It’s hard to find information out there on the Kansas City Chiefs new GM Brett Veach. He is 39 years old so he hasn’t been around the league that old, at least relative to some others. There are very few articles about Veach and his career so we really don’t know much about him. Our photo tool doesn’t even have a picture of him yet so we’re in the dark.
Eagles reporter Geoff Mosher is one of the few who have actually written stories on Veach and he went on 810 this week to talk about what he knows about the Chiefs new GM.
A bunch of good stuff from Mosher in the interview...
Some knew he would be a GM one day: I started my Eagles career as a reporter for the Wilmington News-Journal, which is in Delaware, and Brett was a former University of Delaware football standout. I wrote a story about him. It’s funny, they say nothing disappears from the Internet but I wrote a story on him about 10 years ago, probably 2007, when he was just getting in with the Eagles. I spoke to a couple of guys in the University of Delaware administration and the story wound up being they thought so fondly of Brett they envisioned him becoming an NFL GM someday. Now this is 10 years ago when he was just an intern for Andy Reid. I was looking for that story the other day on the Internet but it’s so old they’ve changed their computer system so much I got the 404 not found. It’s a bummer. I wanted to put it back out there and say I had a scoop from 10 years ago.
Veach was released from his Eagles contract to follow Andy Reid: When Andy got fired from here and went to Kansas City, Brett, who was very loyal to Andy, asked to be released from his contract with the Eagles. He got that permission from (GM) Howie Roseman and obviously (owner) Jeffrey Lurie, so he went out there because he knew Andy would have a spot for him.
Which AFC teams can compete with the Patriots?
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SB Nation’s Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit, takes a look at the Chiefs and which other teams can compete with the Patriots in the AFC.
No friction between Reid and Dorsey: I know a lot of people out there just because so many people came from Philadelphia. i did a little checking in there about the whole Dorsey thing and whether people were on the same page. From what I gather, people were surprised by the Dorsey firing and there was not some sort of friction going on between Andy and Dorsey and that they were definitely on the same page. That’s what was told to me. I’m not reporting on Kansas City matters so I don’t know what kind of message they would be trying to shape or frame.
On trading up for Patrick Mahomes: Andy will take a gamble on projects and make maneuvers in different ways, whether it’s draft or free agency, to get a new quarterback in. My thought from the day they lost to Pittsburgh in the playoffs was that, I think I even tweeted it, I knew that was the signal of Andy Reid making a change at quarterback. Not for this year but going in a different direction. A Texas guy (Patrick Mahomes) just like Kevin Kolb was and a project like Kevin Kolb was, when I looked at that move that smacked to me of an Andy Reid move because he has a year to groom him. He’s probably feeling the crunch there, just like in Philadelphia, he’s made the playoffs, got to a certain point but the clock starts to tick, he’s getting older now and you start to make reactive moves.
How Veach rose up the ranks under Andy Reid: (Veach) is such a loyal guy that when he was deciding whether to take that (Eagles intern) job, he was working at (the University of Delaware) at the time in their football administration and he asks them, “Hey, should I take this job because I know I’m working with you guys now.” And they basically say, “Brett, are you serious take that job yesterday!” and he still stays at UD for two more weeks to give them time to transition. Loyalty is so big with Andy Reid and guys are very easily loyal to him. Andy will reward guys who work hard. The first thing Brett did from a personnel standpoint is say give me everything you got. So Andy would throw tapes of college prospects at Brett and he would pore through them and he would write his own scouting reports. And remember he’s not a scout at this point. He’s just Andy Reid’s assistant. But he’s writing his own scouting reports and submitting them to Andy. Obviously impressed Andy a quite deal.
Who Veach scouted: DeSean Jackson was a star in college. He dropped to the second round because there was some baggage there so it wasn’t like a thing to say he discovered DeSean Jackson but among that year’s receiver crop he banged the table for him. He had a very glowing report of DeSean Jackson and what he could do in the Eagles offense. As he started to get up the chain and more of a scout and not just an assistant, he banged the table for LeSean McCoy. Then he went out there to the Southeast conference for the Eagles where everybody knows where all the best prospects are. They drafted Fletcher Cox one year at 12th overall and he’s been a very good player, a $100 million player.
The type of player Andy Reid likes: Brett, coming up through the Eagles chain under Andy getting an understanding of specifically what Andy Reid likes in a player. What Andy Reid likes in a player is different than what other people like. Chip Kelly likes big, physical players at different positions. Andy Reid doesn’t mind small players as long as they’re explosive like a Tyreek Hill or a DeSean Jackson. Andy prioritizes explosion.
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No repeat of Philly: When you talk about comfort, Andy went through so much turmoil in the front office here and so much of a carousel and it sounds like he’s going through it there but for a while you guys had stability in your front office and I think that’s big on Andy and he hopes that trickles down again now with Brett at the top.
What is Brett Veach like: You’re going to find him to be a “Green Bay / Kansas City guy”. I’ve heard John Dorsey speak, I don’t know when he talked you got that leader of men, rally cry thing going on. He was always a little dry to me. Very forthright but still dry at the same time. When I say forthright he probably didn’t answer the questions the way the media wanted but didn’t necessarily duck it. I think Brett will be that way. He’s not bombastic like Al Davis, he’s not going to wow you with crazy quotes or headlines. I wouldn’t call him soft spoken but I would just say he’s just not fiery like that. He’s kinda like a normal dude to be honest with you.
Respect from the staff: He’s been there for such a long time. If he was just coming in now, I think it would be difficult (to earn the respect of the staff). I have to think, as soon as Dorsey got fired my first thought was Brett Veach is getting that job and I have to think a lot of people in that front office thought the same way, too.