YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) When injuries cut his NFL career short, Dan Morgan restarted from the bottom, all the way to the Bills’ front office Excerpts from The Athletic article below ... Quote John Schneider first met Dan Morgan 18 years ago. Then the Seahawks director of player personnel, Schneider was handling interviews at the 2001 NFL Scouting Combine. Players were shuffling in and out of the Seahawks’ room in Indianapolis and in walked Morgan, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker prototype. Morgan came with a sterling resume. He was the only three-time captain in the history of the University of Miami and the first linebacker to start as a freshman there since Ray Lewis. He capped his career as an All-American with numerous defensive awards. Schneider saw then what made Morgan the top linebacker in that draft. “He was a rockstar,” Schneider said. The Seahawks considered taking Morgan with the ninth pick, but ultimately decided on wide receiver Koren Robinson. Schneider then hoped his mentor in Green Bay, Ron Wolf, would take Morgan at No. 10, but the Packers drafted Jamal Reynolds instead. The Panthers snagged Morgan with the 11th pick. That first impression lasted with Schneider and, in a way, put Morgan on the path to becoming the Buffalo Bills’ director of player personnel. ....... Most seem to think Morgan becoming a general manager is a matter of when, not if. That’s what Bills general manager Brandon saw last spring. When Brian Gaine left the Bills’ staff to become the Texans’ general manager, Beane only needed to conduct one interview. Morgan was at the top of the running list of potential hires Beane keeps. He was in Carolina when Morgan played and they had stayed in touch at the Senior Bowl and Combine over the years. Beane believed he would be a good fit, and the interview cemented it. The Bills hired Morgan as director of player personnel, which was another step up for him. After rising from intern to director of pro personnel in seven seasons with the Seahawks, Morgan hit a ceiling in Seattle. The Seahawks didn’t have a promotion available, but they also didn’t want to lose him. Schneider and Morgan became close friends and took family vacations together. .... Morgan’s discipline has been on full display since the minute he walked in the door. No, he’s taking practice reps anymore, but Morgan’s routine is meticulous. He’s up at 5 a.m. to get a workout in at a local gym. He’s at the facility by 6:30 a.m. and watching film half an hour later. “I watch tape from 7 o’clock in the morning until 8 o’clock at night,” Morgan said. “It’s not glamorous, but it’s something that I love to do. It was pretty easy for me to get back into it. I’ve never been scared to work and that was the one thing I knew with this job was that the hours were going to be long and I was going to have to put in a lot of work. I was completely fine with that.” Those hours aren’t an exaggeration, either, Beane points out. “He loves ball,” Beane said. “He likes talking ball. If I go back (into the office), I guarantee he has the film on.” How he watches tape has changed, though. He’s looking less at schemes and tendencies and more at traits of individual players and how they could help the Bills. He’s brought over some of the ideas he picked up in Seattle, but he’s also made an effort to fit in with the current group of personnel staff, including Joe Schoen, Malik Boyd and Terrance Gray. Edited February 15, 2019 by YoloinOhio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) ...sure sounds like McBeane made some excellent hires for his staff when others come knocking........dammit..... Edited February 15, 2019 by OldTimeAFLGuy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Read this the other day. Excellent read and the athletic is worth every penny 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBILL12 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Just another example that maybe, just maybe, the Bills are on the right track.....finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boco357 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Mcdermott when he was hired, said they wanted to never hold back their employees and encourage promotions, so looks that way so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyBatty is alive Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Bills already lost a really good hand last year in Brain Gaine, he is no GM of the Texans and doing a great job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) Many of us said at the time that first front office staff that Beane put together really was an exceptional group. Two guys have already gone out on promotion - Brian Gaine to be GM of Houston and Marvin Allen to be Assistant GM of the Dolphins. There will be more to come. He hired an outstanding staff. The question now is does he still have his finger on the pulse to replace them? Some guys prepare their ideal first staff for years waiting for their big chance but then once in the job take their eye off the high fliers lower down the ranks. Beane doesn't strike me as that sort and I hope he isn't. Edited February 15, 2019 by GunnerBill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heitz Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 1 hour ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said: ...sure sounds like McBeane made some excellent hires for his staff when others come knocking........dammit..... Watever - just another Carolina Connection! These guys need to get smart and bring in some REAL talent!!! ? (Great article!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wppete Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Hopefully he has a few years here in Buffalo to help build this team before he becomes a GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideNine Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 25 minutes ago, boco357 said: Mcdermott when he was hired, said they wanted to never hold back their employees and encourage promotions, so looks that way so far That being said if he is that good pay the man $$$$$ so he does not feel so "held back". I am a bit selfish regarding this, as I would like to see more continuity in the Bills FO. That being said, you still don't block guys from taking a promotion if your perks can't sway them towards retention. