St. Louis Rams hire Mike Williams from 49ers to run pro scouting
January 29
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"The Rams haven't had a director of pro scouting since Mike Ackerley was with the club in 2000, a time when the Greatest Show on Turf was at its zenith.
"It's been awhile," Rams general manager Billy Devaney said.
But they have one now. Mike Williams has been hired as the team's new director of pro personnel. Williams comes to the Rams from the San Francisco 49ers, where he has been assistant director of pro personnel since 2005.
"It's huge," Devaney said. "You need an in-house guy. Mike will be assisted by Ray Agnew, who will remain on the pro personnel side. I'll be involved in it. Brandon Schwab is going to be involved - he'll move over from quality control (coaching) to personnel.
"So we'll basically go from not having a pro personnel department to where we have three, almost four guys working on it."
In addition, Les Miller, who has done advance scouting for the team in the past, will stay involved.
Williams interviewed with Devaney earlier this month in the midst of the Rams' head-coaching search. Williams' first day on the job is Friday.
"It'll be a huge boost for us," Devaney said. "We're on the cusp of free agency. He's familiar with the league. He's got a great deal of experience. He knows our team inside out from being a division rival, which gives him a leg up on people.
"I worked with him for three years with the 49ers. He's a tireless worker. And he's a really good evaluator."
Williams played safety at Santa Clara (Calif.) University in the late 1980s. He was linebackers coach at Southern Utah University in 1997 and defensive coordinator at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif., in '98 before joining the 49ers as a volunteer in the personnel department in 1999. He became a full-time personnel assistant there in 2000.
"To be honest, (49ers general manager) Scot McCloughan deserves a lot of credit because it's kind of unusual for a personnel guy to be moving this close to free agency," Devaney said. "It's a classy move by Scot, because it's a great opportunity for Mike Williams to advance his career.""
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