zorn over again. You could argue we have the best situation for a GM / HC to walk into. Bob, you brought up the Cardinals... guess what we don't have? $100mil QB on the payroll that's been underachieving, and struggling to stay on the field. The other factor is that the Eagles season didn't end on Jan 8th. It ended on February 12th... Boone so that answers the concern about being a Month. Reading the rulebook it says:



"defined as the period from the opening of the club's preseason training camp through the club's final game of the season, including postseason if applicable"

They weren't allowed to hire Gannon until AFTER the Super Bowl.... and again, I dont think they made that decision in 2 days. They likely had his name circled, and had a pretty good idea they were going to be able to get him.

Again, it will be interesting to see when Ron is fired who steps forward into the open as Harris' NFL consultant or advisor who has helped him move the team forward.

THAT person may very well have long-established relationships with a GM, Ass't GM, Head Coach or other in the NFL where the parties are not going to reveal the nature of any discussions.

Stephen Ross got into trouble because not only did he signal in media comments that he was looking to upgrade at quarterback and seeing who could be brought in and then contacting Brady and others he had no previous relationship with.

Add to that the Dolphins organization evidently had a leak, someone that was willing to drop a dime to the NFL about tampering charges.

While I’m sure you are right to a certain degree ST, the NFL clearly made the decision to send a message about the cost of you get caught in a ‘tampering’ situation as we saw in Miami.

I think that’s going to seriously quell a lot of what’s gone on in the past.

You also have to be smart as having an owner who is literally about to blow up the organization, you’ve got a lot of insiders who conceivably might act as whistle blowers if anything untoward is going on.

Actually, a really good point about disgruntled whistleblowers. Lot of people heading out the door and some might want their pound of flesh.

They might not be in a position to know what’s going on behind the scenes, but the risk vs. reward now has shifted. I think Harris is going to be very careful who he is talking to. The risk of losing draft capital is just too high.

Just to counter that, I suspect that the NFL wants its new owner not to fail immediately. OTOH, they might want to slap him down early if he seems like a troublemaker. I think we're safe on that count though. Harris' history suggests he's patient and people playing the long game don't tend to play loose with the rules.

He ain't wrong...

I love Gruden, or rather respect his ability to survive and hold on despite a record in the NFL that ended with a deep drop into the abyss.

I don't know about anyone else but in my business a guy that finishes at the absolute bottom as the HC one year and then goes to another organization and is the OC on a team that finishes 1-15 tends to lose any credibility. Not too many doors open for a guy like that to remain visible.

Here in DC they have Gruden on WFAN on a weekly basis to talk about the Commanders.

I keep asking myself why the media in this town continues to bring back players and coaches who did nothing but lose comment on the club, as if their observations are of much value given what they didn't do when they were in the chair.

I always thought Gruden was a pretty good OC and a good guy. But he was definitely not an NFL HC. The nipple pinching incident while funny, was a pretty stark clue-in that his players didn't really view him as a leader and someone that was respected and even feared a little. A HC has got to have that.

I actually think we probably win a lot more games these last 4 years with Gruden at the helm, but he wasn't ever going to be the guy to build a winning culture here anymore than Rivera was. They both failed if for slightly different reasons.

I think once Rivera is gone and we get a completely new crew running the show, some of the DC media snark (which lends itself to them bringing in guys like Gruden to take ongoing potshots and stir controversy) may start to dissipate. One can hope anyway I will say, Gruden is generally pretty fair and seems to have a sense of humor about what transpired during his time in DC, which is more than some former employees can muster.

Well, Gruden doesn't have an axe to grind against Rivera, a coach he probably knows pretty well in NFL circles.

My problem is Gruden's brother won a Super Bowl in 2002, failed to win a playoff game since then and yet this family group seems to be treated like NFL royalty as if they were in New England for 6 Super Bowl wins over the past 20 years.