Phil Emery has made his first big decision as Bears general manager.
Tim Ruskell has been relieved of his duties as the team’s player personnel director. He had also been serving as the team’s interim general manager after the departure of Jerry Angelo earlier this month.
Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that it isn’t clear if Ruskell, who was also interviewed for the permanent job, was fired. Emery wants to have separate people overseeing the college and pro ends of the personnel department which signaled the end of the line for Ruskell, something Jensen interprets to mean that it was the team’s choice to let Ruskell go before the end of his contract.
Emery’s desire to set up his own staff isn’t a surprise, although he does owe Ruskell some thanks for sending him on his way to the G.M. job in Chicago. Ruskell hired Emery, then a Bears scout, to head up college scouting for the Falcons in 2004. Emery held the same job with the Chiefs before the Bears hired him to take over as general manager last week.