http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post/_/id/51977/wholesale-changes-in-san-diego "Mortensen reported a likely replacement for Smith would be San Diego director of player personnel Jimmy Raye. Then, Mortensen reported, college scouting director John Spanos likely would become the director of player personnel."
Spanos is not going to be the GM, that's just not going to happen. If you want to see what his future role is, see John Elway in Denver; special assistant, has the ear of the owner and is an active advisor. If Spanos is even thought of as a GM NO ONE (and I mean NO ONE) will ever take a head coaching job in San Diego. No kid of the owner ever becomes a GM, but what Spanos is doing isn't surprising and it is normal among owners. Jimmy Raye is likely in consideration and why not, he's earned his way up the ladder and has been here the longest. Honestly I don't know what kind of candidates could be considered for a GM position, Khan from Pitt is the only one I'm aware of
It just seems lazy. Like Spanos is unaware of any other options himself, especially if this decision has been made already without any interviews.
It was probably a question of who an initial candidate for GM would be, not a comprehensive search would yield. It's natural for a first candidate to be someone internal but that doesn't mean it's end all/be all
According to Acee (if you consider him a credible source), Jimmy was the chief guy responsible for finding those "diamond in the dumpster" players. Guy's like Alexander.
And where that worries me the most is that this signals to me that Dean ain't bucking the other long-ingrained traditions with this team: You know, like not spending 1st round picks on OL, no matter how much it's needed. Our talent eval group needs a breath of fresh air - someone who will find different rocks to kick up in search of talent. I'm less concerned with having a GM that can find the value in the rags of other teams (because - even with the success Alexander's had there's still his past injury woes and his robo-knees - there's always a reason why those guys are castoffs to begin with - as we saw with Gaither) and instead concerned with having a GM who can maximize the premium assets available to us to more consistently translate those into premium talent. Marc Ross isn't the hot GM candidate out of the Giants organization so much because the team found Victor Cruz in UDFA, but rather because the team has parlayed its premium picks of late into the likes of Jason Pierre-Paul, Prince Amukamara (starting to come around, but even still it was a "don't look the gift horse in the mouth" scenario), Reuben Randle, Linval Joseph, Hakeem Nicks, and Kenny Phillips.
To be fair....... Jimmy Raye is only allowed to do what AJ lets him do. It's the GM that calls the shots on draft day.
I hate the fact that Dean isn't looking elsewhere for a GM, just being lazy and hiring an internal. But he was one of four candidates to be interviewed for the Bears' GM spot last year. Marc Ross was also in that discussion. But I'd like Dean to look at Jason Licht as well, form the Patriots. Also, another candidate and finalist for the GM position for the Bears. But Jimm Raye wouldn't be a bad hire at all. I did some homework on him, and he is credited for drafting LaDanian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Shaun Phillips, Michael Turner, Vincent Jackson, Darren Sproles, Antonio Cromartie, Eric Weddle and Ryan Mathews. And AJ is credited for losing 6 of those 10 players to FA.. All pro bowlers by the way.. And not wanting Buster Davis is a plus in my eyes..
Careful, you might get a picture of dead holding it with non-standard portions of his anatomy and a look on his face like he is passing a brick.
