Brian Gutekunst - Pro Football Rumors

Packers Have No GM Succession Plan In Place

February 2nd, 2017 at 10:34am CST by Zachary Links

Packers execs Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst were both considered for GM jobs this offseason and it stands to reason that they will continue to be in the mix for those gigs going forward. Despite the fact that they are in high demand, neither man has been told that they will succeed GM Ted Thompson (link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com).

“I don’t think you can make promises,” team president Mark Murphy said with regards to the two young scouts and cap guru Russ Ball. “Especially [because] the league changes so much year to year.”

Murphy says that he has an idea of how long Thompson, 64, will stay on the job, but he declined to disclose that timetable publicly. It’s also not immediately clear whether Thompson’s contract runs out after the 2018 season or following the 2019 draft.

On the field, the Packers have built a winning team by building talent from within. That philosophy extends to the front office, where they have multiple young candidates who are ostensibly ready to run the show. Interestingly, the Packers could reportedly change course this offseason and be active on the open market.

Latest On 49ers’ GM Search

January 20th, 2017 at 1:48pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Before he withdrew from San Francisco’s general manager search Friday, Packers player personnel director Brian Gutekunst had been the favorite to land the job “for two weeks,” a source close to the 49ers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle).

Eliot Wolf, another member of Green Bay’s front office, preceded Gutekunst in pulling out Thursday despite being a finalist for the position in San Francisco. The decisions Gutekunst and Wolf made don’t necessarily reflect poorly on the Niners, though, as a source close to the two told Jason Cole of Bleacher Report that “other factors” outside the team’s control led to their exits from the derby (Twitter link).

With Gutekunst and Wolf out of the picture, the GM-less 49ers could target Falcons director of football operations Nick Polk, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Polk is familiar with soon-to-be 49ers head coach and current Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, having worked with him in Atlanta the past two seasons. Speculatively, that could give Polk an advantage over the 49ers’ other GM candidates if they do pursue him.

As of now, San Francisco is set to conduct a second interview next week with Vikings assistant GM George Paton. Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough and Jaguars director of player personnel Chris Polian are also possibilities for the 49ers’ GM role. The team hasn’t yet scheduled a second meeting with McDonough, however, and it hasn’t met with Polian at all.

Brian Gutekunst Withdraws From 49ers’ GM Search

January 20th, 2017 at 11:19am CST by Sam Robinson

Another Packers executive won’t be finishing out the GM interview process with the 49ers. The Packers will retain player personnel director Brian Gutekunst after he withdrew his name from the San Francisco GM search, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

One of the finalists for the NFL’s lone vacant GM job, Gutekunst instead signed a new deal to stay in Green Bay, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

The Packers reached an agreement earlier this week to retain director of football operations Eliot Wolf, so the 49ers’ effort to pry one of Ted Thompson‘s top staffers won’t come to fruition. The Packers execs’ decisions to stay in Green Bay come after Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner announced he was withdrawing from the pursuit.

This could leave Vikings assistant GM George Paton in the driver’s seat for the job as the one known finalist still in the running. He’s set to meet with the 49ers next week. Although the team is keeping an eye on Cardinals’ vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports, Paton is expected to meet with 49ers brass — and possibly leading HC candidate Kyle Shanahan — on Tuesday. Michael Silver of NFL.com also tabs Paton (Twitter link) as the favorite to become the 49ers’ next GM and win what’s become a complex race not unlike what’s transpired in the derby to become their next coach.

Another name to monitor, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, is Jaguars director of player personnel Chris Polian. The son of Hall of Famer Bill Polian did not meet with with the 49ers this month as the organization conducted a thorough search featuring nine interviews.

NFC Notes: 49ers, Panthers, Cardinals

January 18th, 2017 at 9:48am CST by Connor J. Byrne

Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf is among the general manager candidates the 49ers and soon-to-be head coach Kyle Shanahan will invite to Atlanta for an interview next week, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). The team will also conduct second meetings with one of Wolf’s Packers colleagues, Brian Gutekunst, and Vikings assistant GM George Paton, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

More from San Francisco and a couple other NFC cities:

Falcons secondary coach Marquand Manuel could become the 49ers’ defensive coordinator under Shanahan, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com hears (Twitter link). The two are on the same staff now, of course, and Manuel garnered prior coaching experience in Seattle from 2012-15. The 37-year-old was an NFL safety from 2002-09.
The Panthers worked out free agent quarterback Aaron Murray on Tuesday, reports Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Murray spent 2016 on the Eagles’ practice squad, but he has been available since they elected against signing him to a reserve/futures deal earlier this month. The 26-year-old was a star at Georgia, where he became the SEC’s all-time leader in passing yards, completions and touchdowns, but he hasn’t recorded an NFL statistic since the Chiefs took him in Round 5 of the 2014 draft. With Panthers QBs Cam Newton, Derek Anderson and Joe Webb under contract next year, there’s no clear fit for Murray in Carolina.
Cardinals defensive lineman Josh Mauro‘s recently signed two-year contract is worth just over $2MM total, per Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Mauro will make $750K next season and $1.3MM in 2018.

