I'm not going to make any judgement regarding the new management of the Jets. You can call me a glass-half-empty type if you want, but that's what I've become rooting for this franchise. Each time there's an FO turnover, there is great jubilation among the fandom. Three years later we're calling for heads to roll. Neither Gase nor Douglas have a record of success in the positions they now occupy. I'll let the future judge.
How would it benefit the Ravens to allow the guy to talk to the Jets? Would they be looking for some type of compensation?
You never want to stop someone from being able to advance in their career. The Ravens just did their promotions last year and will not have much more for him over the next few years to move up.
What kind of advancement can the Jets offer? I see he's listed as Assistant Director of Pro & College Personnel in Baltimore. I suppose the same title without the "assistant" part would be a step up but it would pretty much deadend there as it may have in Baltimore. Do you move (and possibly uproot a family) for such a title change unless there's a decent amount of money involved?
All depends on the opportunity the Jets give this guy. They can't really ask for compensation per say if he wants to take the job and its a career advance. However, Ravens could still block this interview
The only career advancement that the NFL regulates is about becoming head coach or GM. Any other moves are at the discretion of the current team. Why would compensation be out of the question to allow a move to a guy presumably under contract? Is it worth giving up a draft choice or two here?
For Chad, Director of Personnel would be a nice promotion, especially if the Ravens aren't going to give him that job (which we do not know yet). At best he's been an assistant. The NFL promotes advancement in the front offices, unless you are a coach, teams don't get compensation for moves such as these. Why is there no compensation for front office employees (not named GMs or head coaches)? Not sure. Perhaps they aren't thought of as HIGHLY as a GM or HC.
Likely more money involved but also more responsibility and control over a certain aspect of the team building practices. It’s just resume building honestly. There’s still a gap between where he is and where he needs to be to become a GM candidate.
Do you know if a team is precluded from asking for compensation as a condition of granting permission to talk? So what's in it for the Ravens to permit a move? How would it hurt them to not allow it? Obviously they value his services or he wouldn't have the position for twenty years.
Speculation: It may be a gentleman's thing. As in if you're the dickish team that decides not to let staffers leave for promotions, you'll have a harder time attracting staffers, working out trades, etc.
Nice article about the hiring of Douglas https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/06/10/h...-caserio-cam-newton-panthers-joe-douglas-jets I said this when the Jets fired Mike Maccagnan, and I’ll say it again now. For all the pain the Jets went through to get here—the bad press, the outsized contract for a first-time GM, the awkward offseason, all of it—there’s a better-than-good chance that hiring Joe Douglas will be worth it. That’s because Douglas is among the most respected scouts, at any level, in all of football, and one of the few who you really never hear anything negative about. To try and illustrate that, I hit up the last two guys he worked for to get their feedback on Sunday. “Joe is so prepared for this opportunity,” Eagles EVP of football operations Howie Roseman said, via text. “He’s been with three great organizations and contributed to [Super Bowl]-winning rosters. He knows what it looks like on and off the field. He’ll take some from everywhere and put his own spin on it. He’s a great listener but also passionate about what he believes in.” “Start with being an excellent evaluator—not just good at accurately grading players, but also painting a picture of the player to everyone in the room,” texted Bears GM Ryan Pace. “Joe is great with the coaches. Great listening to everyone’s opinions and being respectful as you go through the process of establishing final grades on players. “His personality and disposition is unique in that he’s very likable, yet he’s not afraid to stand his ground and strongly convey what he believes in. … Throw in high-end work ethic and you have someone that’s going to be successful in the GM position for the Jets.” With that established, a few leftovers from the process during the last few weeks in Florham Park, N.J. … • We mentioned it before, but one of Douglas’s greatest strengths comes with his Rolodex. Connected in the scouting community like Chris Ballard was going to Indianapolis two years ago, Douglas should be able to build a robust department. The first two names I’d keep an eye on are the two rising stars he poached from Baltimore upon getting to Philly: director of player personnel Andy Weidl and director of college scouting Ian Cunningham. Maybe Roseman lets him take one of the two. Among the other names that have been out there as possibilities to join Douglas in Jersey are Chicago’s Champ Kelly (who interviewed for the Jets’ job) and ESPN’s Todd McShay. • One name that’s an important one going forward: Hymie Elhai. The SVP of business affairs and general counsel has been more active in football operations of late, and is one of three now (joining Douglas and Adam Gase) reporting directly to ownership. How Elhai fits into the overall framework figures to be one element to watch going forward—he was right there with Gase and owner Christopher Johnson in the interview process, which is a pretty clear indication of where he stands in the organization. • The Jets were prepared for Douglas to turn them down. The team was talking contract figures with Seattle director of player personnel Scott Fitterer’s camp as they were negotiating with Douglas, which was smart business. Fitterer impressed them enough to where they were comfortable with the idea of hiring him. In the end, they got their first choice, and certainly Gase’s first choice. • I’d consider the six years on Douglas’s deal vital, mainly because of the lingering unknown of how secure the new GM would be when Woody Johnson returns