Report: New England Patriots hire Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff member
The NFL Draft is over and next up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be getting the newcomers on the field for Rookie Mini-Camp later this month. Prior to that, the team is expected to go through a slight change in the scouting department.
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According to Inside The League, the New England Patriots are hiring Buccaneers veteran scout Tony Kinkela to a senior role. Kinkela has spent the last 13 years in Tampa Bay in various scouting roles.
Kinkela was originally hired by the Buccaneers as a combine scout, where he focused on the NFL Combine and worked with the league in helping select prospects for invites to the event. After two years, he was promoted to an area scout and has held that role until recently. He's listed as a college scout on the team's website as of now.
Prior to his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kinkela earned his stripes at the college level. He was the Director of Football Operations for Tulane from 2006-08. Previously, Kinkela was the assistant director of football operations at Washington State from 2004-05. He served as assistant to the recruiting coordinator during the same period, which involved coordinator recruiting visits among other duties.
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A graduate of Washington State, Kinkela was a student assistant for the football team from 2001-04. As a member of the staff, he was a part of the Cougars' 2003 Rose Bowl and Holiday Bowl teams as well as the 2001 Sun Bowl squad.
New England has caught some flack this week, mainly surrounding its selection of guard Cole Strange in the first round and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton in the second round. It appears the franchise may be making some moves to reinvigorate its scouting department with the addition of Kinkela.
Tampa Bay will search for a quality replacement for Kinkela and it won't be easy. He was a part of a staff that won the Best Draft Award in 2020 after selecting offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, safety Antoine Winfield Jr, and others.
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