The Kansas City Chiefs and CEO Clark Hunt welcomed General Manager Brett Veach as the team’s seventh official general manager on Monday. This was the second of three press conferences today. Veach began and ended thanking family and stating how wonderful the Chiefs staff is. After ten years of working alongside head coach Andy Reid, Veach is plenty eager to jump into the front office position. From his humble attitude to intriguing quotes on Patrick Mahomes, Veach gave insight into how he will operate the Chiefs front office moving forward.
Clark Hunt Officially Introduces Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach
Veach began by thanking Clark Hunt, his past coaches, and family members for the opportunity that is now before him. “I am extremely honored and humbled to represent the Kansas City Chiefs,” was the opening line that set the tone for the rest of the press conference. Everyone from his high school coach, Dave Williams, to the college coaches at the University of Delaware. Coming from Mount Carmel, PA, Veach has seen his share of mentors and coaches that have taught him the skills important to be a facilitator of football talent.
Important to note is the fact he also issued thanks to John Dorsey and Chris Ballard, neither of whom work for the Chiefs anymore. Dorsey’s firing is of course the reason the Chiefs general manager job was open in the first place, and Ballard is working in the same capacity with the Indianapolis Colts now. However, unlike Hunt, Veach has spoken twice to Dorsey over the phone.
“It was a good conversation,” Veach noted.
After stating thank you to Reid for “not only making me a better scout, but a better person,” Veach opened to questions to the media in the crowd. He immediately jumped into questions regarding how he wanted to move forward with the current staff. Veach endlessly praised the family of scouts that work for the Chiefs, stating his first priority when getting the job was to reach out to everyone in the department.
Managing the 53-Man Roster
Veach likened the roster to a puzzle and acknowledged the difficult decisions he would need to make going forward. Although he has a long-term plan, the focus is currently on training camp.
Further on training camp, Veach will be driving up to meet players today as the Chiefs arrive for camp. Veach discussed that player evaluation and the NFL Draft process were essential parts of his makeup as a scout. He was specifically excited for training camp, hinting that much of the long-term plans for the Chiefs would be held through the draft and development, opposed to going free agent heavy.
Hunt also reiterated what he has said twice now.
“Brett is a great people person,” Hunt emphasized. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Brett during his time with us. He’s eager to get to work in building upon the strong foundation that we have.”
Veach and Hunt then went into discussing the salary cap and “relative values.” One of the major indictments of past front office management was an overbudget salary cap. Hunt has made it evident that he has no concern over how Veach will manage personnel to manage players and the salary cap appropriately.
Earlier today, Hunt evaded questions on Tamba Hali’s Twitter rant. However, Veach opened up on the subject
“Great timing, that was awesome,” Veach jokingly stated. “I don’t think Tamba knew what day camp was starting, he was just raring to go… It’s social media, you will see that across the NFL.”
Further, both him and Reid will sit down with Hali upon arriving at training camp. Veach’s lighter attitude toward the Twitter rant showed that this bubbling frustration will be addressed in-house, but also is not an overt concern.
Joint Football Minds– Andy Reid and Brett Veach
In another reassuring part of the press conference, Veach discussed his relationship with Reid. First, opposed to rumours, everyone from Hunt to Dorsey was on board drafting Patrick Mahomes II in this year’s NFL Draft.
“I thought he was the best quarterback in the draft,” Veach stated.
Second, in their ten-year relationship, Veach and Reid have butted heads several times. Naturally, this is a healthy clash of opinions, insight into an open relationship where both general manager and head coach can be completely honest with each other. Veach alluded to the fact several times they have taught each other important lessons by being willing to be vulnerable to each other.
Finally, Hunt closed the press conference by stating that while there were many candidates whom Reid could work with, Veach was the best choice. Reid was evidently ecstatic when he found out that Veach would be getting the job.
Although the path ahead will be difficult, everyone in the front office is now in succinct motion heading into training camp. Hunt has full faith in Veach, who subsequently has full faith in his staff. While the current plan will focus mainly on the 53-man roster, a full three-year plan has already been molded by Veach.
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