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By BOB McGINN
The Green Bay Packers are about a month away from announcing a major addition to their personnel department.
Milt Hendrickson, national scout for the Baltimore Ravens, will join the Packers shortly after the conclusion of the Ravens’ season, several sources said.
Although Hendrickson’s title could change, sources said the Packers’ plan was to name him assistant general manager under GM Brian Gutekunst.
Gutekunst wanted to hire the 44-year-old Hendrickson after the draft in May but Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome denied the team’s request to interview.
Hendrickson scouted this fall and is free to leave after the season.
The Packers haven’t had an assistant GM in years but at least eight teams in the NFL currently use the title. The list includes Eric DeCosta in Baltimore, Joe Schoen in Buffalo, Eliot Wolf in Cleveland, Ed Dodds in Indianapolis, Scott Pioli in Atlanta, George Paton in Minnesota, Jeff Ireland in New Orleans and Kevin Abrams with the New York Giants.
In almost every case, the assistant GM ranks as the second most important member of the team’s personnel department, and that’s the prominent role Hendrickson is expected to have in Green Bay.
“I’d say more teams than not have a strong No. 2 guy but with differing titles,” an executive in personnel for an NFL team said. “Milt will definitely be No. 2 when he arrives. He’s an outstanding hire.”
The connection between Gutekunst and Hendrickson dates to 1996 at Wisconsin-La Crosse when Hendrickson was the Eagles’ assistant offensive line coach and Gutekunst was helping the coaching staff after a shoulder injury cut short his playing career.
“That’s Gutey’s best friend,” one mutual acquaintance said. “But he’s also a legit good scout and great human being.”
An athlete at Pecatonica (Wis.) High School, Hendrickson was head coach at De Soto (Wis.) High School for three years and an assistant coach at his alma mater, Luther (Iowa) College, for five years. He served an internship with the Packers during training camp in 2004 before catching on with the Ravens as a player personnel assistant in ’05.
Hendrickson worked mainly in pro personnel in 2006-’07 before being promoted to Midwest scout. After five years in that role, he served as mid-regional scout from 2014-’16 before becoming national scout after the ’16 draft.
He and his family have lived in La Crosse for most of his scouting career.
“He grew up a die-hard Packers fan and this is literally a dream job for him,” one executive said. “So his motivation is through the roof. Talk about a guy who is going to take the utmost amount of pride in doing his job.”
Presently, the Packers list 18 scouts in their personnel department, with former GM Ted Thompson ranked second behind Gutekunst as senior adviser to football operations.
Thompson, 65, has moved back to his native Texas and several of his friends have expressed major concerns about what they regard as his declining health. Thompson is to be enshrined in the Packers Hall of Fame on May 4 but there are questions whether he’ll be able to address the crowd live.
In Gutekunst’s first year as GM beneath team president Mark Murphy, his top scouts have been Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Wojciechowski, co-directors of player personnel, and Matt Malaspina, director of college scouting.
“Green Bay lost a lot of people when they lost Wolf, (Alonzo) Highsmith, all those guys departed,” another personnel man said. “If you’re ‘Gutey,’ you’re probably looking for somebody you feel you can trust to be your No. 2 guy. Maybe he didn’t feel that with anybody.”
Like Gutekunst, however, Hendrickson has spent many more years scouting players in college football than those on NFL rosters and possibly headed for free agency.
Meanwhile, the decision by the Oakland Raiders to fire GM Reggie McKenzie on Sunday night left a key former operative in the Packers’ scouting department possibly on the job market.
McKenzie, 55, presumably will be paid by the Raiders until the four-year extension that he signed in July 2016 runs out after the draft in 2021. He worked for the Packers from May 1994 until taking the job with Oakland in January 2012. He worked with Gutekunst for 13 years.
McKenzie’s primary area of expertise in Green Bay was pro personnel, the area where some opposing personnel people have characterized the new Packers scouting staff as less than robust. It’s possible that McKenzie might agree to some form of consulting job with the Packers while he collects the bulk of his salary from Oakland.
“His training was all in pro (scouting),” said a former colleague of McKenzie. “I’d say that was probably his strong suit when he first went there (Oakland). But after six years he’s been working the colleges pretty strong.
“I think he wants to work. He’ll look and see what’s around.”
Another ex-colleague of McKenzie said one of his main strengths was providing encouragement and advice within the locker room.
“He’s much better around your players,” he said. “You’d definitely want that. That’s definitely his strong suit.
“I think (as a scout) where Reggie is best would be in-house evaluating talent. Looking at film of college guys, but in-house. Not really a road guy. He would take the occasional school visit but that wouldn’t be his thing on a daily basis.”
McKenzie also would be a natural to join either GM John Schneider in Seattle or GM John Dorsey in Cleveland in some capacity. They all worked together in Green Bay as well.
