Ravens Block Kokinis Interview; Delay Chiefs and Browns GM Search

by Joel Thorman on Jan 5, 2009 12:37 PM CST in Kansas City Chiefs GM Search

The Baltimore Ravens did not grant permission to the Cleveland Browns to immediately interview Pro Personnel Director George Kokinis according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The Browns won't be able to interview Baltimore director of pro personnel George Kokinis until Sunday at the earliest, said a source with knowledge of the situation.

The Ravens, in an effort to abstain from anything that would interfere with Sunday's divisional playoff game, said Kokinis or any other high-level employees (such as defensive coordinator Rex Ryan) wouldn't be available to interview until Sunday. And only on Sunday.

Included in the Plain Dealer report is that the Ravens will only let Kokinis leave for a promotion.

The Ravens have let the Browns know that Kokinis could leave the team only for a position that contractually gives him full authority over football operations. Whether the title is general manager or something else, he would essentially have the same authority with the Browns that Phil Savage had.

What does this mean for the Chiefs?

This is speculation on my part here, but I would assume this delays the Chiefs GM search by another week. Scott Pioli, who is perceived as the Chiefs' #1 candidate, isn't likely to make a decision if the Browns' offer is in limbo or non-existent because Kokinis hasn't been interviewed yet.

Pioli is reportedly interviewing with Kansas City today so if the two sides don't reach an agreement in the meeting, it's likely that the Chiefs' GM search won't conclude for another week.

H/T PFT

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GM in another month

I bet you just gave allot of fanatics a real deep heart burn. You probably are responsible for at least one suicide.

by Aejfan on Jan 5, 2009 1:06 PM CST reply actions

You're Being Hasty

The rumors are consistently that the Browns want Mangini first and foremost and that they want a GM who Mangini likes…basically they’re picking a GM to please the head coach they want. Pioli seems more interested in going somewhere that will let him pick his own head coach rather than a situation where his decisions may be subject to the whims of his subordinate. So just because the Browns were denied permission to speak to Kokinis doesn’t mean that Cleveland just became a more attractive destination for Pioli. KC may be the frontrunner simply because they’ll let Pioli make his own choices.

Or maybe not…we’re really not going to know until it happens so it’s all speculative. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. :)

Herm Edwards will not be the Chiefs' head coach next season.

by UCrawford on Jan 5, 2009 1:13 PM CST reply actions

Did anyone see

That Boston College is threatening to fire coach Jeff Jagodinski if he interviews with the Jets? Jag says he’s interviewing despite the threat. Just kinda interesting, I think BC is kinda being a dick.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jan 5, 2009 1:23 PM CST reply actions

Agreed

Coaches interview for other jobs…that’s just part of the deal. Unless it’s a situation where Jagodinski was trying to use a Jets interview to blackmail BC into giving him a better contract I think that BC’s athletic director is being a bit unreasonable and really backed himself into a corner. If Jagodinski interviews and gets fired, BC’s out one pretty decent coach who they’ll have to replace (and they’ll probably look like the bad guy). If Jagodinski interviews and they don’t fire him, the athletic director’s going to look like a fool for making that threat. And if Jagodinski doesn’t interview then BC may very well have created a lot of bad will with their football coach and created a bad situation for themselves in the future by making his job uncertain. We probably don’t have all of the facts, but my initial impression is that the AD for Boston College seriously screwed up in how he handled this if he threatened Jagodinski.

Herm Edwards will not be the Chiefs' head coach next season.

by UCrawford on Jan 5, 2009 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

I agree with them.

It’s like breaking up with a girl before she gets the chance to break up with you, when she’s made it clear that she wants to talk to some other guy a bit and see where it goes.

Jagodinski is under contract. He made a commitment to BC, and BC made a commitment to him. If he’s even considering breaking that contract, they’ve got every right to dump him first.

Herm Edwards is Clark Hunt's guy. Herm and Carl forced Clark to choose between their differing visions on how to rebuild the Chiefs, and we all see who got their walking papers. Herm's going to be walking the sidelines at Arrowhead in 2009, and possibly even beyond, no matter who the new General Manager is.

by JacinB on Jan 5, 2009 1:32 PM CST up reply actions

It's Not Really The Same Thing

First, Jagodinski isn’t married to BC. Unless he’s contractually barred from interviewing for other jobs that’s just part of football…there’s no job security in football and no obligation on his part to give unquestioning loyalty to his employer. He can be fired at any time for performance issues by his employer, so if he feels there’s a better fit he should have every right to be able to look for other jobs.

If he’s even considering breaking that contract, they’ve got every right to dump him first.

Sure…they’re just stupid for threatening to do so. As any number of relationship advisors can probably tell you, one of the dumbest things you can do to preserve a relationship is to start laying down threats and ultimatims. If the other person does something that merits breaking up, then by all means break up with them…but when you try to coerce the other person with threats to force them to comply with your wishes all that’s usually doing is showing the world that you’re a controlling asshole.

Herm Edwards will not be the Chiefs' head coach next season.

by UCrawford on Jan 5, 2009 1:40 PM CST up reply actions