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Jon Carr

NFL Staff Rumors: Jets Front Office, Frost

September 13th, 2024 at 9:15pm CST by Ely Allen

The Jets announced some restructuring in their personnel department back in August. According to the team site, Jon Carr and Greg Nejmeh will be taking over as co-directors of player personnel. New York will also make Dan Zbojovsky the team’s new senior director of football operations.

Carr is an 18-year NFL veteran in his seventh season with the Jets. During his time in New York, Carr has overseen the college scouting process, managing national and area scouts. He recently added oversight of the pro personnel department to his docket, as well.

Nejmeh’s been with the team since 2009, when he started as a scouting intern, and is now entering his 16th year with the Jets. He has overseen the pro personnel day-to-day operations and managed the free agency process and pro player evaluations. He recently started assisting and overseeing with the college process, as well. With Carr and Nejmeh’s responsibilities bleeding over into each other so much, and with both serving as key generals under general manager Joe Douglas, it makes sense to see them now split a title the same way they split their job duties.

Zbojovsky is also an 18-year veteran in NFL front offices, spending all 18 years with the Jets. In his new role, Zbojovsky will oversee the athletic training staff, medical staff, player development, personnel operations, and video department. He will also still retain some of the scouting responsibilities he held from his previous role.

Here are some other NFL staff moves from the last few weeks:

  • Those weren’t the only adjustments the Jets made to their front office. Formerly a national scout, Jay Mandolesi will spend his 21st year with the Jets as director of college scouting with a new promotion. Nick Sabella has also been promoted after two seasons as assistant director of football administration. He will now serve as senior director of football administration in his sixth year with the team. Sabella will be filling the vacancy left by David Socie who has also been promoted to senior director of football strategy. Socie is in the eighth year of his second stint with the team after a one-year stint back in 2006. Jonathan Stigall is another staffer to earn a promotion, moving into the role of national scout. Stigall has been in the NFL since 1999 and with the Jets since 2014 in various roles. Additionally, after three years as assistant director of personnel operations, Christina Wedding née Salvemini has been promoted to director of personnel operations. Former pro scout Evan Ardoin is also getting a promotion into the role of co-assistant director of pro personnel, alongside Kevin Murphy in the same role. Ardoin will monitor NFL practice squads and league transactions while evaluating players for free agency. Lastly, after serving as a personnel assistant for the past two years, Jordan Burton will spend his third year in New York as the NFS college scout for the team.
  • At the beginning of the month, the Rams announced that they would be adding former UCF and Nebraska head coach Scott Frost to their coaching staff, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Scott is expected to be joining as a senior football analyst. Rams senior staff writer Stu Jackson says that Frost will help special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn but will be expected to contribute on both offense and defense, as well. This makes sense as Frost has playing experience on both sides of the ball, playing quarterback in college at Stanford and Nebraska before getting drafted as a safety in the NFL. He also has experience coaching on both sides of the ball, spending time as an assistant over linebackers, wide receivers, and quarterbacks and spending time as both an offensive and defensive coordinator at the collegiate level.

Coaching/FO Notes: Jets, Texans, Ware

May 12th, 2018 at 6:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

A week after the Texans made the move to bring Jets executive Matt Bazirgan into the fold as their director of player personnel, the Jets will hire one of the staffers the Texans axed after the draft. Former Houston college scouting director Jon Carr will assume the same position in New York, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports. Carr spent over a decade with the Texans, rising from the scouting level to his most recent post with the AFC South franchise. Carr has a history with Jets GM Mike Maccagnan, with the two working together with the Texans for several years. Carr ended up replacing Maccagnan as the Texans’ director of college scouting in 2015 when the Jets named Maccagnan their GM.

Here’s the latest from the managerial side of the game, shifting back to Houston’s revamped scouting department.

