Raiders Hire Reggie McKenzie as their GM

[chuckleslove]

Yeah, it very well could be, I'm sure at one point or another race was an issue in these things, but I think over time it definitely has improved and continues to improve. I would like to think that by the time my generation(people who are currently ~30) are at the top of these ownership circles it will be a complete non factor. I'm not sure on your age but in my generation I can't recall knowing a single person who was the slightest bit racist, that doesn't mean there weren't any but I feel like the majority of my generation generally does just see people, I know for a fact I certainly do and I've been in a management position to hire people before and have hired both minorities and white people.

For me personally I couldn't even begin to analyze the makeup of scouts and front office personnel because there are just so many different scouts and I don't think all the teams even make their names/jobs public. I'm sure you could find it if you did the digging but I have no idea.

Most of the GMs in the NFL played college ball and then went in to either scouting, coaching or grad assistant type jobs after college, well I say most that is the roughly 50% who played college ball.

I was honestly shocked that it was only a couple former players as GMs.

I respect your theory that maybe he was passed over due to racial overtones, my positive outlook on things would just like to think that those days are in our past and not an issue, certainly becoming less of an issue as time goes by.

While I do agree that you shouldn't ignore race if you wouldn't with the rest of the business world, the fact is that the general rank and file employee in the NFL(the players) have a higher population of minorities than the vast majority of professions, the only thing I can think of that probably has it beat would be the NBA which likely has even more minorities than the NFL.

[Newz]

How the **** is race even being discussed when it comes to this?

[humanrefutation]

Yeah, it very well could be, I'm sure at one point or another race was an issue in these things, but I think over time it definitely has improved and continues to improve. I would like to think that by the time my generation(people who are currently ~30) are at the top of these ownership circles it will be a complete non factor. I'm not sure on your age but in my generation I can't recall knowing a single person who was the slightest bit racist, that doesn't mean there weren't any but I feel like the majority of my generation generally does just see people, I know for a fact I certainly do and I've been in a management position to hire people before and have hired both minorities and white people.

Oh, I get what you're saying, but I think many out there need to understand what racism is. Racism isn't simply overtly intentional actions, like calling someone a racial slur, physically assaulting someone because they're a person of color, or making prejudiced statements. It's more then that. Racism is an institutional issue, a social issue, an economic issue, and a subconscious issue as well. It's based on social privilege as well. I think it's hard for someone who isn't a person of color to see that, which is where education needs to come in. But, it definitely exists, and it's actually really debilitating to trying to rectify those issues when people try to shove it under the rug (I don't think you were doing that, it's just a general comment).

I'm 25. I'm not much younger than you. I think that some of the more obvious occurrences of racism have decreased (though, are far from eliminated. I've seen it too often in my own life to know that). But, I do think the more subtle and institutional issues haven't been adequately addressed to any meaningful degree.

For me personally I couldn't even begin to analyze the makeup of scouts and front office personnel because there are just so many different scouts and I don't think all the teams even make their names/jobs public. I'm sure you could find it if you did the digging but I have no idea.

Haha, it is indeed a tough task that requires a fair amount of research. I didn't expect you to pop up with the numbers. I just wanted to acknowledge that might be a better subset to analyze.

[El Duderino]

My point being that former players just aren't GMs, I'm not even sure many of them go on to be scouts which is generally where you make your move to be the GM. Former players have been hired as coaches which makes more sense, they would understand that aspect of the game since they have been through it.

I don't think it's so much that former players can't become good scouts and then potential GM candidates down the road compared to becoming coaches, i think it's much more that former players would simply prefer going the route of being a coach to being a scout, with good reason.

Starting out at the bottom as an NFL scout is far from a glamorous job. Those guys live out of a suitcase traveling the country to scout countless players at not a high salary. Then even if they show some aptitude at evaluating college talent, it usually takes many years just to reach the point of being the 2nd/3rd/4th guy to the actual GM. Most scouts starting at the bottom are looking at 10 plus years at the very least before before even having a remote chance to be considered by other teams for a GM gig. Just look how long it took Wolf, Thompson, and now McKenzie to get a GM job.

So i think if given the choice of choosing between going right into coaching on a college/pro level or choosing to start out at the bottom as a coach, the vast majority of former players will choose to go into coaching. At least as a coach of any kind, a former player will get a decent salary and he's involved in the action of game day. The enjoyment of coaching players and still being in the locker room, not driving across the country and living in hotels years after year to scout countless kids who your team likely won't end up drafting anyways.

[chuckleslove]

I 100% agree with all of that El Dude I just didn't say it. Far easier and more lucrative for a former player to go in to coaching, TV analyst, or just buy a car dealership and slide in to a private life. I think they would have to genuinely love scouting to take that route.

[Icness]

My one year as a field scout I made $24.8K, plus a car that was inferior to the car I already owned (Chrysler Sebring vs. Jeep Liberty). I spent 5 out of 7 nights a week in a hotel from late July thru mid-November, then spent four of the next six weeks at team HQ. Spent most of January/Feb. doing the all-star circuit and doing more background digging on certain players (which really sucks!), then three more weeks at team HQ working at least 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our Dir. of Collegiate Scouting did not leave the building that entire 3 week period except to go to court to finalize his divorce.

During that time period the team fired the GM that hired me. I knew I was not going to be brought back but they kept me around through draft season. That happens a lot, just happened to the Colts and Rams, and the Raiders are quietly about to whack their entire scouting staff except one guy. It's a pretty transient, low-paying life that is extremely unappealing to most former players. But it's very hard to do anything on the front office side without serving at least 3 years as a scout. Most players aren't going to want to accept that pissant salary for that work with the faint promise of moving up the ladder down the road. Heck it was tough for me; I took a pay cut from being an inner-city middle school teacher and football ref to do it.

[an_also]

My one year as a field scout I made $24.8K, plus a car that was inferior to the car I already owned (Chrysler Sebring vs. Jeep Liberty).

Jesus christ, How can a fulltime position in the nfl be that low??

[beyond_the_arc]

My one year as a field scout I made $24.8K, plus a car that was inferior to the car I already owned (Chrysler Sebring vs. Jeep Liberty).

Jesus christ, How can a fulltime position in the nfl be that low??

Don't you wonder why more teams than not suck at building through the draft? Teams who can scout consistently do just fine drafting in the bottom half of each round while the rest prove their incompetence.