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 13 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: Many of us said at the time that first front office staff that Beane put together really was an exceptional group. Two guys have already gone out on promotion - Brian Gaine to be GM of Houston and Marvin Allen to be Assistant GM of the Dolphins. There will be more to come. He hired an outstanding staff. The question now is does he still have his finger on the pulse to replace them? Some guys prepare their ideal first staff for years waiting for their big chance but then once in the job take their eye off the high fliers lower down the ranks. Beane doesn't strike me as that sort and I hope he isn't. Gains was never going to be here long. He actually interviewed for the GM role for the Bills at the same time as Beane. It was always just a matter of the right fit coming open for him. Allen took a demotion when he came to Buffalo, so I feel the same way about him. He was Director of College Recruiting for KC and came to Buffalo as a Sr Scout. I think Joe Schoen or Dennis Hickey will be in the mix next hiring cycle if the Bills are successful. Depending on this next draft, I’d also look for Terrance Gray and Lake Dawson to get close looks. Dawson already has gotten some interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelingOnYouboty Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 It's the first time in forever where the league is looking at the Bills FO to hire guys. Credit to Beane but I hope he continues to hire young guys who look at the league differently. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 4 minutes ago, FeelingOnYouboty said: It's the first time in forever where the league is looking at the Bills FO to hire guys. Credit to Beane but I hope he continues to hire young guys who look at the league differently. It’s not in the FO but I really like the ST coach hire. It’s different and fresh to bring in former ST stud on the field instead of the old guy who just keeps getting jobs because of experience and connections. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 7 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: Gains was never going to be here long. He actually interviewed for the GM role for the Bills at the same time as Beane. It was always just a matter of the right fit coming open for him. Allen took a demotion when he came to Buffalo, so I feel the same way about him. He was Director of College Recruiting for KC and came to Buffalo as a Sr Scout. I think Joe Schoen or Dennis Hickey will be in the mix next hiring cycle if the Bills are successful. Depending on this next draft, I’d also look for Terrance Gray and Lake Dawson to get close looks. Dawson already has gotten some interviews. Yea - that was the thing it was an exceptional cast of guys with a good mix of experience and youth. Every hire that came in, especially after hiring Schoen and Gaine into the two top assistant roles I was like "how did they get him?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: Yea - that was the thing it was an exceptional cast of guys with a good mix of experience and youth. Every hire that came in, especially after hiring Schoen and Gaine into the two top assistant roles I was like "how did they get him?" I assumed it was Pegs $$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 20 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: I assumed it was Pegs $$$ That helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logic Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I enjoyed the article and I love the Athletic. But aren't we, um...NOT supposed to post full articles from pay sites on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Logic said: I enjoyed the article and I love the Athletic. But aren't we, um...NOT supposed to post full articles from pay sites on here? That’s what i thought too but last time I only posted part of it and a poster told me it’s allowed? I believed him but should probably check myself. Just trying to help by posting it. Edited February 15, 2019 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 Edit: I changed it to just excerpts. I checked the TOS and didn’t see anything specific to this but just in case.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 He has his work cut out for him - the pro personnel acquisitions under the Beane regime have been mediocre-to-terrible. They've done much better in college scouting. The next good offensive FA they sign will be the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logic Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 17 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: Edit: I changed it to just excerpts. I checked the TOS and didn’t see anything specific to this but just in case.... Right on. I didn't mean to bust balls, I just sympathize with the plight of the dying journalism industry and want to support the awesome people at The Athletic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelingOnYouboty Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said: It’s not in the FO but I really like the ST coach hire. It’s different and fresh to bring in former ST stud on the field instead of the old guy who just keeps getting jobs because of experience and connections. I love the Farwell hire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Logic said: Right on. I didn't mean to bust balls, I just sympathize with the plight of the dying journalism industry and want to support the awesome people at The Athletic. Last time I felt bad because i only posted excerpts and someone said I could post it all. It doesn’t seem right to do that, i agree. I tried to post some of the more relevant Bills stuff from the article. The Athletic has some REALLY good articles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 3 hours ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said: ...sure sounds like McBeane made some excellent hires for his staff when others come knocking........dammit..... The downside of making the right hires is people come poaching your staff. I wish it didn’t go with the territory, but it does. I hope we can keep making good decisions because this is actually a good problem to have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I feel like this new regime has done a pretty good job finding talented scouting and personnel execs. We’ve already lost a couple to promotions. Also, on a similar subject, all of the people the Bills interviewed for the GM job (before hiring Beane) are now GMs: Gaine, Gutekunst, Veach, Beane (obviously...lol). If McDermott put that list together, he did a good job identifying future GMs in waiting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 3 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said: He has his work cut out for him - the pro