  • The Texans hired Saints scout C.J. Leak to be their assistant director of pro scouting, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Leak spent two years as the Saints’ Combine scout and prior to that spent eight years with the Bills, working in their pro personnel department.
  • The NFL closed an investigation into former Bills president Russ Brandon, who resigned from his post recently, and the longtime executive can move forward without any punishment. Brandon was accused of having inappropriate relationships with female employees. “We are satisfied the club addressed the matter in a timely, thorough and appropriate manner,” the league’s statement read, via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). “There will be no further action by the league office.” Brandon worked for the Bills for more than 20 years.
  • After drafting Bradley Chubb to fill the void DeMarcus Ware‘s retirement created, the Broncos reached out to Ware in hopes of the future Hall of Famer helping out on a part-time basis this summer, Mike Klis of 9News reports. Denver also contacted other former NFLers, but Ware is the only known name the to whom the team has reached out. The Broncos’ goal appears to be for these retired players to work as consultants during some OTA sessions and a few additional training camp dates. Ware played the final three seasons of his career with the Broncos, his tenure obviously peaking with a 3.5-sack postseason en route to Denver’s Super Bowl 50 title. Klis writes that it can be safely assumed Chubb would be Ware’s primary project if he accepts.
  • Kris Richard oversaw the final years of the Seahawks‘ full defensive core, but the team fired him after last season. Now working as the Cowboys’ defensive backs coach, the 38-year-old assistant is grateful for the opportunity, even if it is not a coordinator role. “I love (Cowboys DC Rod) Marinelli. It will work because I think we’re cut from the same cloth,” Richard said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). “I’m truly grateful to be here. I’m truly grateful for him.” Richard’s spent his only seasons as an NFL staffer with the Seahawks, with the former NFL player entering his ninth season as a coach. Richard interviewed for the Colts’ HC job before signing on to work under Marinelli in Dallas.

Texans Fire Jimmy Raye III, Other Scouting Personnel

April 29th, 2018 at 12:47pm CST by Rory Parks

The Texans just completed their first draft under new GM Brian Gaine, and now the team is shaking up its scouting department. Per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the team has dismissed assistant GM Jimmy Raye III, director of college scouting Jon Carr, assistant director of college scouting Mike Martin, college scouting coordinator Matt Jansen, and college scout Seth Turner.

As Wilson observes, Martin was credited for uncovering UDFA gems like Arian Foster and A.J. Bouye, but the biggest name on that list is Raye, who actually replaced Gaine in Houston last season when Gaine went to Buffalo as the Bills’ vice president of player personnel. After 17 years as a scout and executive with the Chargers, Raye served as vice president of player operations with the Colts and has been a GM candidate for several clubs (including the Texans) in recent years.

All of the dismissed personnel were hired by former GM Rick Smith, and it is not unusual for an overhaul like this when a new general manager or head coach comes aboard. However, Carr and Martin had been with the team for over a decade, and both have a solid track record.

As of yet, there is no word on any potential replacements.

Extra Points: NFLPA, Mayo, Van Pelt, Raiders

January 23rd, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFL Players Association has formally filed a grievance against the league challenging the NFL’s new personal conduct policy, which was adopted in December despite the NFLPA’s objections, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. The union contends that it didn’t have an opportunity to collectively bargain many key points of the new policy, arguing that the policy violates the CBA and that it was adopted “without the consent, and over the objections, of the NFLPA.”

While we wait to see what comes of the union’s grievance, let’s round up several items from across the NFL….

  • Injured Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo has been prioritizing his rehabilitation after a season-ending knee injury, and fully intends to get back on the field in 2015, but he has also developed an interest in coaching during his time spent on injured reserve, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. “I’m just trying to learn as much as I can,” Mayo said. “If I do choose to go down that road, hopefully I can apply some of these principles that I’ve learned from coach [Bill] Belichick in my coaching career.”
  • While a previous report revealed the Packers turned down the Rams’ request to speak to Alex Van Pelt about their offensive coordinator job, St. Louis wasn’t the only team rebuffed by Green Bay. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Jaguars and Bears were also denied permission to interview Van Pelt.
  • The Raiders have officially confirmed a handful of new additions to Jack Del Rio’s staff, announcing in a press release that they’ve hired Todd Downing (QB coach), Marcus Robertson (DB coach), Sal Sunseri (LB coach), and Mike Tice (OL coach).
  • The Jets also announced several new assistants in addition to their new coordinators. According to the team, Mike Caldwell (assistant HC/ILB coach), Mark Collins (OLB coach), Joe Danna (DB/S coach), and Karl Dorrell (WR coach) are among the new arrivals.
  • Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey isn’t phased by the fact that 2015 could be a make-or-break season for him and head coach Joe Philbin, suggesting that he approaches every season as if it’s make-or-break, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
  • The Texans have made some front office changes, promoting Jon Carr to director of college scouting and hiring Matt Jansen to the new position of college scouting coordinator, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links).
  • We learned yesterday that Kansas State wide receiver Tyler Lockett met with the Dolphins at the Senior Bowl, but Miami is far from the only team to interview Lockett. The wideout, who is generating plenty of buzz in Mobile, tells James Walker of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he spoke to 28 NFL teams this week.