Report: Michigan Hiring Tom Gamble As Something Or Other
Via Licensed Twitter Troll Tim Kawakami:
Word out of Ann Arbor is that former 49ers personnel exec Tom Gamble is joining Jim Harbaugh's Michigan staff...
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) July 20, 2017
This is considerably more interesting than your average noncoaching hire. Gamble's spent the last three decades as a player personnel type guy in the NFL, almost all of it with the 49ers. He overlapped with Harbaugh for a couple years, leaving after the 2012-13 season for a similar job with the Eagles. That move may have been the beginning of the end for Harbaugh's San Francisco tenure: respected, longtime personnel guy leaves, Baalke consolidates control, starts whisper campaign about Harbaugh, etc., etc., etc.
Gamble returned to the 49ers a couple years later* and was pushed out in February after John Lynch made a couple hires to replace him… including former Lions exec Martin Mayhew. BREAKING: 49ers still owned by Jed York. Kawakami is more or less the only person to have said anything useful about Gamble that I can find:
Of all the 49ers' Baalke guys, no question Tom Gamble was the most connected, experienced and normal. But regime-changes happen.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 23, 2017
"Most normal" is not often a descriptor applied to Harbaugh hires but given the context that might not mean a whole lot.
Another thing in the podcast...
— Guy Haberman (@GuyHaberman) February 24, 2017
After several ugly 49ers divorces, Tom Gamble's departure was straightforward & uneventful. That's progress pic.twitter.com/o2Ja1L6iRd
Gamble is almost certainly going to be a quasi-GM in Ann Arbor, organizing recruiting boards and talent acquisition attempts. It'll be a shift for him, and for Michigan, but if anything the guy seems overqualified to be a recruiting coordinator.
*[He got fired from the Eagles as part of an ugly power struggle between Chip Kelly and his GM, and arrived in San Francisco just before they hired… Chip Kelly. Kelly was pro-Gamble, at least.]
I'm not sure what to think about this hire. It is a very interesting one, to say the least. Can't wait to get more details on what exactly his role will be. Color me intrigued...
anyone with 30 years of NFL experience has got to be good at whatever they are doing. i'm thrilled to see how JH uses him.
Agreed. Even with potential role TBD, it's a selling point to recruits - this guy knows what NFL teams look for, can help you get there, etc. - from a non-coaching position that's a nice pull.
for the kind of guys they want. Here's another guy, heavily plugged into the NFL, able to help kids get looked at, guided to the right people -- M gets to burnish its claim as THE college program that will get you to the League.
Who has stronger in-program NFL people?
Noooooooobody.
Harbaugh has a way of doing things that seem unprecedented and I love it, he truly is a leader and best!!
I feel like this is absolutely a positive move that will reap huge benefits.
Hopefully he brings more structure to Harbaugh's madness for recruiting and we can have fewer issues with communication with recruits and things like misspelling names and sending thank you cards for attending events to recruits that didn't actually attend (although Solomon ended up in the class so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
like THAT would ever happen.....
... you don't have to have an opinion about everything. it's okay to say, "Hmm. that's news."
Recruiting czar.
I'd say Macfarlane and Chael Sonnen's lovechild.
Was just thinking this. I just couldn't think of his name!
+1
Do other programs have dedicated guys to run the recruiting boards? Seems like as far as I've heard it's been the coaches organizing the boards with other top programs. I like the innovation, Harbaugh is continuing to create more of an NFL structure with our program.
for a job as recruiting coordinator, then I think Harbaugh's long game is to make the rest of them underqualified.
This is typical Harbaugh: find an operational function that everyone else has been sort of neglecting, and develop a competitive advantage there.
The guy is obviously good at identifying talent at the college and pro level. I imagine he can do the same at the HS level. Once again, JH is developing an NFL staff at the college level. My guess is that his title won't matter--he'll do what he's good at.
is the hardest one to project because of the lack of competition and the fact they're young boys who hasn't fully grown into their bodies. It'll be interesting to see how he'll use his experience to help out Harbaugh in recruiting.
Edge of the Internet reporting additional details:
Apparently Gamble was seen as an up & comer in NFL circles, and that Harbaugh reportedly would have wanted him as his GM at his next NFL coaching gig.
EOTI also reporting that Harbaugh has hired Rich Rod's former Director of Player Personnel in Arizona, Matt Dudek. Dudek did all sorts of recruiting stuff for RichRod and was involved in a few top 25 recruiting classes when he was at AZ and when he worked for Pitt.
