Bills Hire Tom Gibbons as Director of Pro Personnel

[Ghost of Rob Johnson]

Tom Gibbons is the Bills' new Pro Personnel Director. A native of Dunkirk, NY, Gibbons worked with the Bills through the majority of the '90s and through 2003, before joining the San Diego Chargers as a Northeast scout. He has lived in Hamburg while working for the Chargers, and he has obviously worked with Nix in some capacity in both locations. He assumes the pro scouting role that Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel Doug Whaley left behind when he was promoted last week.

 

Chuck Cook is the Bills' new Director of College Scouting. A highly experienced scout, Cook was most recently with the Miami Dolphins as a regional scout (covering the Southwest). He also has experience coordinating a college scouting department, having performed in that capacity for a number of years with the Kansas City Chiefs (prior to Scott Pioli's arrival). Nix has known Cook for years, having coached with Cook's father.

 

Both Gibbons and Cook will be reporting to Whaley, who reports directly to Nix.

 

2 guys hired with experience from outside of the organization.

 

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2011/5/11/2166137/buddy-nix-bills-tom-gibbons-chuck-cook

Edited May 11, 2011 by Ghost of Rob Johnson

[K-9]

Not surprising that Buddy would hire guys he knows and already has a comfort level with.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Kent H Jr]

Not surprising that Buddy would hire guys he knows and already has a comfort level with.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Approach understandable if you'd ask me, if you consider that when you are trying to turnthings around, there's enough uncomfrotable factor in that, so a Leader can't afford - on top of the above - to deal with resistance to change factor, you'll typically get from the guys from previous regime . It happens in corporations all the time.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Kent H Jr

[DanInUticaTampa]

Well, here's hoping for some good change. Not the most exciting hires. But definently good to get some fresh faces in the front office.

[K-9]

Approach understandable if you'd ask me, if you consider that when you are trying to turnthings around, there's enough uncomfrotable factor in that, so a Leader can't afford - on top of the above - to deal with resistance to change factor, you'll typically get from the guys from previous regime . It happens in corporations all the time.

 

I agree 100% and that's why I wasn't surprised that Buddy would hire someone he doesn't have a "comfort curve" with. It's always better when synergy can hit the floor running. Buddy's a smart football man.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Scrappy]

It was obviously in place.

[Bangarang]

Ralph is cheap.

[BuffaloBill]

Ralph is cheap.

 

 

Care to expand on the thought when RW adds to staff during the lockout?

[Acantha]

Care to expand on the thought when RW adds to staff during the lockout?

How about, "Ralph is cheap, and sarcasm is not BuffaloBills strong suit."

[Bangarang]

Care to expand on the thought when RW adds to staff during the lockout?

 

Had a long day today I suppose?

[Tim Anderson's Lunch Pail]

Well, here's hoping for some good change. Not the most exciting hires. But definently good to get some fresh faces in the front office.

 

Lol, not to bust you up too much, but what candidates do you know of that would be exciting for the jobs? Cowher and Schottenheimer?

[John from Riverside]

I know they are scouts do you expect to know who these guys actually are?

 

Scouts are supposed to be unknown guys....they lurk in the shadows with their stop watches and sleeping bags

[San Jose Bills Fan]

More details straight from the horse's mouth (Chris Brown):

 

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-add-pair-to-personnel-department/d2376864-e4bf-4edf-8c2c-d4757dc9ac49

 

So the Bills new Director of Pro Personnel, Tom Gibbons is a Dunkirk guy who got his start with the Bills and served in the successful John Butler regimes in Buffalo and San Diego.

 

Then there's Chuck Cook, the Bills new Director of College Scouting:

 

"Cook is a 27-year veteran in NFL scouting. He served most of his scouting career with the Kansas City Chiefs where he spent 12 years as the Director of College Scouting (1997-2008). He began his NFL career with the Chiefs as a regional scout (1985-1997)"

 

 

This means that Cook worked under Carl Peterson. Peterson is one of the top NFL front office people of his generation. Those who worked under Peterson and then went on to success include current NFL GMs Mark Dominick (Tampa Bay), Tom Dimitroff (Atlanta), John Schneider (Seattle), and Jeff Ireland (Miami). Cook has never worked professionally with Buddy Nix but Nix did coach with Cook's father years ago.

So one hire is a guy who Nix is very familiar with and has worked with before…in a successful organization. The other hire is a guy who was Director of College Scouting from another very successful franchise, The Kansas City Chiefs. That's a nice mix of experience and backgrounds.

I liked reading this as well:

“There will be some overlap where the college guys will do some pro stuff, especially in the preseason," said Nix. "Conversely, the pro guys including Tommy (Gibbons) will do some college scouting. I think that helps put everybody on the same page and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The more these guys cross-pollinate and interact, the better the scouting will be. College scouts need to watch pro players and visa versa. In addition this arrangement provides for more checks and balances…a greater range of opinions on the same pool of players.

I'm getting a good feeling about the changes in the personnel department.

[Albany,n.y.]

Is there a reason teams keep the old guys in place until after the draft & delay the new guys input by a year?

Is it the dates the contracts end? Is it they're fearful of their in season scouting of college & pro players secrets coming out? What's the reason Modrak worked this draft & not the new guy?

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Nice

[1B4IDie]

Is there a reason teams keep the old guys in place until after the draft & delay the new guys input by a year?

Is it the dates the contracts end? Is it they're fearful of their in season scouting of college & pro players secrets coming out? What's the reason Modrak worked this draft & not the new guy?

Whaley worked the draft.

It's pretty simple.

Scouting for the 2012 draft started last week.

The people you are mist likely going to hire are working for another team leading up to the draft.

Would you want to hire a person that is going to leave their current team in the lurch right before the draft? You're probably not getting a great candidate then.

Do you think Gruden or Fisher are going to be hired as coaches in February or November?

These just two of many reasons why the personal changes happen after the draft.

[K-9]

I just want to know one thing: do either of these guys have experience scouting at the high school level in the southern United States?

 

GO BILLS!!!

[robertpaul49]

I think this is a wonderful change from the Marv Levy era of GM is finally over. I like Marv, but that was a horrible front office. Getting football people into these roles is a wonderful move in the right direction.

[Ghost of Rob Johnson]

Is there a reason teams keep the old guys in place until after the draft & delay the new guys input by a year?

Is it the dates the contracts end? Is it they're fearful of their in season scouting of college & pro players secrets coming out? What's the reason Modrak worked this draft & not the new guy?

The time to hire & fire guys for these positions is right now, the draft marks the end of their work for last year and the beginning of their work for the following year. Would put the new guy, and your team, at a disadvantage by giving him less time to prepare & give input for the upcoming year.

[eball]

I just want to know one thing: do either of these guys have experience scouting at the high school level in the southern United States?

 

GO BILLS!!!

well done