Anthony Robinson

Titans To Hire Anthony Robinson As Assistant GM

The Titans will structure their front office to include two assistant general managers. Months after Ran Carthon named Chad Brinker to that position, the rookie GM will add another exec to that rung on the front office ladder.

Falcons director of college scouting Anthony Robinson will join the Titans as assistant GM, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter). Robinson had been with the Falcons since 2008.

Hired during Thomas Dimitroff‘s first year as Atlanta GM, Robinson moved up to the college scouting director post in 2019. Breaking into the business as a Ravens staffer nearly 20 years ago, Robinson became a full-time Falcons scout in 2011. Helping scout the likes of Devonta Freeman, Grady Jarrett and Calvin Ridley, Robinson moved into position to where a GM interview may not be too far off. The Falcons interviewed Robinson for their GM job ahead of Terry Fontenot‘s 2021 hire.

Carthon, who joined the Titans after spending several years as a top John Lynch lieutenant with the 49ers, will structure his front office the same way the Browns and Eagles did last year. Brinker, who came over from the Packers, will oversee the Titans’ football operations department; Robinson will run the team’s scouting operation, Breer adds.

Browns GM Andrew Berry organized his FO structure this way in 2022, promoting Glenn Cook to assistant GM to work alongside ex-Eagles staffer Catherine Raiche. After the Eagles lost several staffers — many to assistant GM roles — last year, Howie Roseman named Jon Ferrari and Alec Halaby as co-assistant GMs.

The Falcons kept Robinson in his college scouting director post despite changing GMs in 2021, with Fontenot taking over after Dimitroff’s lengthy run atop the NFC South team’s front office. Atlanta will now need to make an adjustment to replace Robinson.

2021 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

This year’s NFL GM carousel figures to be more active than usual. The Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Texans, and Jaguars are all on the hunt for a new front office leader. And that’s only the official list. The real tally shows six clubs looking for a GM, since the Washington Football Team is expected to install a GM to work alongside head coach Ron Rivera. By mid-January, we could easily see a couple more jobs opening up — that’d put ~25% of the NFL on the market.

We’ll keep track of the GM candidates for each club here, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make general manager changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:

Updated 1-19-21 (7:02pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers 

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Football Team

Falcons Interview Rick Smith, Anthony Robinson

The Falcons are off and running on their first GM search in 12-plus years. In addition to interviewing ex-Texans GM Rick Smith and eyeing meetings with Saints exec Terry Fontenot and Rams staffer Brad Holmes, the Falcons met with one of their own staffers.

Falcons director of college scouting Anthony Robinson joined Smith in interviewing for the position Friday, the team announced. Robinson is in his second year in his current position but has been with the team much longer.

With the Falcons since Thomas Dimitroff‘s arrival in 2008, Robinson worked through the ranks as a scout with the franchise during most of Dimitroff’s tenure. Prior to his 2019 elevation to the scouting director post, Robinson worked as a Falcons area scout.

Smith is the highest-profile name connected to this search thus far. He is expected to draw interest from multiple teams, though the former Houston front office boss has yet to be mentioned as a candidate for the other GM vacancies. Smith has been out of football since stepping away from his Texans post after the 2017 season, but the longtime GM has been eyeing a return to the league for a bit now. The Texans’ GM from 2006-17, Smith was there for the franchise’s first four playoff berths and swung the 2017 trade for Deshaun Watson.

It will be interesting to see if the Falcons join the Lions and Texans in meeting with ESPN’s Louis Riddick. The Jaguars are also interested in the first-year Monday Night Football analyst, though they have not set up an interview.