Buchsbaum reports
First-rate scouting can lift a team above the pack
By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
May 21, 2000
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| Very often, the difference between a good football team, a
great team and a very mediocre team is the man in charge of the scouting operation or the
scouts under him. For instance, the Broncos were a laughingstock in the NFL until they
put Carroll Hardy, a former baseball player who was also an All-America college football
player, in charge of the scouting. Hardy built the "Orange Crush" defense and
rebuilt the Denver team that went to Super Bowl XII and lost to Dallas.
In recent years, a big reason Buffalo has been able to stay on top is scouts such as
John Butler (who’s now the GM) and Dwight Adams. If not for these men, Buffalo never
would have landed players such as Jeff Burris, Henry Jones and Eric Moulds at the end of
the first round.
One reason Bill Polian, now in Indianapolis, keeps winning Executive of the Year awards
is that he knows how to surround himself with superb scouts. At one point in Buffalo,
Polian had Bob Ferguson (now Arizona’s GM), Butler and Adams working under him.
Now, it seems as though Polian is putting in the same kind of scouting superstar system
in Indianapolis. His latest addition is John Becker, the man who is probably as
responsible as anyone for putting the Super Bowl-champion Rams together. Becker is coming
in to assist Dom Anile as coordinator of scouts.
Becker has a tremendous track record and has great respect throughout the NFL. He will
make a difference in Indianapolis and could even be the difference between the Colts being
a close-but-no-cigar contender and actually going to and winning the Super Bowl this year. |
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