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From today's Herald:
"Wannstedt stays, loses power"
BY JASON COLE
jcole@herald.com
MEETING: 'We've had no discussion about next year,' coach Dave
Wannstedt said of owner Wayne Huizenga, above.
Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt will return next season after
leading the team to a 10-6 record this year, but only after taking
a demotion in power that will lead to the team hiring a general
manager.
The three mentioned in this article are:
Former New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller. (Most
mentioned by the Miami media.)
Personnel men Tim Ruskell of Tampa Bay.
And Tom Modrak of Buffalo.
The skinny briefly...
-----------------------
I. Former New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller is
considered the front-runner for the GM's job. Mueller was the
NFL Executive of the Year in 2000 with New Orleans. He helped
the Saints reach the playoffs that year and made a series of
major personnel moves, including the trade of running back
Ricky Williams to the Dolphins in 2002.
Some of his ideas, Taken from an ESPN Online...
On Friday, December 5, ESPN.com NFL Insider and
former New Orleans Saints GM Randy Mueller will
take your NFL questions in chat.
Mueller was named the Saints GM in January of
2000. He immediately turned the team around, hiring
a new head coach in Jim Haslett, acquiring
quarterback Jeff Blake and wide receiver Joe
Horn, and lead the team to a 10-6 record and the
first playoff win in club history. For his
efforts, Mueller was named the NFL Executive of
the Year by The Sporting News.
Prior to joining the Saints, Mueller served as
Vice President of Football Operations for the
Seattle Seahawks since 1995. He was responsible
for bringing WR Joey Galloway, RB Ricky Watters
and CB Shawn Springs to Seattle via both the
draft and free agency.
Randy Mueller: Hey guys...welcome...we've got
some great games this weekend as we come down the
home stretch of the NFL regular season...I'm
ready to talk some football.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul(illinois): Hi Randy, since you have been a G.
M. in the NFL here is a question for you. How
often do you think a coach gets fired when he
doesn't have the talent to win? Who do you think
are some of the hot assistants that might become
head coaches?
Randy Mueller: I think it happens all to often.
Now-a-days when teams get rebuilt and reshaped
every year the GM and personnel people are
involved in the process more than ever. The head
coach can only do so much...Everybody should be
accountable...as far as hot NFL asst. coaches
you'll see a groupe start to take shape after
season's end...Lovie Smith in Stl...Jim Schwantz
in Tenn....Sean Payton in Dallas...Charlie Wiess
in NE are some of the names I've heard thrown
around already...
---------------------------------------
Mike J. (Florence, MS): Do you think some players
get "black-listed" in the NFL, such as when a guy
gets drafted in the 1st round and then you never
hear about him again.
Randy Mueller: I don't think so Mike...players
make their own names(or not) by what they do on
the field...the game is to competitive for anyone
player,coach or anyone else to bet black-balled...
if your good people will give you an opportunity..
.if not , they won't.
---------------------------------------
Patrick (Albany): Mr. Mueller- In this age of
fast paced football games, is there any need for
immobile "pocket" quarterbacks (ie, Bledsoe,
Collins)? The QB's who are mobile and can shoot
from anywhere seem to be the wave of the future.
Whatcha think?
Randy Mueller: I fully agree...teams can't block
those fast Javon Kerse's , Leonard Littles of the
world for very long so you better have a QB who
can at least avoid the rush and slide in the
pocket to buy some time for people to get open...
he doesn't have to scamble to make yards just buy
some time...
-----------------------------------------
marcus(tempe): who do you see has the better NFL
prospect: Eli manning or ben Roethlesberger?
Randy Mueller: I havn't studied either enough on
tape yet to rank them but from what I have seen
they both will be pretty high first round picks
and have a chance to play as rookies...
Randy Mueller: Thanks alot guys...gotta run...see
ya Sunday from Primetime Headquarters.
-----------------------------------------------
II. Falcons May Pursue Ruskell For GM
By Jim Flynn
Date: Feb 2, 2003
Tampa Bay might have a hard time keeping its
coaching staff and front office intact this
offseason. Just two days after Tampa Bay managed
to keep Monte Kiffin around by signing him to a
new three-year contract, a new report has
surfaced and suggested the Falcons are again
considering the possibility of hiring a general
manager.
