Falcons eye pair of Packers executives for GM job
By Pete Dougherty
The Green Bay Packers' surprising success this year under General Manager Ted Thompson has helped two of their front-office executives become candidates for the Atlanta Falcons' opening at general manager.
An NFL source confirmed the Falcons have asked for and received permission from the Packers to meet with personnel analyst John Schneider and pro personnel director Reggie McKenzie this week.
The Falcons are looking for a coach and a GM and appear set on splitting the jobs. The team has a president in Rich McKay, but he was stripped of his GM duties recently, which suggests team owner Arthur Blank will give final say over personnel decisions to his new GM.
Blank is expected to conduct a thorough interview process with numerous candidates to fill the job after a disastrous season in which his first-year head coach, Bobby Petrino, resigned before the season ended to take the head-coaching job at the University of Arkansas.
One source said another possible candidate is Chris Polian, vice president of football operations for the Indianapolis Colts and son of Colts President Bill Polian. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported Bill Kuharich, Kansas City's vice president of player personnel, as another possible candidate, and ProFootballTalk.com reported two other possible candidates: George Kokinis, pro personnel director for the Baltimore Ravens, and Tom Domitroff, director of college scouting for the New England Patriots.
However, there's a curious aspect to Blank's search that brings into question how much power the GM will have: Blank reportedly plans to interview head-coaching candidates while he's conducting his GM search.
According to a report on the NFL Network, the Falcons will interview two Dallas Cowboys assistants this week: offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and assistant head coach and offensive line coach Tony Sparano. Normally, when a team has GM and head-coaching positions open, it hires a GM with authority over the entire football operation, and the GM hires the head coach.
However, Blank might be conducting only preliminary interviews with coaches who are in the playoffs and could leave the decision to his new GM. Teams looking for a head coach have only a small window in which to interview assistant coaches whose teams are in the playoffs. This week, only coaches whose teams have a bye can interview, and if their team advances to the Super Bowl, they can have second interviews in the week after the conference championship games. An assistant from a playoff team can't be hired as a new head coach until his current team's season is finished.
Front-office personnel generally have contracts that expire after the draft in April, but for a promotion where they would have final say over personnel, Schneider and McKenzie could begin working for a new team as soon as the Packers' season ends.
McKenzie, 44, has interviewed for at least two other GM jobs in the past. Two years ago, he interviewed with the Houston Texans; last year, with the Tennessee Titans. The Texans hired Rick Smith, and Tennessee hired former Packers front-office executive Mike Reinfeldt.
Schneider, 36 and a De Pere Abbot Pennings High School graduate, was vice president of player personnel for the Washington Redskins in 2001.
Both McKenzie and Schneider are proteges of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, who might have recommended both to Blank, and current Packers GM Ted Thompson.
McKenzie played for the Oakland Raiders from 1985 to 1988, when Wolf was in that team's front office, and Wolf brought him to the Packers as a pro scouting assistant in 1994. McKenzie became director of pro personnel in 1997 – that job opened when Wolf promoted Thompson to director of player personnel – and has held that post ever since.
Wolf hired Schneider as an intern in 1992 and then as a full-time pro personnel assistant in 1993. In 1997, Schneider went to the Kansas City Chiefs as pro personnel director. In 2000, Thompson became the Seattle Seahawks' vice president of football operations and hired Schneider as director of player personnel.
In 2001, Washington coach-GM Marty Schottenheimer hired Schneider to head his personnel department. After Washington owner Daniel Snyder fired Schottenheimer and his high-ranking staff members, Schneider rejoined the Packers in 2002 as personnel analyst to former coach and GM Mike Sherman.
LINK
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs...801030579/1989
Falcons eye pair of Packers executives for GM job
Falcons eye pair of Packers executives for GM job
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