personnel acquisitions under the Beane regime have been mediocre-to-terrible. They've done much better in college scouting. The next good offensive FA they sign will be the first. The next good offensive FA will be the first expected to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 5 hours ago, WideNine said: That being said if he is that good pay the man $$$$$ so he does not feel so "held back". I am a bit selfish regarding this, as I would like to see more continuity in the Bills FO. That being said, you still don't block guys from taking a promotion if your perks can't sway them towards retention. As long as the HC and GM are continuous I'm ok with losing the director of pro personal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideNine Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Captain Hindsight said: As long as the HC and GM are continuous I'm ok with losing the director of pro personal I would not undervalue that director of pro personnel role. When the Bills promoted John Butler from his pro personnel role to GM and then jettisoned he and his protege A J Smith and Wade too...Butler and Smith both went to the Chargers. They built a great Chargers team while the Bills sank into a freaking tar pit of poor personnel decisions and even poorer leadership. The good ones are worth retaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSE Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 He has the sunglasses thing down, needs to work on gum chewing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 That's another area where Beane is far superior to anything we've had in recent memory and that is quality guys doing the evaluations. Dan Morgan is yet another guy who will most likely end up being a future GM. Having quality guys doing the evaluating on the team just improves the odds of obtaining good talent exponentially. I sense that we are in really good hands and have very little worries that they will select good players to build this team around through the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark92 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 (edited) Beane is a good young general manager. He came in here with a plan and so far seems to be nailing it. He saw that we had been treading water for years and needed a rebuild. Put a great staff together and started the process. He took the players of value that we had and got everything he could for them via trades. He ate all the dead money in one season ( 2018 ). He was able to go into this FA period with more than $75 million and will probably have around that amount next season. He is signing players to smart team friendly contracts that the Bills can get out of in a season or two but options to remain longer. It's a breath of fresh air to see a GM have a plan about roster building. He's a smart man and I hope the Pegulas and the fan base give him a little slack when something inevitably goes wrong somewhere. He's earning that trust with everyday that passes. Edited March 16, 2019 by Mark92 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Morgan has clearly made a difference already this offseason. The Pro Personnel dept. needed a serious talent infusion after last offseason's debacle and so far things are looking promising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 10:12 AM, RoyBatty is alive said: Bills already lost a really good hand last year in Brain Gaine, he is no GM of the Texans and doing a great job. It’s like the Bills have all of a sudden become a GM farm system. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call_Of_Ktulu Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I hope he helps us out with 2 amazing drafts and FA before he is poached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 9:13 PM, YoloinOhio said: It’s not in the FO but I really like the ST coach hire. It’s different and fresh to bring in former ST stud on the field instead of the old guy who just keeps getting jobs because of experience and connections. ANd signing the best KR/PR in the league will make this team even better. Our Punt Returns last year were awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 3 hours ago, Magox said: That's another area where Beane is far superior to anything we've had in recent memory and that is quality guys doing the evaluations. Dan Morgan is yet another guy who will most likely end up being a future GM. Having quality guys doing the evaluating on the team just improves the odds of obtaining good talent exponentially. I sense that we are in really good hands and have very little worries that they will select good players to build this team around through the draft. ....according to what I've read, McBeane's "Gang of 17+" staff is significantly comprised of many VP of Player Personnel &Director of Pro Player Personnel types from around the league.....I'd bet the payroll (including McBeane) is north of $5 mil., ALL out of Pegula's check book.....pretty fortunate to have owners willing to spend like that for a top notch staff....think the Bungles' staff is comprised of THREE, one of which is Brown's daughter............... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logic Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 1 minute ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said: ....according to what I've read, McBeane's "Gang of 17+" staff is significantly comprised of many VP of Player Personnel &Director of Pro Player Personnel types from around the league.....I'd bet the payroll (including McBeane) is north of $5 mil., ALL out of Pegula's check book.....pretty fortunate to have owners willing to spend like that for a top notch staff....think the Bungles' staff is comprised of THREE, one of which is Brown's daughter............... Not only have they spent on staff thus far, they're also spending big on training facilities and stadium upgrades. They seem to be sparing no expense. Beane says "This is what we need", and Beane gets it. How can you not like owners like that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 8 minutes ago, Logic said: Not only have they spent on staff thus far, they're also spending big on training facilities and stadium upgrades. They seem to be sparing no expense. Beane says "This is what we need", and Beane gets it. How can you not like owners like that? ...EXACTLY..........and why I LOATHE when I read some pointed headed minion posting about our "clueless owners"....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan692 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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