One of the candidates for the job is Bucs
director of player personnel Tim Ruskell, who was
a strong candidate for the position during the
2002 offseason.
Winning a Super Bowl championship is a difficult
task, but Tampa Bay may find the task of keeping
its front office and coaching staff together just
as laborious this offseason. According to
Sportsline.com, the Atlanta Falcons are again
toying with the idea of hiring a general manager,
and one of the candidates for the job is
Buccaneers director of player personnel Tim
Ruskell.
Ruskell, who just completed his second season as
Tampa Bay's director of player personnel, has
been with the Bucs franchise for 16 seasons.
Ruskell emerged as a candidate for Atlanta's GM
job during the 2002 offseason after Tampa Bay
general manager Rich McKay, who interviewed for
the same job on Feb. 14, 2002, signed a six-year
contract extension with the Bucs.
Ruskell interviewed twice for the job last year,
but both sides decided to call negotiations off
when talks lingered too far into the offseason
and too close to the draft.
The Falcons also interviewed former Green Bay GM
Ron Wolf, New Orleans GM Randy Mueller, Seattle
executive vice president Mike Reinfeldt and
Buffalo personnel director Tom Modrak.
If Ruskell were to leave the Tampa Bay
organization for the GM job in Atlanta, Bucs
director of college scouting Ruston Webster would
likely receive strong consideration for a
promotion to fill Ruskell's position in the front
office.
III. Tom Modrak
Assistant General Manager
Joined the Bills organization on June 5, 2001
when he was named Director of Football
Operations…was promoted to Assistant General
Manager on June 11, 2002…is entering his 27th
year working in the NFL…prior to coming to
Buffalo, served as the Director of Football
Operations for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998
through May of 2001…began his career in the
league in 1973 as a part-time scout for the
Pittsburgh Steelers and then worked with the
BLESTO scouting service before joining the
Steelers on a full-time basis in 1978…from 1979-
86, served as the Steelers' pro scout before
being elevated to the position of director of pro
scouting for two seasons…ran the Steelers college
personnel evaluation department for nine seasons
before taking the job with the Eagles in the
spring of 1998…during Modrak's nine years as
college scouting director, the Steelers' draft
produced no fewer than eight Pro Bowl players; in
his 20 years there, the Steelers reached the
playoffs 11 times and played in Super Bowl XXX
against Dallas…was also with the Steelers when
they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl IV.
College/Personal:
Tom Modrak is a graduate of Indiana University of
Pennsylvania (IUP), Modrak received his
bachelor's degree in geology in 1965…in 1972, he
earned a master's degree in physical education
from the University of West Virginia…Tom and his
wife, Sandy, have two daughters, Stephanie and
Erin.
Intresting article about Tom Modrak old but intresting...
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
Tom Modrak
Lorenzo Neal
ProFootballWeekly.com asked contributing editor
Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the news
around the NFL.
Eagles fire Tom Modrak
Tom Modrak, the director of football operations
who helped lead the Eagles back to the playoffs
last season, has been fired.
Buchsbaum:
According to four well-placed, well-informed executives
around the NFL, Tom Modrak’s firing, while not totally
unexpected, was a total disgrace and something that will
be a black eye on the Eagles' organization for a long time to
come. What made it especially egregious to all four
executives is, they said, basically Jeff Lurie
and Joe Banner looked for an excuse to fire Modrak
even though if they had checked it out (the
rumors about his possibly leaving for another job)
 and they probably did  they would know there
was not any truth to it. All the talk about
Modrak going anywhere was just newspaper (rumors),
pure speculation. Modrak had been entirely up
front with the Eagles about where he stood, and
he indicated repeatedly this past year that he was
very happy being where he was, with the power he
currently had. Modrak was happily settled in New
Jersey near Philadelphia, and his daughter is
scheduled to get married in two weeks, and he had
no plans to change his life. However, there was a
period where the Eagles or Modrak could void the
contract  after the draft until May 23rd this
year and next year. Modrak gave the Eagles every
indication he wanted to stay, and he wanted to
talk to them to just make sure everything was OK
and he was staying. Instead, they kept ducking
him and ducking him, and then when he finally got
a meeting, they basically fired him and came up
with a bogus excuse.