from the UK, which could happen as soon as next year. It’s also interesting that Douglas’s deal goes two years past the four-year deal Gase signed in January. • Don’t weep for the Eagles. Howie Roseman’s stocked his staff well, and ex-Browns exec Andrew Berry was hired in part because Philly knew it would probably lose Douglas sooner rather than later. The challenge for Roseman now will be deciding who to let go with Douglas to New York, particularly when a couple of those guys have deals expiring after this season (meaning they could just walk after next year’s draft). • My belief is that Sam Darnold’s presence was a significant draw for the candidates involved, mitigating some of the pratfalls that were on the display the last few months. So interestingly enough, the trade that Maccagnan and VP of player personnel Brian Heimerdinger made in March 2018, their most impactful move in four years there, wound up being a catalyst to finding the right people to replace them. And ultimately, I’d say between Douglas and the guys he’ll likely bring with him, the Jets have done just that. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
I don't have a dog in the analytics discussion, but read the following article today and thought it and the timing was interesting. https://www.ganggreennation.com/201...cate-the-eagles-part-2-investing-in-analytics How Jets GM Joe Douglas should replicate the Eagles, Part 2: Investing in analytics 11 By John B Jun 10, 2019, 1:45pm EDT The Jets are not going to turn into carbon copies of the Philadelphia Eagles simply because they hired Joe Douglas. The new general manager has been around the league for a long time and has his own ideas. I am sure there are things his old boss Howie Roseman did in Philadelphia that he disagreed with. He will do those things differently now that he is in charge of his own team. With that said, the Eagles do a lot of things right so I am sure Douglas will borrow some of the philosophies he liked from his time in Philadelphia. Over the next few days I will share philosophies the Eagles have that I think Douglas should bring to the Jets. What follows is the second. You can read the first here. Investing in analytics I believe many football fans have great misconceptions when they debate whether their favorite team should commit to using analytics. There is a vision of a general manager punching numbers into a computer and making all of his team’s decisions based on numbers. Experience and football wisdom accumulated over the course of decades is thrown out the window. The expertise of scouts is disregarded. The team must make a choice whether to strategize by utilizing old school methods or making decisions with a spreadsheet. This is a false choice, especially in today’s National Football League. There is no dispute that the use of analytics is much more prevalent in professional baseball than in professional football. Within Major League Baseball there has been a 30 team race to incorporate data better since the book Moneyball was published in 2003. That is quite a head start baseball has over football incorporating analytics even without considering how numbers have always been ingrained in baseball’s culture and how the nature of the sport makes it easier to use data to isolate and quantify performance than it is in football. It probably would be accurate to say that the least analytically inclined MLB team dives far deeper into the numbers than the most analytically inclined NFL team. Still you can take a look at every team website and media guide in Major League Baseball. Not one team has decided to abolish use of a scouting department. They all still utilize traditional methods. Nobody makes all decisions by using an algorithm. I promise. With that in mind any fears you might have about the Jets diving into analytics, turning decision-making over to a computer, and eliminating the true football people are not based in reality. It is not a question of scouting vs. numbers. It is a question of using both or only using one. I don’t know about you, but given the choice I would like to see my team use all available information when considering a major decision instead of half of the available information. The Eagles have been at the forefront of utilizing analytics to build a competitive advantage in the NFL. Here are some of the results. The results of the fourth-down bids have been overwhelmingly in favor of the Eagles. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they have scored a touchdown or field goal on 13 of the 18 drives in which they converted a fourth down, totaling 85 points (4.7 points per drive). The times they went for it on fourth down and didn’t convert, the opposing team didn’t score a single point on the subsequent drive. There is plenty of credit to hand out for those numbers, including to the defense for routinely answering the bell, but a big slice goes to the analytics department -- overseen by vice president of football operations and strategy Alec Halaby -- for understanding situational odds and playing them to their favor. .......................................... Analytics are being deployed on the defensive side of the ball as well. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz might come off as an old-school football guy, but he studied econometrics -- the application of statistical and mathematical techniques in solving problems -- at Georgetown, and is known to be very much data-driven in his approach to the job. He passes his statistical findings on to his players, and demands they be able to recall it at a moment’s notice. ”He’ll ask you on the spot,” defensive end Steven Means said. “He might be walking past you right now in the locker room and be like, ‘Hey, what’s the percentages when it’s 11 personnel and [shot]gun?’ And you gotta know, boom, ‘70 percent pass.’ He uses that and it makes us more aware.” Defensive back Jaylen Watkins cited two-minute situations as the top example of how numbers are used to heighten understanding. Under Schwartz, players are required to know the maximum amount of plays left in the half or game based on time remaining, and the point where the opposition needs to advance the ball to be in field goal range -- a variable that changes week-to-week based on the leg strength of the kicker.
