Former Chiefs VP of player personnel Bill Kuharich attended the Combine in his new role as personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns. Kuharich will serve as an adviser to Ray Famer, the Browns new general manager. The roles were reversed when they worked for the Chiefs; Kuharich ran the personnel department and Farmer was the team’s director of pro personnel.
Working in concert with then head coach Herm Edwards, Kuharich was responsible for the Chiefs drafts in 2006-07-08. The duo concentrated on creating a roster younger than it was during the Dick Vermeil years. But the rug was pulled out from under Edwards/Kuharich by team chairman Clark Hunt after a 2-14 record in 2008.
Many of the players selected in those three drafts still make major contributions to the Chiefs – OLB Tamba Hali, WR Dwayne Bowe, LT Branden Albert, CB Brandon Flowers and RB Jamaal Charles, along with others that played and continue to spend time in the NFL – S Bernard Pollard, S Jarrad Page, DE Turk McBride, DT Glenn Dorsey, CB Brandon Carr and OT Barry Richardson.
Why was Kuharich out of the NFL personnel ranks for 5 years? He was badmouthed around the league by Scott Pioli. When Pioli took over the football side of the Chiefs in January 2009, he began a verbal assault on all parts of the team’s former operations, especially Kuharich and the personnel department. At the time, Pioli still wore the stink from his time with the New England Patriots and many people around the league thought Pioli knew what he was doing so they listened to him.
Of course the league found out differently, just as Chiefs fans did over 4 years (23-42 record). Pioli was unprepared for his role on top of an NFL organization. He was an insecure administrator and leader, spending an inordinate amount of time browbeating employees and blackballing former workers than actually creating culture capable of becoming a consistently successful franchise.
The rest of the league learned about Pioli and that’s opened the door for a return by a very good personnel man. Cleveland has been a dysfunctional franchise for several years, but having Farmer in charge of personnel, with Kuharich providing his expertise will give the Browns a fighting chance.
In just a few days at the Combine, new Browns head coach Mike Pettine saw a good future working with Farmer and Kuharich.
“Bill’s an outstanding evaluator of talent,” said Pettine. “He and Ray are very similar in how they see things, which means we all are similar in how we see things.”
http://www.bobgretz.com/chiefs-footb...ns-to-nfl.html