GM first or GM second?

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Kevin Demoff:
“There is no formula for hiring a GM before a head coach,” Demoff said. “Obviously those things are going to be very fluid. We are going to look for the right people. I think this is about getting the right people for these jobs who are going to be compatible with one another. At some point, we are going to have to pick who is going to come first and who is going to come second.”

What would be the benefit or harm of hiring a HC and letting HIM pick the GM?
I have my thoughts on this, but I thought it would be interesting to hear different takes on it.

 

[Lesson]

It won't matter.

Look at Caldwell with Indy, for instance.

Irsay said he wants Caldwell to help him with the hire. Who is to say that the HC won't assist the Rams in finding the best GM possible for the team by giving his input?

 

[Angry Ram]

It just sounds so counterintuitive. Kroenke himself said (thanks for that article btw) he wants the coach to coach. GMs are responsible for finding coaches and players. Unless it's Kroenke or Demoff or whoever interviewing a guy that also agrees w/ the new HC.

Owner hires a GM, stays out of his business, then the GM finds a coaching staff and players.

 

[Ram Quixote]

It won't matter.

Look at Caldwell with Indy, for instance.

Irsay said he wants Caldwell to help him with the hire. Who is to say that the HC won't assist the Rams in finding the best GM possible for the team by giving his input?

Different animal in Indy. Caldwell has been there for years, under Dungy and then as HC. Stan will be bringing someone entirely new to the organization. Really, all this depends on the status Stan gives the HC. Ideally, you bring in the guy with the plan first; the others fit around him.

For example, you wouldn't hire Fisher first, then AJ Smith. That's a When Worlds Collide scenario.

 

[bluecoconuts]

I think you hire a GM to has a plan and shares your vision and then let him assemble the staff he wants and believes will give him the best response. If the GM shares your views then they should agree with the coach you like anyway.

 

[RamFan503]

Personally I think you do what feels right. If you start interviewing coaches and you think that the coach is either potentially the more difficult position to fill with the right kind of candidate you want, you go get him. I think there are more ways to fit a GM to a coach than to fit a coach to a GM. Stan may very well want to hand pick both of them. I'm sure he will consider a lot of input from those in the know (please please please don't let one of them be Shaw).

Look at it this way. If Stan is convinced that Fisher (just for example) is the coach he really wants, a GM isn't going to be in good favor coming in and picking someone else. If Stan picks his coach, he can then center on a GM that will work well with that coach and his system. I also think a good GM can and must take a coach's system and find pieces for it. Toward that end, you find your coach first.

If you go the method of letting your GM make all the football decisions, then of course you should obviously get the GM first. I'm not sure that Stan is going to go that route. I'm not thinking he is a Jerruh Jones type but I do think he finally wants to put his stamp on this team. I believe that once he puts the people HE wants in place, THEN he will back away and let them do their thing. I just don't think Stan is going to hire a GM and hand him the keys to the empire.