Modrak has done a brilliant job of rebuilding the
Eagles. Or as one scout put it, he turned what
was the NFL’s outhouse into a penthouse-type
situation. Yes, he did get a great deal of help
from head coach Andy Reid, and, yes, Joe Banner
did a very nice job of handling the cap for him,
but Modrak was the guy that made the major moves
that set things up and got the organization going
in the right direction, much like what Ron Wolf
did for the Green Bay Packers. Modrak was very
loyal to the Eagles, although the first year he
was there, there was some friction. Now, although
everyone agrees that Modrak was flat-out screwed
and it was a mistake, no one can say with entire
certainty what the real reason for the firing was.
The general consensus was the Eagles had become
convinced that Andy Reid could walk on water and
was their fair-haired man, and they wanted to
make sure that they could keep him. So, they
decided to give him full control.
With regard to the Eagles’ future, right now they
have an excellent, young talent base, quality
people on the team and a quarterback that can be
a great one in Donovan McNabb. There is no
questioning Andy Reid’s skills as a coach.
However, the Eagles may not realize how much they
are going to miss Modrak’s shrewd, outstanding
eye for personnel and his ability to smooth things
out around the organization because of his people
skills. Everyone agrees on this: Modrak was a
totally honest, upfront person, and he was
basically what-you-saw-was-what-you-got, and you
could look him straight in the eye and know you
were getting an honest answer every time you
spoke to him. He was a class act, and he deserved
much better. By the same token, everyone agrees
now that everyone who is hired by the Eagles will
be looking over their shoulder, realizing that
even if they are terrific in the football end of
the operation and in dealing with people, if
their office politics are not as good, they too
could be in trouble, as Modrak found out the hard
way. It’s obvious Modrak deserves another job as
head of a football team, and right now the team
with a wide-open situation that could really use
him is the Chicago Bears.
I am not sure what tio make of these three men. Didn't
Randy Mueller have a falling out with the coach of New
Orleans? And what would Ricky say about him? Just
curious... Any thoughts, Anyone?
"Wannstedt stays, loses power"
BY JASON COLE
jcole@herald.com
MEETING: 'We've had no discussion about next year,' coach Dave
Wannstedt said of owner Wayne Huizenga, above.
Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt will return next season after
leading the team to a 10-6 record this year, but only after taking
a demotion in power that will lead to the team hiring a general
manager.
The three mentioned in this article are:
Former New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller. (Most
mentioned by the Miami media.)
Personnel men Tim Ruskell of Tampa Bay.
And Tom Modrak of Buffalo.
The skinny briefly...
-----------------------
I. Former New Orleans general manager Randy Mueller is
considered the front-runner for the GM's job. Mueller was the
NFL Executive of the Year in 2000 with New Orleans. He helped
the Saints reach the playoffs that year and made a series of
major personnel moves, including the trade of running back
Ricky Williams to the Dolphins in 2002.
Some of his ideas, Taken from an ESPN Online...
On Friday, December 5, ESPN.com NFL Insider and
former New Orleans Saints GM Randy Mueller will
take your NFL questions in chat.
Mueller was named the Saints GM in January of
2000. He immediately turned the team around, hiring
a new head coach in Jim Haslett, acquiring
quarterback Jeff Blake and wide receiver Joe
Horn, and lead the team to a 10-6 record and the
first playoff win in club history. For his
efforts, Mueller was named the NFL Executive of
the Year by The Sporting News.
Prior to joining the Saints, Mueller served as
Vice President of Football Operations for the
Seattle Seahawks since 1995. He was responsible
for bringing WR Joey Galloway, RB Ricky Watters
and CB Shawn Springs to Seattle via both the
draft and free agency.
Randy Mueller: Hey guys...welcome...we've got
some great games this weekend as we come down the
home stretch of the NFL regular season...I'm
ready to talk some football.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul(illinois): Hi Randy, since you have been a G.
M. in the NFL here is a question for you. How
often do you think a coach gets fired when he
doesn't have the talent to win? Who do you think
are some of the hot assistants that might become
head coaches?
Randy Mueller: I think it happens all to often.
