Ryan Monnens

Buccaneers, Vikings Announce Updates To Front Office, Scouting Departments

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht announced a litany of promotions and new titles in the front office and scouting department this weekend, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic. Rob McCartney and Mike Biehl have both been granted the role of director of player personnel, promotions from their previous roles of director of pro scouting and director of college scouting, respectively. They’ll likely continue to focus on those areas of scouting, but with additional responsibilities added, as well.

Byron Kiefer has been promoted from senior national scout to assistant director of college scouting, Antwan Murray and Tony Hardie have both been promoted from area scouts to national scouts, and Shannon Hogue has been promoted from scouting assistant to scouting analyst. Cesar Rivera and Brian McLaughlin have both been made college scouts, after previously serving as scouting coordinator and NFS/combine scout, respectively, and Zach Smith will step into McLaughlin’s role as combine scout, a step up from his previous role of scouting assistant. Former Jaguars director of college scouting Mark Ellenz has been hired as a college scout and former football operations intern Peighton Roth has been officially brought on as a scouting coordinator.

The Vikings also announced the finishing touches to new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s staff this weekend. The team added two new hires in pro scout Donovan Jackson and national scout David Williams. Chisom Opara has been promoted from national scout to assistant director of player personnel, Chris Blanco has been promoted from assistant director of pro scouting to director of pro personnel, and Taylor Brooks has been promoted from scouting associate to player personnel analyst.

There were a number of updated title announcements, as well. We knew that former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson would be joining Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota, but we now know he will be in the role of senior vice president of player personnel. Ryan Monnens and Jamaal Stephenson have gone from co-directors of player personnel to director of player personnel and senior personnel executive, respectively, Imarjaye Albury has moved from the coaching role of assistant defensive line coach to pro scout, Sean Gustus has gone from area scout to national scout, and Kaitlin Zarecki has gone from manager of player development/special assistant to the general manager to football operations manager & special assistant to the general manager & head coach.

Finally, Minnesota announced some title changes to the analytics team with director of football analytics & pro scout Scott Kuhn dropping “analytics” for the more specific “quantitative methods.” Similarly, Rex Johnson has gone from research manager to football quantitative methods manager and Chris French has gone from football analyst to football quantitative methods analyst.

Vikings Promote Ryan Monnens, Jamaal Stephenson

The Vikings have promoted Ryan Monnens and Jamaal Stephenson to co-directors of player personnel, per a club announcement. It’s another step up for the execs, who are both entering their 20th year with the franchise.

[RELATED: Vikings’ Twyman To Make Full Recovery]

We are proud to announce these changes within our player personnel and football operations staffs,” said GM Rick Spielman in a statement. “Each of these individuals has worked extremely hard to earn their new opportunities, and the entire organization will benefit from the enhancements we’ve made.”

Monnens and Stephenson will take on more senior roles following the departures of other notable execs. George Paton, who turned down several GM opportunities in years past, is now serving as the Broncos’ GM. Meanwhile, longtime Vikings staffer Kelly Kleine followed Paton to become Denver’s new executive director of football operations.

In other Vikings news, defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman is expected to make a full recovery after he was shot in Washington D.C. on Sunday. Also, we recently learned that new Vikings defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson turned down a more lucrative offer from the Browns.