Now that Phil Emery is officially the new general manager of the Chicago Bears, armed with a five-year contract to make a mark of his own on a franchise, the question must be asked back on the home front: Who will replace him as the Kansas City Chiefs college scouting director?
Emery has been a trusted aide of Scott Pioli since he first came over to accept a position with the Chiefs, and Emery had plenty of experience before that with the Falcons and Bears. Pioli praised his work ethic saying, "He's one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. I can't overemphasize the hard working part. He's outstanding at his job. Detailed, meticulous, organized."
It stands to reason, then, that Pioli will want to flank himself with the same values if possible -- someone he can trust, who has been with him for a while, knows what the team needs and works very hard to help it arrive at that point.
If Pioli promotes from within, here are a few names currently on the staff:
1. Jim Nagy - Nagy is currently a Regional Scout with the Chiefs along with Dom Green and came over from the Patriots. He has a nice long history with Pioli with seven years in New England. He also one year as a scout with the Redskins. Before that, he helped run an independent scouting and served as a draft consultant.
2. Jay Muraco - Muraco has been with Pioli since the early-to-mid-'90s with the Cleveland Browns as a volunteer in the personnel department. Since then he spent four years with the Eagles scouting department before returning to join Pioli in New England where he was their college scouting coordinator from 2000 to 2008 before coming over to KC. Muraco is currently listed on the team's site as an Area Scout.
3. Dom Green - The team's other Regional Scout along with Jim Nagy, Green came to the team as an Area Scout in 2009 and has worked his way up since then, promoted to Regional Scout in 2010. Before that, he was a scout for three years (2006-2008) with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Of course, it's entirely possible that someone else could ascend to fill Emery's spot or that an outsider is brought in to bring a fresh perspective. However, as much as that might bring to the table, it's also clear that Pioli values other things a bit more: loyalty, trust, work ethic, perspective. That means that the next Phil Emery could already be on the Chiefs' staff.