Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia Eagles have finally beefed up their front office.
The Eagles officially hired Joe Douglas as the vice president of player personnel and Andy Weidl as the assistant director of player personnel Wednesday. Douglas will report to Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman.
#Eagles bolster personnel staff with additions of Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl: https://t.co/MbBIRaMsIV pic.twitter.com/q2nXDITljS
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 11, 2016
Douglas spent 15 years as a scout for the Baltimore Ravens before having a one-year stint as the director of scouting for the Chicago Bears. Weidl was most recently the East regional area scout for the Ravens.
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah loved the hirings when it was being reported Tuesday. He was reportedly interviewed by Philadelphia for a personnel job a few months ago.
The Eagles hit a HR by hiring Joe Douglas. They followed that up with another HR by adding Andy Weidl. 2 of NFLs top evaluators.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) May 9, 2016
“It’s imperative to me that we have a player personnel department that is not only top-notch and innovative, but has excellent communication with all phases of our football operations,” Eagles CEO Jeffrey Lurie said in a release. “It’s a crucial part of the success of an NFL franchise and it will always be a priority for me. I’m very pleased how thorough and patient we were with the search process that began in January. With the additions of Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl, along with the other changes we have made, we all feel that we will have a strong department of talent evaluators that will work well with all facets of football operations to make the best decisions for our franchise and for our fans.”
Roseman chimed in as well.
“I have known Joe for several years and have admired his work with both the Ravens and the Bears. He is a guy that we had targeted from the outset. I feel that we are very fortunate to have him lead our player personnel department. (Ravens GM) Ozzie Newsome and (Bears GM) Ryan Pace spoke very highly of him and his work. He is passionate about football, passionate about scouting and he played a vital role in the success of the Ravens over the last decade,” he said.
And what about Weidl?
“Andy also comes from the Ozzie Newsome tree of talent evaluators in Baltimore and he has a great working relationship with Joe,” Roseman said. “I spoke with Tom Donahoe, who hired Andy in Pittsburgh, and he had nothing but great things to say about his work ethic. Like Joe, you can sense his drive for scouting right off the bat and he has spent his entire career working for an opportunity like this. We are very pleased to have him join us.
Douglas played a key role for Baltimore and it acquiring Pro Bowl talent. Players such as quarterback Joe Flacco, guard Marshal Yanda, linebacker C.J. Mosley, guard Ben Grubbs and kicker Justin Tucker were brought in under his watch.