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Ethan Waugh

Jaguars To Conduct Second GM Interviews

February 15th, 2025 at 9:40pm CST by Ely Allen

The Jaguars reportedly wrapped up their first round of general manager interviews yesterday, and according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the team will start their second round of interviews in the coming days. Per Pelissero, that will begin with Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan and Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. Pelissero adds that Jaguars assistant (and interim) general manager Ethan Waugh will also interview this week after not being included initially in the first round of interviews.

Jacksonville conducted their first round of interviews in the last four days, concluding with meetings with Sullivan and Cunningham yesterday. Planning second interviews with each personnel executive the next day bodes well for their standing in the race for the job.

[RELATED: James Gladstone, Josh Williams Also Among Finalists]

Sullivan has spent the entirety of his 22-year career in the NFL in Green Bay, starting as a training camp intern in 2003. He rose up the ranks of the scouting department, eventually serving as director of college scouting from 2016-17. Sullivan had a penchant for hitting on Day 3 picks with the Packers, demonstrated by the drafting of impact players like Blake Martinez, Dean Lowry, Aaron Jones, and Jamaal Williams.

Sullivan’s next role was as co-director of player personnel from 2018-21 before being promoted to his current title in 2022. Sullivan’s success has drawn him plenty of general manager interest around the league. He has been considered for every general manager opening in this year’s hiring cycle, interviewing with the Titans, the Raiders, and the Jets.

Cunningham was one of the initial names to be connected to the Jaguars’ job, along with former Titans general manager Jon Robinson and Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg. Cunningham started his front office career with the Ravens back in 2008 before joining the Eagles as their director of college scouting in 2017. He climbed the ranks to director of player personnel before taking an assistant general manager job with the Bears in 2022. He’s spent the past three seasons in Chicago, though he’s flirted with promotions over the past two years. He was a finalist for the Commanders job last year, and he was interviewed for jobs with the Chargers last offseason and the Titans this cycle.

Though Waugh wasn’t included in the first round of interviews, he was mentioned as a strong candidate for the position on Thursday. Waugh had a lengthy tenure in the 49ers’ front office alongside the man these candidates are all striving to replace, former Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke. The pair worked together from 2005-16, and Waugh worked his way up to vice president of player personnel for the 2021 and 2022 campaigns. He joined Baalke in Jacksonville in May of 2022, taking on his current title. Despite the issues that led to Baalke’s dismissal, Waugh is nevertheless in contention for the job and will interview this week.

Ethan Waugh In Contention For Jaguars’ GM Position?

February 13th, 2025 at 9:51am CST by Adam La Rose

The Jaguars are the lone team in the NFL with a general manager vacancy at the moment. The interview process is underway, and as a result the list of finalists amongst external candidates will soon be narrowed down.

[RELATED: Jaguars Extend President Mark Lamping]

It was recently learned that at least one internal staffer was set to receive strong consideration, though. It appears that candidate is interim GM Ethan Waugh. Waugh is a “strong” candidate to receive the gig on a full-time basis, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

Waugh had a lengthy tenure in the 49ers’ front office alongside Trent Baalke. The pair worked together from 2005-16, and Waugh worked his way up to vice president of player personnel for the 2021 and ’22 campaigns. He joined Baalke in Jacksonville in May 2022, taking on his current AGM title. Over the past three seasons, things have not gone according to plan for the team; Waugh is nevertheless in contention to oversee the front office as things stand.

Baalke was not dismissed alongside head coach Doug Pederson after the season ended, something which came as a surprise to many. The Jags’ head coaching search was seen as being impacted by Baalke’s ongoing presence, however, and the timing of a secret second interview with eventual hire Liam Coen coincided with the decision to make a change in the front office. Despite being a first-time HC, Coen is playing a central role in the search for Baalke’s replacement.

Coen’s top choice looked to be former Buccaneers colleague Mike Greenberg, but he withdrew from Jacksonville GM consideration. Several other external candidates have since received an interview request, with some virtual meetings having taken place already. It will be interesting to see if Waugh also winds up interviewing for the full-time gig.

Via PFR’s GM Search Tracker, here is an updated look at how things stand for the Jaguars:

Jaguars Fire GM Trent Baalke

January 22nd, 2025 at 10:14pm CST by Adam La Rose

This Jaguars coaching search has seen two top candidates — Ben Johnson and Liam Coen — bow out. With Trent Baalke‘s presence again rumored to be causing issues during a head coaching hunt, Shad Khan has changed course.

Despite keeping the GM on to lead the search, Khan is firing Baalke, according to a team announcement. Baalke stayed on for five years in Jacksonville, moving to the GM role in his second offseason with the team. Although he looked to have survived after Doug Pederson‘s firing, the veteran exec is out.

[RELATED: Coen Backs Out Of Second Jags HC Interview]

“Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,” a statement from Khan reads in part. “Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons. Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and play an important role, with others, as we continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach.”

