Salli Clavelle

NFC Front Office Updates: Vikings, Cowboys, Packers, Lions

The Vikings announced a number of front office adjustments last week, finalizing their staff moving into 2023. Five employees got promotions and another ten were added to the team’s staff. Some of these changes have been noted in previous posts.

Of the five, four promotions four were administrative, analytics, or personnel positions. Formerly the manager of football information systems, Luke Burson was promoted to director of football information systems in the analytics department. Emily Badis was elevated from football administration coordinator to manager of football administration. In personnel, Alex Dale, previously a scouting associate, was promoted to pro scout, and Mitch Johnson-Martin‘s title was updated to player personnel analyst-pro scouting.

As for the new hires, seven of the announcements were new information to the analytics and personnel staffs. In analytics, Anthony Caron was hired to the role of football information systems developer. In personnel, Minnesota brought in Salli Clavelle, who has spent the past five years in the 49ers’ personnel department. She will come on as a pro scout for the Vikings. The team has brought on a new area scout in Steve Sabo, as well. Sabo is a veteran who, last year, stepped down from his role as director of pro personnel of the Falcons. Jack Murphy joins the staff as a BLESTO/college scout. Lastly, the team added three scouting associates in Michelle Mankoff, Shantell Rodgers, and N’Tare Williamson. Rodgers is getting her first official NFL opportunity after spending a week as the team’s Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellow last August. This will be Williamson’s first NFL job, as well.

Here are a few other front office updates from around the NFC:

  • The Cowboys have made two additions to their analytics staff this offseason. After adding John Park as the team’s new director of strategic football operations earlier this monththe analytics staff added Sarah Mallepalle as strategic football analyst, according to Seth Walder of ESPN.
  • The Packers handed out two promotions last week, according to Neil Stratton. Previously a pro scouting intern, Daric Whipple has been elevated to scout. Another pro scouting intern, Quandon Christian, also received a promotion, earning the role of pro scout.
  • Lastly, the Lions promoted former assistant director of college scouting Brian Hudspeth to director of college scouting. The veteran is entering his 23rd season in the NFL, including six in Detroit. He spent four seasons as a national scout before being promoted to his previous position last year. He takes the position in place of Dave Sears, who took the assistant general manager job in Arizona this January.

49ers Make Front Office Changes

The 49ers may be a team to watch for GM hires in the near future. In addition to top John Lynch lieutenant Adam Peters, the team has moved other staffers to jobs from which teams often poach GMs.

Going into his fifth year with the 49ers, Ran Carthon will rise to the position of director of player personnel. The former Florida Gators fullback has spent nearly a decade as a pro personnel director, doing so with the Rams from 2012-16 and in his first four-plus years with the 49ers.

This was Peters’ post during his first three-plus years with the 49ers; he rose to assistant GM in February. R.J. Gillen, a seventh-year 49ers staffer, will succeed Carthon as the 49ers’ director of pro personnel.

Ethan Waugh will become San Francisco’s VP of player personnel. Having spent nearly 20 years with the franchise, Waugh has climbed from the assistant level to the scouting tier to college scouting director to this high-level executive post. Peters received multiple interviews for the Panthers’ GM job that went to Scott Fitterer. It would not surprise if one of the other 49ers high-ranking execs joined him on the GM interview circuit soon.

The 49ers are also promoting Salli Clavelle to an area scout post. A three-year 49ers staffer, Clavelle previously served as a pro personnel analyst. In 2019, Clavelle was the only woman to hold a full-time NFL scouting position. Additionally, the 49ers hired Jessi Seumalo as a scouting assistant. The younger sister of Eagles starting guard Isaac Seumalo, Jessi was part of Washington State and Utah’s recruiting operations over the past three years. Clavelle and Seumalo join the likes of Kelly Kleine (Broncos), Catherine Raiche (Eagles) and others in what has been a banner offseason for women advancing in the NFL front office and scouting ranks.

49ers Notes: Verrett, Front Office, Taylor

Jason Verrett has had a long road. Ever since the 2014 first round pick debuted with the Chargers, it’s been clear he has a ton of talent. In 2015 he had a breakout sophomore season and made the Pro Bowl, but unfortunately that’s the only year he’s been able to stay healthy. In his other four years in the league, he’s only played in 11 total games. Most recently, he missed the entire 2018 campaign with a torn Achilles. Verrett said earlier this offseason he was in a “dark place” after his most recent injury and that the contemplated retirement, but the cornerback ended up signing a one-year, $3.6MM deal with the 49ers.

San Francisco is understandably taking it slowly with him, but he appears to be making some progress. Verrett said recently that he’s “on track to be ready for training camp,” per Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports. Verrett has played at an elite level in the past, but it’s unclear what he’ll look like in 2019 after all the injuries. If he can get back to anywhere close to his 2015 self, he’ll be a huge addition for a 49ers secondary that struggled mightily last year.

Here’s more from San Francisco:

  • The 49ers made a historic promotion earlier this week, elevating Salli Clavelle to the role of pro personnel analyst, per Matt Maioccio of NBC Sports. Clavelle is the league’s only woman who holds a full-time scouting job. Maioccio also has updates on a handful of other moves the 49ers made in their scouting department, including hiring Steve Slowik away from Pro Football Focus to be a scouting assistant.
  • The 49ers have receivers Deebo Samuel, Dante Pettis, and Marquise Goodwin all playing on the outside, but they’ve got an interesting battle going on for their starting slot receiver job. In a separate piece, Maioccio writes that “Trent Taylor clearly created separation against Richie James,” for the role, and that Taylor has “created a nice rapport with [Jimmy] Garoppolo.” Taylor, a fifth round pick in 2017, had a promising rookie season but a disappointing 2018. Now fully healthy after back surgery limited him last offseason, it sounds like he could be in for a bounce back year.