Let’s get to know Kansas City Chiefs GM candidate Scott Fitterer

It appears the Kansas City Chiefs are moving forward in the process of interviewing candidates for the vacant role of GM after the firing of John Dorsey. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday evening that the Chiefs were “slated to interview Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer today [Tuesday] or early tomorrow [Wednesday].”

As Rapoport said in his tweet, Fitterer is currently the Seattle Seahawks’ co-director of player personnel. In that role, Fitterer is essentially one step under the general manager. One of his major responsibilities is overseeing the team’s scouting departments at both the college and professional level, but Fitterer said in an April 2016 interview posted to Seahawks.com that he focuses more on college scouting and oversees the draft.

While with the Seahawks, Fitterer has had to work alongside Seattle’s other co-director of player personnel, Trent Kirchner. Fitterer’s comments in that same April 2016 interview suggest that he enjoys his working relationship with the rest of Seattle management.

“There’s a great dynamic,” Fitterer said. “[GM] John (Schneider) is very involved day-to-day in college and pro. Pete (Carroll) during the season really focuses on the team, but afterwards during January, February and March, he is very involved in the player personnel side. It’s a very nice give-and-take throughout the season.”

As for his NFL draft track record, Fitterer’s had some remarkable success in Seattle. He’re a list of a few players that Fitterer played a role selecting in the draft:

• Russell Wilson (3rd round in 2012) - 1st team AP All-Pro in 2012, 2013 and 2014
• Richard Sherman (5th round in in 2011) - 1st team AP All-Pro in 2012, 2013 and 2014; 2nd team AP All-Pro in 2015
• K.J. Wright (4th round in 2011) - 2nd team PFF All-Pro in 2015 and 2016
• Kam Chancellor (5th round in 2010) - 2nd team AP All-Pro in 2013 and 2014; 2nd PFF All-Pro in 2016

One of Dorsey’s greatest known strengths was selecting top talent both early and late in the draft that turned into successes on the field. It appears that Fitterer has the ability to do that, too, which explains why he was a candidate for the GM jobs in both San Francisco and Indianapolis this offseason.

Fitterer is a respectable candidate for the Chiefs GM position. He has a quality history in scouting and player development and has said he enjoys working with others in the management ladder.

Would he make a good Chiefs GM? Well, fortunately that’s not my decision to make, but I think there’s potential here with the Chiefs and Fitterer.

Oh, and Fitterer was hired by the Seahawks as an area scout on this day, June 28, 2001. Take that as you will.