Baalke’s job security was a talking point during the campaign, one for which Khan held very high expectations. The Jags finished jut 4-13, though, creating an expectation that he would simply clean house in advance of the 2025 campaign. Pederson was dismissed on Black Monday, but many were surprised to see Baalke remain in place. On the other hand, Bovada’s Josina Anderson and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini note Khan was believed to be willing to still make a GM change this late in the hiring cycle under the right circumstances.

Baalke was viewed as a potential deterrent for the top head coaching candidates, and the fact Johnson and Coen have both elected not to take the job in Duval County is certainly an indication that proved to be true. In any case, those two (along with Mike Vrabel and Aaron Glenn) are off the market while the Jags prepare to take a different approach to their coaching search. Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh recently scheduled in-person interviews for the position.

In the aftermath of firing Pederson, Khan offered another vote of confidence in Baalke. The 60-year-old had GM experience prior to his Jacksonville arrival as a result of his time with the 49ers. Baalke served as San Francisco’s VP of player personnel in 2010 before a six-year run as general manager. He notably won a power struggle with head coach Jim Harbaugh during that time following the team’s run to Super Bowl XLVII. His Jags spell did not feature a repeat of that success.

During the four years with Baalke in place as GM, the Jaguars managed one playoff appearance and twice won fewer than five games. The fact he was authorized to make long-term commitments to the likes of Trevor Lawrence, Josh Hines-Allen and Walker Little suggested he still had runway to continue in his current position. Instead, Khan will pivot to new GM; Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirms a head coach will likely be in place before a front office hire is made given the timing of this situation (video link). Rapoport adds coaches whose teams are still playing could be on Jacksonville’s radar, meaning the HC move may not be strictly down to Graham and Saleh.

Two of the NFL’s general manager vacancies have already been filled, with the Titans and Raiders landing new personnel to lead their respective front offices. The Jets do not have a new GM at the moment, but it appears Lance Newmark is on track to land that position. The Jaguars’ next general manager will likely report directly to Khan, with the same being true of the new head coach. Once that tandem is in place, it will be interesting to see what direction the franchise moves in since Lawrence’s presence will no doubt eliminate the option of a long-term rebuild.

Waugh spent time alongside Baalke in San Francisco, so it came as little surprise when he was hired to take on assistant general manager duties with Jacksonville in 2022. Waugh (who has a background in player personnel departments) will now have a role in the Jaguars’ search for a new general manager, something Khan will also be heavily involved in. A organizational setup will be in place in time for next season, but the means by which it will have been put together will no doubt remain a point of scrutiny for the franchise moving forward.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

2025 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

January 8th, 2025 at 6:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans and Raiders again became part of a GM carousel in the 2020s. Tennessee canned its front office boss after two seasons, while Las Vegas moved on after one. These two joined the Jets, and after two-plus offseason weeks, the Jaguars followed suit by firing Trent Baalke. With the Titans, Raiders and Jets landing on GMs, the Jags are the only team left searching. Here is how the GM market looks:

Updated 2-21-25 (4:00pm CT)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

NFL Staff Notes: Bears, Jaguars, 49ers, Raiders

May 21st, 2022 at 9:48pm CST by Ely Allen

New Bears general manager Ryan Poles announced several promotions and additions to the team’s scouting and football administration departments this week.

Breck Ackley has been promoted from area scout to assistant director of college scouting. Former pro scout Chris White is now assistant director of pro scouting. Former national scouts Sam Summerville and Francis Saint Paul have added “senior” to the their titles. Ashton Washington made a large leap going from a scouting assistant to player personnel coordinator. Fellow former scouting assistant Charles Love has been made a pro scout. In terms of area scouts, John Syty will now cover the Southwest area, Brendan Rehor will cover the Southeast area, Tom Bradway comes from the Raiders to cover the Northeast area, and former long-time Texans scout Ryan Cavanaugh comes from Ohio State to cover the Midwest area. Finally, Ryan Weese joins the staff from Montana State as a scouting assistant.

Mike Santarelli has been promoted from director of football systems to executive director of football technology. Former salary cap/pro scouting analyst James Cosh has been promoted to manager of football administration/pro scout.

Here are a few other staff hires from around the NFL:

  • According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, former 49ers vice president Ethan Waugh has been hired by Jacksonville in the role of assistant general manager, rejoining Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, whom he worked with from 2005-16. With Waugh out of the picture, San Francisco’s player personnel hierarchy is much clearer with assistant general manager Adam Peters and director of player personnel Ran Carthon directly under general manager John Lynch.
  • The Raiders have made an addition to their football analytics department, according to ESPN’s Seth Walder, hiring Brad Goldsberry away from Chicago to serve as director of football systems.

Jaguars Expected To Hire 49ers’ Ethan Waugh As Assistant GM

April 22nd, 2022 at 4:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jaguars are expected to hire a key 49ers executive to be Trent Baalke‘s right-hand man. Ex-Baalke 49ers lieutenant Ethan Waugh is on track to be the Jaguars’ next assistant GM, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets.