Kyle Shanahan Likely To Become 49ers’ HC

January 18th, 2017 at 8:10am CST by Connor J. Byrne

As of Tuesday evening, Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan wasn’t a lock to accept the 49ers’ forthcoming offer to become their head coach. However, Shanahan’s now “almost certain” to take the job, reports Mike Silver of NFL.com.

With Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable having withdrawn from the race this week, Shanahan is the last man standing among the eight candidates the 49ers have interviewed. The rest have accepted head coaching positions elsewhere. Thus, in the unlikely event Shanahan turns San Francisco down, it would send CEO Jed York and executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe scrambling to hit the reset button on their search to replace Chip Kelly.

The 49ers are also on the hunt for a new general manager, of course, and lost one candidate when Cable’s Seattle colleague, co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner, took himself out of consideration Tuesday. Of the GM possibilities the Niners have considered, Kirchner, fellow Seahawks executive Scott Fitterer and Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard would have preferred to work with Cable, according to Silver. The Chiefs prevented Ballard from talking to the 49ers, though, and awarded him a pay raise as compensation, Silver writes.

Cable has another fan in defensive coordinator-to-be Gus Bradley, who would have gone to San Francisco had it hired Cable. Instead, after Cable dropped out of contention Tuesday, Bradley spurned the 49ers when they asked if he’d be interested in teaming with Shanahan. It appears, then, that Bradley will become the Chargers’ D-coordinator.

Shanahan is currently preparing for Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Falcons and Packers. If Atlanta advances to Super Bowl LI, the 49ers wouldn’t be able to hire him until after Feb. 5. Regardless, he’ll have a second interview with the Niners next week and will discuss GM choices with team brass. Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst remains the favorite, relays Silver, who adds that Green Bay director of football operations Eliot Wolf and Vikings assistant GM George Paton are also strong contenders.

No Guarantee Shanahan Accepts 49ers Job?

January 17th, 2017 at 6:49pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Now that Tom Cable and Josh McDaniels have each dropped out of the 49ers’ head coaching search, Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is the last man standing and is fully expected to be offered the position. However, Shanahan is not a lock to accept the job, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links), who notes that an upcoming meeting between the two parties could play a key role in Shanahan’s decision.

Shanahan will reportedly discuss potential general manager candidates with San Francisco management during his second interview, and the 49ers are now narrowing down their list of executives, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner withdrew his name from the search earlier today, but four other candidates — Brian Gutekunst (Packers), Terry McDonough (Cardinals), George Paton (Vikings) and Eliot Wolf (Packers) — all had “strong” initial interviews, reports Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

According to Barrows, Kirchner believed that he and Cable were being used as something of pawns in order to drive Shanahan’s contract demands down. Shanahan does have tremendous leverage, as La Canfora adds (Twitter link), and would certainly be in high demand as a head coach in 2018. But the 49ers job is his last chance to land a head coaching gig during this hiring cycle, as every other vacancy has been filled.

If Shanahan does turn down the 49ers, San Francisco would truly return to square one. Outside of Cable and McDaniels, every other coaching candidate the club interviewed (or had planned to interview), including Doug Marrone, Vance Joseph, Sean McVay, Sean McDermott, and Anthony Lynn, has been hired elsewhere.

Latest On 49ers’ HC, GM Searches

January 16th, 2017 at 2:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers have spent by far the most time interviewing high-level personnel this offseason, and now the team is entering its third week without a head coach or general manager. But some clarity could be coming on both fronts.

Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan and Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst have emerged in front for the HC and GM jobs, respectively, as the team searches to fully move on from Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke. Gutekunst impressed the 49ers in his interview and is a frontrunner as of now, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets, before adding Shanahan could have a say in this matter.

Recent Packers promoted executives Gutekunst and Eliot Wolf were among the nine candidates to interview for the 49ers job, and Alex Marvez of the Sporting News confirms Breer’s report about positive buzz coming out of the Gutekunst-49ers summit (Twitter link). Marvez adds the 49ers are have pared this list down and bring in finalists for secondary interviews this week. It can be assumed the 43-year-old Gutekunst, an 18-year Packers employee, is one of the finalists. One of the candidates, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, preferred Shanahan throughout this process, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com notes (on Twitter).

As for Shanahan, he appears to have a relatively clear path to his first HC job. The 49ers do not plan to restart the interview process after highly touted candidate Josh McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration. The 37-year-old assistant is “by far” the 49ers’ top option, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets, and although he cannot be hired until after the Falcons’ season concludes, he can be brought in for a second interview after the NFC championship game if Atlanta advances to Super Bowl LI. That could be to discuss the GM job if the 49ers hold off on making that decision this week. He’s viewed as the favorite over Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable, something the 49ers have recognized privately in recent days, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes.

Latest On Packers Execs/49ers’ GM Search

January 15th, 2017 at 8:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Packers executives Brian Gutekunst and Eliot Wolf are two of the nine candidates the 49ers have interviewed for their general manager job, and sources tell Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that San Francisco views Gutekunst in a higher regard, adding that the Niners were “really impressed” by Green Bay’s director of college scouting. Mike Silver of NFL.com (Twitter link) continues to “believe” that Gutekunst and Wolf are the leading contenders for the SF gig.

