Another high-ranking executive in the Eagles’ front office has been ushered out the revolving door of personnel men at NovaCare Complex, and another power struggle has resulted in general manager Howie Roseman asserting his power above all.
New Year’s Eve turned into Groundhog Day at One NovaCare Way and the sudden, unexplained ouster of Tom Gamble, a respected scout and known ally of coach Chip Kelly, has again brought a wave of public backlash against Roseman.
But the genesis of the Eagles’ problem isn’t Roseman’s incessant need to excise any personnel man who dares threaten his post.
The team’s front-office discord starts right at the top.
Jeffrey Lurie, who has claimed to be obsessed with winning multiple Super Bowls, must likewise be enamored with drama and dysfunction.
According to multiple personnel men who have worked under Lurie and Roseman, the team’s unconventional front office structure has enabled management turmoil to prevail year after year despite the rash of changes around Lurie and Roseman.
The root of the problem is the flow of information from Roseman to Lurie, which is spun exactly the way Roseman wants it.
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So although Lurie is known to take “voluminous notes” about the goings-on in personnel matters surrounding his franchise, he’s essentially scribbling down the lecture coming from Roseman’s podium.
“A toxic environment,” as one former Eagles personnel executive deemed it.
Lurie trusts Roseman blindly and implicitly, which is the only reason to explain why he’s sat back and allowed several well-regarded football men to become fall guys when the Eagles didn’t win or made bad draft picks.
Someone always pays the price — Marc Ross, Lou Riddick, Jason Licht — and now Gamble.
Someone other than Roseman, of course.
Look at the front offices of other NFL teams usually in the postseason and competing for championships — Seattle, New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Baltimore.
All of them are headed by an accomplished personnel man (in New England’s case, a three-time champion head coach) who have salary-cap guys that handle contracts but have little, if any, say in personnel.It’s a structure that’s efficient, sensible and makes it clear which person is accountable for assembling the roster.
Sure, coaches and assistants have input on the draft, but at the end of the day, the organization’s fate is in the hands of one person who ascended to power up the scouting ladder.
Go check the first-round picks of the Packers, Steelers, Ravens and Patriots over the past few years. You’ll find plenty of misses. The Seahawks’ trade for Percy Harvin blew up in their faces.
You’ll also notice that none of those teams is plagued with rampant front-office turnover or feels the need to cut someone loose whenever a draft pick or free-agent signing doesn’t pan out.
Lurie instead has his tripod system where the head coach, general manager and president each report to him.
The president (Don Smolenski) controls the business side of the franchise and has no hand in personnel. The head coach has final say on the 53-man roster. But the general manager, who came up through the salary cap sector, has the owner’s complete confidence and backing.
With the Eagles, at the first sign of trouble, someone’s headed for the exit. The finger is always pointed but never at the man in charge.
Lurie has the power to change the model and fix the cracks in his foundation. He first needs to acknowledge that they exist.