The past few weeks were spent by Ryan Poles determining what he wants to do with the Chicago Bears scouting department once the draft concluded. Sure enough, what many expected has begun to happen. Multiple members have seen their time with the organization terminated. Scouts Chris Prescott and Scott Hamel are out as is college scouting director Mark Sadowski. It is more evident than ever that Poles intends to put his stamp on the organization from top to bottom.
I have already hired Terry Koziol as a new co-director of player personnel while promoting Jeff King to fill the other spot. Ian Cunningham is in place as the assistant GM. He and Koziol bring backgrounds from successful organizations like Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. It would be interesting to see what Poles would do next regarding the scouting staff itself. Some clarity arrived via Neil Stratton of Inside The League. They have hired Tom Bradway to take over as their new Northeast area scout.
Tom Bradway has updated his LinkedIn profile w/status as a new #Bears area scout (https://t.co/I5XdSVhQV2). He arrives from the #Raiders, where he was a combine scout, joining the team in ’19. son of ex#Jets GM Terry, brother of #chiefs Mr DPP Mike.
— Neil Stratton (@InsideTheLeague) May 6, 2022
A well-placed source indicates Bradway will handle the NE for Chicago.
— Neil Stratton (@InsideTheLeague) May 6, 2022
Bradway way comes from a family with rich scouting traditions.
His father, Terry Bradway, is a respected longtime executive who was GM of the New York Jets from 2001 to 2005 and stayed as a senior executive with the team through 2014. During that time he helped build their back-to-back AFC championship participant teams with notable draft picks like D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold, and Darrelle Revis. After that, he was a senior scout with the Miami Dolphins from 2015 to 2020.
Poles likely got wind of Tom through his brother Mike Bradway, the senior director of player personnel of the Kansas City Chiefs. So it’s a fair assumption that Tom got an excellent education from a young age on what it takes to be an effective scout and an NFL executive. It is little wonder why Poles decided to target him. Genetics alone warranted it.
Chicago Bears showing savvy with Bradway’s assignment too.
It is likely not a coincidence that the new Bears scout was given control of the northeast region moving forward. His family of him has deep roots in that area of the country. Father Terry was born in New Jersey. He got his first big break as a scout with the Philadelphia Stars in the old USFL before joining the New York Giants as a college scout. The Bradways know that region of the country quite well, and it reflects on the drafting.
The Jets’ best picks of the 2000s often came from the northeast, including Ferguson, Mangold, Revis, and Cotchery. Kansas City has also had considerable success in that region since Michael became more involved in the front office. Guys like Tanoh Kpassagnon, Kareem Hunt, and Juan Thornhill all made big contributions to the organization. Poles likely believes the youngest Bradway can take full advantage of that lineage.
He had a good education to prepare him for this.
After a stint at Temple University, I have joined the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019 as a scout. A year later, he was assigned as their BLESTO scout. This is a collection of NFL teams that pool their resources to evaluate incoming draft classes. Their primary responsibility was to assess prospects that would likely become noteworthy the following year. It was a great way for young scouts to test themselves, determining which players were likely to ascend.
Former Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff and Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert are former BLESTO scouts. So it’s produced quality evaluators over the years. Bradway will have a chance to make his mark in the coming years for the Chicago Bears.
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