Meanwhile, Wolf — the Packers’ director of football operations — would almost certainly accept the 49ers job if offered, per McGinn, as some believe that he’d like to escape the shadow of his father, former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, in Green Bay. The Packers denied the Lions’ request to interview Wolf for their GM vacancy last offseason, but they’ve made no attempt to do so this offseason. On the other hand, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report adds (video link) that Green Bay does not want to lose Wolf, and would consider moving him into the GM chair this offseason to replace Ted Thompson.

Green Bay’s front office machinations also have implications in Kansas City, where Chiefs general manager John Dorsey could be a candidate to take over for Thompson in 2018. Dorsey is one of the lowest-paid GMs in the NFL, according to McGinn, and some sources believe that he would relish an opportunity to return to the Packers. “I always thought he was the type of guy who would want to come back to Green Bay,” said one of Dorsey’s friends. “He loves the Packers. I do know that.”

49ers To Interview Packers’ Wolf, Gutekunst

January 2nd, 2017 at 7:49pm CST by Ben Levine

After having fired Trent Baalke yesterday, the 49ers have already started their search for a new general manager. According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter), Packers executive Eliot Wolf will interview for the gig later this week. Eliot is the son of Ron Wolf, who won three Super Bowl titles as the general manager of the Raiders and Packers. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the 49ers will also be interviewing Packers Director of College Scouting Brian Gutekunst.

Wolf has spent the past 13 seasons with the Packers organization, and he was promoted to the director of football operations prior to this season. According to the team’s website, Wolf’s “primary duties include coordinating the pro and college football departments as well as handling both college and pro player evaluation through film study, college visits, pro days, college all-star games and the NFL Scouting Combine. During the season, he is responsible for overseeing advance scouting of upcoming Packers opponents, evaluating potential free-agent signees and recommending player tryouts.”

As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport recently pointed out, Wolf was expected to take over as Packers general manager whenever Ted Thompson decided to retire. Interviewing for the 49ers gig certainly wouldn’t prevent Wolf from taking a potential Packers job. In fact, he could be using the interview with San Francisco as leverage, although that’s only my speculation. Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com notes (via Twitter) that the Packers did not give permission for Wolf to take interviews last offseason.

Gutekunst has been with the Packers organization for the past 18 years. Prior to his current role, Gutekunst served as a college scout. The executive also has experience as a coach.

The 49ers aren’t necessarily competing with other organizations for general manager interviews, as they’re currently the only NFL team with an opening. Earlier today, the team reached out to the Chiefs with the hope that they could interview executive Chris Ballard. According to Rapoport on Twitter, Ballard is not interested in taking an interview with the 49ers.

Breer On GM Search, Harbaugh, Draft

December 17th, 2016 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

When it comes to being a GM, is it more about who you know than what you know? In his latest column, Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke with one league official who suggested that the NFL’s career development advisory panel has something of a fraternity-vibe.

“It’s all full of nepotism. It’s a joke. And it starts with Charley Casserly,” the personnel man said.

Casserly rejected the idea that he, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian, Ernie Accorsi, John Madden, Tony Dungy and Carl Peterson are aiming to line up their friends with jobs, but he did acknowledge that connections help.

“It’s so different than it is with coaches,” Casserly said. “Coaches are so clearly defined. You know who calls the plays, you see them on TV, coordinators have press conferences. It’s just not like that in scouting. Are they pro? College? None of them are making big decisions. What you need is networking. It’s not politicking.”

Casserly was directly involved with the Jets’ coach and GM search process in 2015. Gang Green wound up hiring Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan – two former co-workers of Casserly’s.

Here’s more from Breer:

Breer identified the following executives as people who could immediately jump into a GM job somewhere: Chiefs VP of player personnel Chris Ballard, Patriots VP of player personnel Nick Caserio, Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer, Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine, Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner, Cowboys assistant director of player personnel Will McClay, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, Vikings assistant GM George Paton, Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf.
The widespread feeling in NFL circles is that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will be back in pro football eventually, even if it’s not happening right now. For his part, Harbaugh says that he is incredibly happy as the Wolverines’ coach.
Is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen the next under-the-radar quarterback prospect a la Carson Wentz? It was Craig Bohl who recruited Carson Wentz to North Dakota State and he is now Allen’s coach at Wyoming. It’s hard to say whether the 6’5″, 222-pound signal caller has the same kind of talent, but his stock is rising. “He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” said one AFC exec. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.” Allen, a redshirt sophomore, has plenty of time to develop.
Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck recently predicted that Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush will be an “incredibly high draft pick” this year. Apparently, talent evaluators do not agree. “He may get drafted late because of the [lack of] quality at the position,” said one area scout assigned to CMU. “He’s an accurate thrower with deceptive athletic ability to extend plays with his feet. Not a dynamic or explosive athlete, but good enough to avoid the rush and create at times. Average arm at best, but he’s got solid touch on intermediate and deep balls. He just lacks elite velocity.”