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What they’re saying nationally about Lions hiring Brad Holmes as general managerUpdated Jan 14, 1:47 PM; Posted Jan 14, 1:18 PM
NFL Preseason: Detroit Lions vs. Buffalo Bills - August 23, 2019
A Detroit Lions helmet sits on the bench before their NFL preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit, on Friday, August 23, 2019. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)Mike Mulholland | MLive.com
By Benjamin Raven |
braven@mlive.comALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions have reportedly agreed to a five-year deal with Brad Holmes to become their next general manager.
Holmes, 41, comes to Detroit via the Los Angeles Rams where he served as the team’s college scouting director. The Lions landed on Holmes after speaking to a pool of 12 candidates, which was quite the wide-reaching search considering they interviewed only three when hiring Bob Quinn.
Holmes got his start in the league with the Rams back in 2003 after struggling to find work, even working at Enterprise Rental Car while on the hunt. He has since operated the last eight drafts for the Rams, ascending to the role of second-hand man for Rams general manager Les Snead. Those drafts have netted that franchise two-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald and a core that played for a Super Bowl in 2019.
“Yeah, it’s always been an ultimate dream of mine. It’s funny, I was having this conversation with my wife, and it’s like, the only reason I’ve gotten to this point in my career now is that I’ve only concentrated on being the best I can be in my role,” Holmes told Yahoo! Sports of his GM aspirations in a 2019 interview. “Whatever that role is at that time. So I was a scouting assistant, and I tried to be the best scouting assistant. I want to get the coffee the fastest, I want to make the best profile tape possible, and all of that. When I was an area scout, I wanted to be the best at that. You know what I mean? So I never really looked ahead. Opportunities -- all of them blessings -- have landed on me, and I’ve just kind of earned my way to where I am now.”
Related: Titans OC Arthur Smith becomes first head coaching candidate to earn second interview with Lions
Los Angeles remains in the current postseason after ending Seattle’s season with a 30-20 wild-card win. The Rams head to Green Bay this weekend for divisional round action.
Holmes was picked from a pool of candidates including Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, former Texans general manager Rick Smith, former Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, Saints assistant general manager for pro personnel Terry Fontenot, Rams college scouting director Brad Holmes, Vikings assistant general manager George Paton and Saints assistant general manager/former Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland. Internal candidates to receiver interviews were Rob Lohman, Lance Newmark and Kyle O’Brien.
From social media:
Peter Schrager
@PSchrags
·
Jan 14
Brad Holmes was extremely influential in building current LA roster.
Per sources there, 2 names, in particular: Holmes was a big Darious Williams fan out of UAB and was main reason LA claimed him from the Ravens.
Holmes was also most vocal on DB Jordan Fuller pre-Draft.
@gmfb
Jourdan Rodrigue
@JourdanRodrigue
Lions fans, if interested, these are the kind of progressive evaluation and draft practices Brad Holmes was key in helping implement w/ Rams. Cognitive bias-removal in talent eval, data as a tool, decision-making psychology and much more.
Vincent Bonsignore
@VinnyBonsignore
The @Lions made a great hire today in Brad Holmes as their general manager.
Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
Notes on the hire of Brad Holmes:
— He led the #Rams social justice efforts this past season, something valued in Detroit, as well.
— The #Rams get two third-round comp picks for developing Holmes and Detroit hiring him.
Cameron Wolfe
@CameronWolfe
Congrats to Brad Holmes, who worked his way up as talent evaluator & joins Chris Grier/Andrew Berry as NFL's 3 Black GMs. If ATL hires Terry Fontenot, it'd be 4.
Progress is slow but good sign for qualified candidates. Noteworthy Grier & Berry teams got double-digit Ws in 2020.
Eric Edholm
@Eric_Edholm
The #Lions are set to name Rams college scouting director Brad Holmes as their next general manager
I spoke with Holmes two years ago on his scouting beliefs in a wide-ranging interview