Now-a-days when teams get rebuilt and reshaped
every year the GM and personnel people are
involved in the process more than ever. The head
coach can only do so much...Everybody should be
accountable...as far as hot NFL asst. coaches
you'll see a groupe start to take shape after
season's end...Lovie Smith in Stl...Jim Schwantz
in Tenn....Sean Payton in Dallas...Charlie Wiess
in NE are some of the names I've heard thrown
around already...
---------------------------------------
Mike J. (Florence, MS): Do you think some players
get "black-listed" in the NFL, such as when a guy
gets drafted in the 1st round and then you never
hear about him again.
Randy Mueller: I don't think so Mike...players
make their own names(or not) by what they do on
the field...the game is to competitive for anyone
player,coach or anyone else to bet black-balled...
if your good people will give you an opportunity..
.if not , they won't.
---------------------------------------
Patrick (Albany): Mr. Mueller- In this age of
fast paced football games, is there any need for
immobile "pocket" quarterbacks (ie, Bledsoe,
Collins)? The QB's who are mobile and can shoot
from anywhere seem to be the wave of the future.
Whatcha think?
Randy Mueller: I fully agree...teams can't block
those fast Javon Kerse's , Leonard Littles of the
world for very long so you better have a QB who
can at least avoid the rush and slide in the
pocket to buy some time for people to get open...
he doesn't have to scamble to make yards just buy
some time...
-----------------------------------------
marcus(tempe): who do you see has the better NFL
prospect: Eli manning or ben Roethlesberger?
Randy Mueller: I havn't studied either enough on
tape yet to rank them but from what I have seen
they both will be pretty high first round picks
and have a chance to play as rookies...
Randy Mueller: Thanks alot guys...gotta run...see
ya Sunday from Primetime Headquarters.
-----------------------------------------------
II. Falcons May Pursue Ruskell For GM
By Jim Flynn
Date: Feb 2, 2003
Tampa Bay might have a hard time keeping its
coaching staff and front office intact this
offseason. Just two days after Tampa Bay managed
to keep Monte Kiffin around by signing him to a
new three-year contract, a new report has
surfaced and suggested the Falcons are again
considering the possibility of hiring a general
manager.
One of the candidates for the job is Bucs
director of player personnel Tim Ruskell, who was
a strong candidate for the position during the
2002 offseason.
Winning a Super Bowl championship is a difficult
task, but Tampa Bay may find the task of keeping
its front office and coaching staff together just
as laborious this offseason. According to
Sportsline.com, the Atlanta Falcons are again
toying with the idea of hiring a general manager,
and one of the candidates for the job is
Buccaneers director of player personnel Tim
Ruskell.
Ruskell, who just completed his second season as
Tampa Bay's director of player personnel, has
been with the Bucs franchise for 16 seasons.
Ruskell emerged as a candidate for Atlanta's GM
job during the 2002 offseason after Tampa Bay
general manager Rich McKay, who interviewed for
the same job on Feb. 14, 2002, signed a six-year
contract extension with the Bucs.
Ruskell interviewed twice for the job last year,
but both sides decided to call negotiations off
when talks lingered too far into the offseason
and too close to the draft.
The Falcons also interviewed former Green Bay GM
Ron Wolf, New Orleans GM Randy Mueller, Seattle
executive vice president Mike Reinfeldt and
Buffalo personnel director Tom Modrak.
If Ruskell were to leave the Tampa Bay
organization for the GM job in Atlanta, Bucs
director of college scouting Ruston Webster would
likely receive strong consideration for a
promotion to fill Ruskell's position in the front
office.
III. Tom Modrak
Assistant General Manager
Joined the Bills organization on June 5, 2001
when he was named Director of Football
Operations…was promoted to Assistant General
Manager on June 11, 2002…is entering his 27th
year working in the NFL…prior to coming to
Buffalo, served as the Director of Football
Operations for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998
through May of 2001…began his career in the
league in 1973 as a part-time scout for the
Pittsburgh Steelers and then worked with the
BLESTO scouting service before joining the
Steelers on a full-time basis in 1978…from 1979-
86, served as the Steelers' pro scout before
being elevated to the position of director of pro
scouting for two seasons…ran the Steelers college
personnel evaluation department for nine seasons
before taking the job with the Eagles in the
spring of 1998…during Modrak's nine years as
college scouting director, the Steelers' draft
produced no fewer than eight Pro Bowl players; in
his 20 years there, the Steelers reached the
playoffs 11 times and played in Super Bowl XXX
against Dallas…was also with the Steelers when
they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl IV.