Figuring out ways to utilize data isn’t akin to acquiring a magic wand that make a Lombardi Trophy appear. The NFL is a league where wins come at the margins. Using the numbers to figure out optimal fourth down strategy might help a team steal four extra points in a game by deciding to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. When approximately half of NFL games are decided by one score, that little piece of value can make all of the difference in the world. The original Moneyball team, the Oakland Athletics were working at a major disadvantage relative to their competitors. They had to figure out a way to win spending a fraction of the money the opposition had. They used data to figure out which players were both inexpensive on the open market and could help them win games. In the NFL the challenge is different. The league has made an effort to put all teams on equal financial footing. The goal is to develop an edge on the competition. To do that, you have to be able to figure out ways to evaluate better than that competition. To provide one very basic example, consider the wide receiver position. The first thing anybody typically looks at are core statistics such as receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Those things aren’t only dependent on receiver quality, though. They are also dependent on quarterback play. A good quarterback might make a shaky receiver look better than he really is by delivering accurate passes into tight windows. A bad quarterback can destroy a receiver’s production by failing to identify when his guy is open and delivering inaccurate balls. Through services like NexGen Stats we can now track the average separation a receiver gets. Nobody would argue this should be the only criteria used in an evaluation, but it is a tool available that gives us an opportunity to better evaluate the performance of a receiver by isolating solely what he does. That is one of the most basic tools now at the disposal of teams. There are numerous ways teams can dive far deeper. They don’t replace the ability to judge whether a receiver is capable of getting a good release or high pointing a ball, but they do help tell the story of his effectiveness. Thus they can contribute to a more complete evaluation. While the Eagles are at the forefront of analytics in the NFL, Douglas has been viewed as the driving force behind more traditional evaluation methods within the organization. Considered a scout’s scout, Douglas’ traditional approach to evaluating served as a nice counterweight in an increasingly analytics-driven organization. He values production over measurables and character makeup above perhaps all else. He’s looking for leaders, and he’s looking for players who are football-obsessed. Does that mean Douglas is totally opposed to utilizing analytics? I’m not sure I’ve seen enough evidence to suggest that is the case. Take this description of how he operates from Tim McManus of ESPN along with Douglas’ own words. Douglas is well-liked by his peers and is good for building morale. He is quick to give credit where it is deserved and checks his ego at the door. He has shown an ability to work in conjunction with a very present and powerful analytics arm, even though that world was somewhat foreign to him when he arrived in Philly. ”We’re big believers in how we’ve brought together a staff of different viewpoints and perspectives and all come to the same conclusion,” he said. “We all speak our minds, and we all have strong viewpoints, but at the end of the day, we respect each other’s work and respect each other’s decision.” Douglas might not have a big background in analytics, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he lacks respect for the role they can play in building a better team. He saw firsthand in Philadelphia how the marriage of top notch traditional methods with modern analytical thinking can produce top results. I would hope this has left an impression with him. Maybe it isn’t his world. Maybe he will need to hire, delegate, and lean on others to utilize their power. But I hope Joe Douglas will seek a competitive edge by emulating the successful organization which most recently employed him.
I’ve never seen compensation for front office execs only coaches before. The Ravens don’t have to do it but if they have someone who can make a career move and they get in the way of that it can hurt morale in the building. They’re not an organization like that however so it shouldn’t be an issue. If he wants to take the Jets job they won’t stand in the way of that, organizations don’t operate that way with their execs for the most part. Newsome built that front office staff to the point where they have a true next man up mentality. He groomed his replacement and he groomed Douglas as well as they were part of his 20/20 initiative.
