The overhauling of the franchise continues, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a surprising new addition to their personnel department. The team is hiring Seattle Seahawks Assistant Director of College Scouting as their Director of College Scouting, per The Football Scoop. In my experience, that site has been accurate and trustworthy in the past.
Stokes has been with the Seahawks' personnel department since 2002, serving as a pro personnel assistant, scout and assistant director of college scouting. Stokes played in the NFL as a safety from 1997 to 1998, but saw his career cut short due to injury. The Seattle Seahawks have caught some flak for 'reaching' on certain draft picks, but in general they have done an outstanding job of finding talent for their team over the past few seasons.
Hiring Stokes is an interesting move, and could be another blow to Mark Dominik's authority - or it could just be the addition of a quality talent evaluator to the front office. The Bucs did not have a Director of College Scouting the past year, as they promoted Dennis Hickey out of that role to a Director of Player Personnel role. However, it's not clear whether Hickey's actual function changed with the title change.
Adding Stokes gives the Bucs a whopping 20 people in the front office, including "Special Assistant to the Head Coach" Butch Davis, whose actual role appears to be completely unknown. 20 people in the personnel department certainly looks like a lot. Compare it to the Seattle Seahawks, who now have 13 people with the departure of Eric Stokes. As with the coaching staff, the Bucs have gone with volume in that department. But does that lead to better results?