Baalke has offered Waugh the job, and Wagoner adds the former is expected to join Jacksonville’s front office after the draft. Waugh has been with the 49ers for 17 years, some of those coming during Baalke’s GM run in San Francisco.

Waugh works as the 49ers’ vice president of player personnel, being promoted earlier this offseason. He joined the 49ers as an assistant and became an area scout in 2008. Under Baalke’s leadership, Waugh rose to the title of senior personnel coordinator. Prior to his most recent promotion, Waugh served as the 49ers’ college scouting director.

An assistant GM bump will be a nice boost for Waugh, who will be a key player in helping craft the latest Jaguars rebuild effort. With Urban Meyer gone after less than a year, Baalke is leading the way here. It remains to be seen if the team’s Rick Spielman connections will produce a hire. Nothing has emerged on that front in several weeks. Spielman interviewed for an executive VP position that would outrank Baalke, but the former Vikings GM has not been hired. He later interviewed for the Steelers’ GM position. Waugh’s hire does not necessarily stonewall a Spielman addition, with a separate report indicating Shad Khan was looking to hire an exec to work above Baalke in addition to a key staffer below the GM level.

This will represent another personnel loss for the 49ers, who lost Martin Mayhew in 2021; Mayhew is now Washington’s GM. The 49ers have also seen Adam Peters and Ran Carthon receive GM interviews, though both remain on staff.

49ers Make Front Office Changes

June 19th, 2021 at 4:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers may be a team to watch for GM hires in the near future. In addition to top John Lynch lieutenant Adam Peters, the team has moved other staffers to jobs from which teams often poach GMs.

Going into his fifth year with the 49ers, Ran Carthon will rise to the position of director of player personnel. The former Florida Gators fullback has spent nearly a decade as a pro personnel director, doing so with the Rams from 2012-16 and in his first four-plus years with the 49ers.

This was Peters’ post during his first three-plus years with the 49ers; he rose to assistant GM in February. R.J. Gillen, a seventh-year 49ers staffer, will succeed Carthon as the 49ers’ director of pro personnel.

Ethan Waugh will become San Francisco’s VP of player personnel. Having spent nearly 20 years with the franchise, Waugh has climbed from the assistant level to the scouting tier to college scouting director to this high-level executive post. Peters received multiple interviews for the Panthers’ GM job that went to Scott Fitterer. It would not surprise if one of the other 49ers high-ranking execs joined him on the GM interview circuit soon.

The 49ers are also promoting Salli Clavelle to an area scout post. A three-year 49ers staffer, Clavelle previously served as a pro personnel analyst. In 2019, Clavelle was the only woman to hold a full-time NFL scouting position. Additionally, the 49ers hired Jessi Seumalo as a scouting assistant. The younger sister of Eagles starting guard Isaac Seumalo, Jessi was part of Washington State and Utah’s recruiting operations over the past three years. Clavelle and Seumalo join the likes of Kelly Kleine (Broncos), Catherine Raiche (Eagles) and others in what has been a banner offseason for women advancing in the NFL front office and scouting ranks.

West Notes: Sherman, Chiefs, Raiders, 49ers

March 1st, 2018 at 9:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Seahawks dangled cornerback Richard Sherman in trade talks at this time a year ago, but given that he’s currently unable to pass a physical after undergoing another procedure on his torn Achilles, Sherman won’t be dealt any time soon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link). Injured players can’t be traded, and Sherman likely won’t be healthy until training camp. In 2017, Seattle ultimately dropped its asking price for Sherman to a first-round and a mid-round selection, but no deal was ever made. While Sherman may not hit the trade market any time soon, the Seahawks are reportedly shopping veteran defensive lineman Michael Bennett.

  • The Chiefs will retain edge rusher Dee Ford on his 2018 fifth-year option, but given that he’s still recovering from a back injury, they likely didn’t have a choice, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Fifth-year options are guaranteed for injury only, so Ford — like Blake Bortles in Jacksonville — would have earned his money whether he was on Kansas City’s roster or not, provided he couldn’t pass a physical before the new league year begins on March 14. Ford, 26, only managed to appear in six games last season, but he managed 10 sacks as recently as 2016. He’ll earn an $8.718MM base salary for the upcoming year.
  • Marshawn Lynch is not a lock to make the Raiders‘ 2018 roster, and for what it’s worth, the veteran running back reportedly became a “problem” for Oakland’s previous coaching staff in 2017, reports Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). Lynch, who got better from an on-field perspective as last season progressed, is scheduled to earn a $4MM base salary next year, and also has a $1MM roster bonus due by March 3, so the Raiders will likely decide on his future with the club by the weekend.
  • After blocking him from an interview with the Titans earlier this year, the 49ers have promoted DeMeco Ryans from defensive quality coach to inside linebackers coach, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). Ryans, who enjoyed a decade-long playing career, is well-respected in NFL circles, and 49ers DC Robert Saleh recently claimed Ryans will someday become a head coach. Additionally, San Francisco announced that it has promoted Keena Turner to vice President and senior advisor to the general manager and promoted Ethan Waugh to college scouting director.