Matt Dudek was Director of On-Campus Recruiting and Player Personnel at Arizona. Chris Singletary was the Director of Recruiting.
http://tucson.com/sports/blogs/uafootball/arizona-football-ua-to-hire-n…
Ahead of the curve. AGAIN
Pretty soon Pete will run out of pearls to clutch and fainting couches on which to faint.
pete's got a lot of couches.
Is there a reason to think he would be an asset in this regard? Doesn't seem like he would have been making connection with California HS coaches in his role with the 49ers and does HS players know who this guy is? As a Lions fan, I know the GM and owner, but that's it for front office people.
Probably taking Minick's old job.
way too much experience to handle recruiting. I'm betting recruiting, compliance, and every other off-field facet will roll up to him.
Too bad he isn't staying at Michigan for the long haul hahahahahaha
So what's the tally now for NFL experience within the program??
Help round these young men into all facets of what it takes to be a pro and in general a man of the world.
Yes. And I feel the biggest effect is this....
That odds of our recruits becoming college stars and later NFL players, gets a large uptick...it may be a small number as of now, but it will go way up..... a NFL personnel guy knows the body type, all attributes, and such to really look for... how to separate the studs from the duds. So in my view, we will see very few Chris Rocks, Jordan Paskorz', Justin Turners etc of the world, who fizzle out fast, and more of the Ryan Glasgow types, who play on Sundays...
Regardless of what his position will be, the question Harbuagh must keep asking himself is 'how do I make this better?'
So how does he? Lets see - he's 20-6 with two top 20 (and a top 10) finishes, two top-5 recruiting classes, significantly improved program prospects, drastically improved national respect... How does he make it better?
By building an NFL-level organization. You don't stick in the NFL for 30 years if you suck at whatever you do (unless you're in the Lions outfit). And Harbaugh doesn't hire people that are merely competent for the job - he hires people that are grand slams at whatever position is needed most. He's got it handled on the field, and this hire looks like he's taking care of it off the field, too.
and main competition for all of the above would help too.
I'm not convincved that NFL experience automatically equals success, but i do trust Harbaugh to be creative and tireless in his quest to make Michigan better.
This puts me squarely in the cautiously optimistic category.
I agree with you and many other posters. Ths seems like a great hire no matter what the position is. I can't remember who but there was a scout that said Michigan was run like an NFL team, this will only promote that feeling going forward.
One point I didn't see made, sorry if I missed it, was that having Gamble will probably become the NFL Liaison, a position we currently don't have. If anyone remembers Vance Marrow he holds that position at Kentucky along with TE coach and recruiting coordinator.
Adding Gamble to all the other NFL coaches/personal will only help guys get drafted when NFL teams are making tough choices.
He is also a guy that players should be able to go to understand where they might fall in the NFL draft. He should have a feel for the pulse of the NFL.
It might only be a year or two but I think it is a great move and I am really interested to see how it plays out.
That's a great point - and something I didn't consider. Not only could he function as a liason for players, his front office contacts can pay off for coaches, too. I've no doubt that some of the NFL coaches UM has are there for only a few years and are using it as a springboard, or to reinvent themselves (ie: Jedd Fisch, seemingly part of the Jacksonville morass now has new football life). Gamble can help place them, while also identifying new talent to bring in.
I just can't see a downside to this hire!
all your 5 stars
Moreso, the effect of the hire is that its more likely now that the 3 and 4 stars we get, that will shine. I don't think this means we will get more 5 stars, at all.
Having said that, if our NFL hit rate improves and stays high, then there will be more 5 stars coming our way.... but its the improved analysis of the 3s and 4s, that will pay off...everyone knows the 5 stars are studs...its the others that are in play here...
This is a really interesting hire. Gamble had a tremendous rep before he entered the complete charlie foxtrot that was the Eagle's FO during the thirty months war otherwise known as the Chip Kelly vs Howie Roseman saga, one that Roseman eventually won (Gamble was considered a "Chip" guy fwiw). While Gamble is an NFL legacy (which I tend to think is more of a bad than good thing) given his father's role in the Eagles, most respected beat writers thought he was really sharp and a loss when he left. Of course, the move back to SF was potentially to the one worse spot at the time, but still I think speaks to his good track record.
What does this mean for UM? My guess is that Gamble is on a 2ish year plan where he will immerse himself in the college game to get him back to an NFL FO. In the meantime, however, he will be a really strong asset. My guess would this would be less related to recruitment logistics and more about developing players (and perhaps coaches) for the NFL, which of course can only help with recruitment down the line.
He's making sure to take care of his pals and those who helped him and can help him in the future.
Harbaugh doesn't hold onto guys or take guys because 'they're his pals'
I like that we CAN have nice things.
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