“I think the question would be whether Gutekunst would feel threatened by a guy like that who was there,” one executive said. “If he didn’t feel that way, if he wasn’t one of those guys who would feel insecure, I know Reggie always liked living there and his wife liked living there.
“I would think that would be a nice fit. Plus, they get a strong personnel guy.”
Shaun Herock, the Raiders’ director of college scouting under McKenzie since May 2012, was named the team’s interim GM on Monday by coach Jon Gruden, who has authority over all football decisions in Oakland.
“He’s a very talented personnel man,” Gruden said, referring to Herock. “A guy that works hard, loves football, loves this organization.”
Herock apparently will direct the personnel department through the draft. At that time, it’s possible Gruden might want to hire his own GM.
Herock spent 18 ½ years working for the Packers, including 13 ½ alongside Gutekunst. At 48, he’s preparing to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ken, who basically functioned as a GM in Tampa Bay and Atlanta before serving as vice president of personnel in Green Bay from 1999-2001.
If Shaun Herock is looking for work after the draft, the Packers might be a possibility.
Scot McCloughan, another former Packers scout with experience as a GM in San Francisco and Washington, consulted for the Browns leading up to the draft in 2018. Presently, he lives in Colorado where he operates his own independent scouting service.
Gutekunst has spoken highly of McCloughan’s efforts to teach him the business during his formative years in Green Bay.
On Monday night, McCloughan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he wasn’t interested in becoming the next GM of the Raiders.
Depending on the club, area scouts can be intimately involved with the in-house portion of draft preparation or excluded from it after they file their written reports on players.
The Ravens are among teams with a rich history of including their personnel people in many facets of the scouting operation.
“As part of their growth, those guys in Baltimore are always exposed to some in-the-office elements that not all road scouts get,” said one personnel man. “They’re a very proactive organization with their guys’ growth.
“Many people out of the know might bash the hiring because he’s been solely a college scout. Milt will be coming in (with) the title of national scout, but that’s selling him a little short as far as some of the positives and experience he’s bringing to the job.
“Most everybody that gets one of these bigger jobs is learning on the fly. He’s definitely smart and conscientious enough to maximize and expedite his learning curve.
“He is a diligent and extremely hard worker who epitomizes the term professional. He’s definitely capable of handling all of the additional responsibilities that he’ll have.”
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The Green Bay Packers are about a month away from announcing a major addition to their personnel department.
Milt Hendrickson, national scout for the Baltimore Ravens, will join the Packers shortly after the conclusion of the Ravens’ season, several sources said.
Although Hendrickson’s title could change, sources said the Packers’ plan was to name him assistant general manager under GM Brian Gutekunst.
Gutekunst wanted to hire the 44-year-old Hendrickson after the draft in May but Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome denied the team’s request to interview.
Hendrickson scouted this fall and is free to leave after the season.
The Packers haven’t had an assistant GM in years but at least eight teams in the NFL currently use the title. The list includes Eric DeCosta in Baltimore, Joe Schoen in Buffalo, Eliot Wolf in Cleveland, Ed Dodds in Indianapolis, Scott Pioli in Atlanta, George Paton in Minnesota, Jeff Ireland in New Orleans and Kevin Abrams with the New York Giants.
In almost every case, the assistant GM ranks as the second most important member of the team’s personnel department, and that’s the prominent role Hendrickson is expected to have in Green Bay.
“I’d say more teams than not have a strong No. 2 guy but with differing titles,” an executive in personnel for an NFL team said. “Milt will definitely be No. 2 when he arrives. He’s an outstanding hire.”
The connection between Gutekunst and Hendrickson dates to 1996 at Wisconsin-La Crosse when Hendrickson was the Eagles’ assistant offensive line coach and Gutekunst was helping the coaching staff after a shoulder injury cut short his playing career.
“That’s Gutey’s best friend,” one mutual acquaintance said. “But he’s also a legit good scout and great human being.”
An athlete at Pecatonica (Wis.) High School, Hendrickson was head coach at De Soto (Wis.) High School for three years and an assistant coach at his alma mater, Luther (Iowa) College, for five years. He served an internship with the Packers during training camp in 2004 before catching on with the Ravens as a player personnel assistant in ’05.
Hendrickson worked mainly in pro personnel in 2006-’07 before being promoted to Midwest scout. After five years in that role, he served as mid-regional scout from 2014-’16 before becoming national scout after the ’16 draft.
He and his family have lived in La Crosse for most of his scouting career.
“He grew up a die-hard Packers fan and this is literally a dream job for him,” one executive said. “So his motivation is through the roof. Talk about a guy who is going to take the utmost amount of pride in doing his job.”