College/Personal:
Tom Modrak is a graduate of Indiana University of
Pennsylvania (IUP), Modrak received his
bachelor's degree in geology in 1965…in 1972, he
earned a master's degree in physical education
from the University of West Virginia…Tom and his
wife, Sandy, have two daughters, Stephanie and
Erin.
Intresting article about Tom Modrak old but intresting...
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
Tom Modrak
Lorenzo Neal
ProFootballWeekly.com asked contributing editor
Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the news
around the NFL.
Eagles fire Tom Modrak
Tom Modrak, the director of football operations
who helped lead the Eagles back to the playoffs
last season, has been fired.
Buchsbaum:
According to four well-placed, well-informed executives
around the NFL, Tom Modrak’s firing, while not totally
unexpected, was a total disgrace and something that will
be a black eye on the Eagles' organization for a long time to
come. What made it especially egregious to all four
executives is, they said, basically Jeff Lurie
and Joe Banner looked for an excuse to fire Modrak
even though if they had checked it out (the
rumors about his possibly leaving for another job)
 and they probably did  they would know there
was not any truth to it. All the talk about
Modrak going anywhere was just newspaper (rumors),
pure speculation. Modrak had been entirely up
front with the Eagles about where he stood, and
he indicated repeatedly this past year that he was
very happy being where he was, with the power he
currently had. Modrak was happily settled in New
Jersey near Philadelphia, and his daughter is
scheduled to get married in two weeks, and he had
no plans to change his life. However, there was a
period where the Eagles or Modrak could void the
contract  after the draft until May 23rd this
year and next year. Modrak gave the Eagles every
indication he wanted to stay, and he wanted to
talk to them to just make sure everything was OK
and he was staying. Instead, they kept ducking
him and ducking him, and then when he finally got
a meeting, they basically fired him and came up
with a bogus excuse.
Modrak has done a brilliant job of rebuilding the
Eagles. Or as one scout put it, he turned what
was the NFL’s outhouse into a penthouse-type
situation. Yes, he did get a great deal of help
from head coach Andy Reid, and, yes, Joe Banner
did a very nice job of handling the cap for him,
but Modrak was the guy that made the major moves
that set things up and got the organization going
in the right direction, much like what Ron Wolf
did for the Green Bay Packers. Modrak was very
loyal to the Eagles, although the first year he
was there, there was some friction. Now, although
everyone agrees that Modrak was flat-out screwed
and it was a mistake, no one can say with entire
certainty what the real reason for the firing was.
The general consensus was the Eagles had become
convinced that Andy Reid could walk on water and
was their fair-haired man, and they wanted to
make sure that they could keep him. So, they
decided to give him full control.
With regard to the Eagles’ future, right now they
have an excellent, young talent base, quality
people on the team and a quarterback that can be
a great one in Donovan McNabb. There is no
questioning Andy Reid’s skills as a coach.
However, the Eagles may not realize how much they
are going to miss Modrak’s shrewd, outstanding
eye for personnel and his ability to smooth things
out around the organization because of his people
skills. Everyone agrees on this: Modrak was a
totally honest, upfront person, and he was
basically what-you-saw-was-what-you-got, and you
could look him straight in the eye and know you
were getting an honest answer every time you
spoke to him. He was a class act, and he deserved
much better. By the same token, everyone agrees
now that everyone who is hired by the Eagles will
be looking over their shoulder, realizing that
even if they are terrific in the football end of
the operation and in dealing with people, if
their office politics are not as good, they too
could be in trouble, as Modrak found out the hard
way. It’s obvious Modrak deserves another job as
head of a football team, and right now the team
with a wide-open situation that could really use
him is the Chicago Bears.
I am not sure what tio make of these three men. Didn't
Randy Mueller have a falling out with the coach of New
Orleans? And what would Ricky say about him? Just
curious... Any thoughts, Anyone?
Last edited by a moderator:
