A Joe Hortiz GM Mike MacDonald or Todd Monken HC could be in our near future. The Washington Ravemanders.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/12/15/ch...ing-news-notes
We’re all learning on the fly about Commanders owner Josh Harris, who was accompanied by one of his limited partners, Mitchell Rales, at this week’s league meetings in Dallas. And one thing I learned down in Texas over the last few days could at least color how the next couple of months go with the new owners and their team—Harris likes how the Commanders’ beltway rivals from Baltimore do business.
It was apparent, too, in his first real football hire.
Seven weeks ago, Washington brought Eugene Shen aboard as its new senior vice president of football strategy, poaching him back from the world of finance, a world to which he’d returned in 2022 after serving as the Jaguars’ vice president of football analytics, and the Dolphins’ director of analytics between ’19 and ’22. For five years before that, Shen cut his NFL teeth helping to run analytics for the always innovative, always forward-thinking Ravens, who have gone so far as to build their own proprietary analytics systems.
That the hire was made before Harris made decisions on the futures of GM Martin Mayhew, top football exec Marty Hurney or coach Ron Rivera is notable for a couple of reasons. First, it’s an indication of how he sees the role—as one that would be there regardless of who the GM or head coach was. Second, it opens the possibility that Shen could have significant input in the next round of hires, whenever they’re made.
Maybe this means Harris tabs a Baltimore exec like Joe Hortiz or Nick Matteo to be his next GM, or a top Raven assistant like Mike Macdonald to be his head coach. Maybe it doesn’t. But at the very least, it brings a little insight into how he’s building and what he’ll be modeling after going forward.