The San Francisco 49ers continue to make moves in their front office as they prepare for training camp and the upcoming NFL and college seasons. The team announced on Monday that five individuals have been promoted in the front office. Chip Flanagan, RJ Gillen, Jacob Nierob, John Stevenson, and Josh Williams will each have a new role with the team moving forward.
The team has not announced a college scout since the departure of Matt Malaspina. They parted ways with him, Tom Gamble, southern regional scout Bob Morris, director of pro personnel Mike Williams, and assistant director of pro personnel Quentus Cumby. Since hiring John Lynch, the team has brought in the following front office personnel:
- Adam Peters, VP of Player Personnel
- Martin Mayhew, Senior Personnel Executive
- Ran Carthon, Director of Pro Personnel
Here are the promotions and some background on each person.
Chip Flanagan: Promoted from regional scout to national scout
In 2017, he enters his 14th NFL season and sixth with the 49ers, and will now be in charge of the eastern half of the country. Prior to joining the team, Flanagan spent eight seasons with Washington. He served as an area scout in Washington from 2007-11, where he was responsible for evaluating college prospects at schools located in the southwest region (2007-10) and southeast region (2011). Prior to working as an area scout, Flanagan served as a college scouting assistant with Washington for two seasons (2005-06). He originally entered the NFL in 2004 as an intern in the Washington personnel department.
R.J. Gillen: promoted from scouting assistant to pro scout
The 2017 season is his third with the 49ers. Prior to joining the team, Gillen was a college football scout with the National Collegiate Scouting Association where he managed a recruiting list of potential college prospects to help college coaches identify those who might have the ability to play collegiately. Gillen also has previous experience in the NBA in the front office of the San Antonio Spurs where he assisted in preparation of player reports for the NBA draft and free agency.
Jacob Nierob: Promoted from scouting assistant to player personnel assistant.
The 2017 season is his third with the 49ers. Before his time with the 49ers, Nierob interned in the recruiting operations department for the University of Michigan from 2014-15. He primarily focused on organizing recruiting visits as well as creating highlight tapes for the coaching staff to evaluate prospective recruits.
John Stevenson: Promoted from scouting assistant to regional scout
He enters his third NFL season with the 49ers in 2017 and will work primarily in the southwest region. Prior to joining the 49ers, Stevenson played for the Bemidji Axemen of the Indoor Football League and went to training camp with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League, in 2015. In 2013, he signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent.
Josh Williams: Promoted from NFS scout to regional scout
The 2017 season is his seventh season with the 49ers and he will primarily work in the southeast region. Williams spent three seasons (2013-15) as a pro personnel scout and two seasons (2011-12) as an assistant in the 49ers scouting department, prior to his one season (2016) as a NFS scout.
General manager John Lynch had this to say about the promotions:
“We are very excited about the current state of our personnel department and how it will continue to progress in the coming years,” said 49ers General Manager John Lynch. “Every member of our personnel team has demonstrated a tireless work ethic and an ability to selflessly support each other - attributes we believe are integral to our success as an organization. We congratulate these gentlemen on their new roles with the team and look forward to watching their careers continue to develop.”