Presently, the Packers list 18 scouts in their personnel department, with former GM Ted Thompson ranked second behind Gutekunst as senior adviser to football operations.
Thompson, 65, has moved back to his native Texas and several of his friends have expressed major concerns about what they regard as his declining health. Thompson is to be enshrined in the Packers Hall of Fame on May 4 but there are questions whether he’ll be able to address the crowd live.
In Gutekunst’s first year as GM beneath team president Mark Murphy, his top scouts have been Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Wojciechowski, co-directors of player personnel, and Matt Malaspina, director of college scouting.
“Green Bay lost a lot of people when they lost Wolf, (Alonzo) Highsmith, all those guys departed,” another personnel man said. “If you’re ‘Gutey,’ you’re probably looking for somebody you feel you can trust to be your No. 2 guy. Maybe he didn’t feel that with anybody.”
Like Gutekunst, however, Hendrickson has spent many more years scouting players in college football than those on NFL rosters and possibly headed for free agency.
Meanwhile, the decision by the Oakland Raiders to fire GM Reggie McKenzie on Sunday night left a key former operative in the Packers’ scouting department possibly on the job market.
McKenzie, 55, presumably will be paid by the Raiders until the four-year extension that he signed in July 2016 runs out after the draft in 2021. He worked for the Packers from May 1994 until taking the job with Oakland in January 2012. He worked with Gutekunst for 13 years.
McKenzie’s primary area of expertise in Green Bay was pro personnel, the area where some opposing personnel people have characterized the new Packers scouting staff as less than robust. It’s possible that McKenzie might agree to some form of consulting job with the Packers while he collects the bulk of his salary from Oakland.
“His training was all in pro (scouting),” said a former colleague of McKenzie. “I’d say that was probably his strong suit when he first went there (Oakland). But after six years he’s been working the colleges pretty strong.
“I think he wants to work. He’ll look and see what’s around.”
Another ex-colleague of McKenzie said one of his main strengths was providing encouragement and advice within the locker room.
“He’s much better around your players,” he said. “You’d definitely want that. That’s definitely his strong suit.
“I think (as a scout) where Reggie is best would be in-house evaluating talent. Looking at film of college guys, but in-house. Not really a road guy. He would take the occasional school visit but that wouldn’t be his thing on a daily basis.”
McKenzie also would be a natural to join either GM John Schneider in Seattle or GM John Dorsey in Cleveland in some capacity. They all worked together in Green Bay as well.
“I think the question would be whether Gutekunst would feel threatened by a guy like that who was there,” one executive said. “If he didn’t feel that way, if he wasn’t one of those guys who would feel insecure, I know Reggie always liked living there and his wife liked living there.
“I would think that would be a nice fit. Plus, they get a strong personnel guy.”
Shaun Herock, the Raiders’ director of college scouting under McKenzie since May 2012, was named the team’s interim GM on Monday by coach Jon Gruden, who has authority over all football decisions in Oakland.
“He’s a very talented personnel man,” Gruden said, referring to Herock. “A guy that works hard, loves football, loves this organization.”
Herock apparently will direct the personnel department through the draft. At that time, it’s possible Gruden might want to hire his own GM.
Herock spent 18 ½ years working for the Packers, including 13 ½ alongside Gutekunst. At 48, he’s preparing to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ken, who basically functioned as a GM in Tampa Bay and Atlanta before serving as vice president of personnel in Green Bay from 1999-2001.
If Shaun Herock is looking for work after the draft, the Packers might be a possibility.
Scot McCloughan, another former Packers scout with experience as a GM in San Francisco and Washington, consulted for the Browns leading up to the draft in 2018. Presently, he lives in Colorado where he operates his own independent scouting service.
Gutekunst has spoken highly of McCloughan’s efforts to teach him the business during his formative years in Green Bay.
On Monday night, McCloughan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he wasn’t interested in becoming the next GM of the Raiders.
Depending on the club, area scouts can be intimately involved with the in-house portion of draft preparation or excluded from it after they file their written reports on players.
The Ravens are among teams with a rich history of including their personnel people in many facets of the scouting operation.
“As part of their growth, those guys in Baltimore are always exposed to some in-the-office elements that not all road scouts get,” said one personnel man. “They’re a very proactive organization with their guys’ growth.
“Many people out of the know might bash the hiring because he’s been solely a college scout. Milt will be coming in (with) the title of national scout, but that’s selling him a little short as far as some of the positives and experience he’s bringing to the job.
“Most everybody that gets one of these bigger jobs is learning on the fly. He’s definitely smart and conscientious enough to maximize and expedite his learning curve.
“He is a diligent and extremely hard worker who epitomizes the term professional. He’s definitely capable of handling all of the additional responsibilities that he’ll have.”
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