Tom Donohoe is Latest Eagles Personnel Executive Departing
PHILADELPHIA - The churn in the Eagles' front office continues with the latest domino being Tom Donahoe.
The senior football advisor's contract is expiring and will not be renewed, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 75-year-old Donahoe is a former GM in Buffalo and has been in Philadelphia since 2012 as one of the organization's top scouts.
He's also been a bit of a cleaner in times of turmoil essentially running the scouting department in the wake of Chip Kelly's firing before Joe Douglas was tabbed as vice president of player personnel, and again this season when the Eagles lost co-directors of player personnel, Ian Cunningham and Brandon Brown, to Chicago and the New York Giants, respectively.
Donahoe is the fourth key executive to leave the organization joining Cunningham, Brown, and former VP of football operations Catherine Raiche, who is departing for what is essentially an assistant GM job under her mentor Andrew Berry in Cleveland, also a former Eagles' VP of football ops.
Meanwhile, current VP of player personnel Andy Weidl is still in the running for the Pittsburgh Steelers GM job.
There has been upheaval as well in the lower ranks of the personnel department, the most notable being director of scouting operations Casey Weidl, Andy's younger brother, being let go with a year left on his contract.
Player personnel executive TJ McCreight, Southwest area scout Shawn Heinlen, and scouting assistant Evan Pritt are also no longer with the team with the latter being a simple expiration in what was scheduled as a one-year rotation.
GM Howie Roseman is using the exodus at the top of his scouting department as an opportunity to remake the department for a more stable run, according to a team source, and will even consider shifting titles.
One aspect Roseman would like to keep is the shared jobs Cunningham and Brown deftly handled as co-directors of player personnel with one majoring in college scouting while keeping a hand in the pro end and vice versa.
There will be hires from outside the organization and promotions from within.
Casey Weidl's release for instance is because the Eagles want to promote a staffer to that position and were concerned if they did not act they could lose the employee to another organization. The belief, according to a league source, is that pro scout Ameena Soliman is earmarked for the promotion.
Others who could be promoted are director of college scouting Alan Wolking and Southeast Area scout Phil Bhaya.
The Berry-Raiche position will likely go to someone outside the organization and the Eagles have already talked with Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, a former longtime league scout, and will be discussing things with Pittsburgh pro scouting Coordinator Brandon Hunt, who previously interviewed for the VP of player personnel job in Philadelphia when it went to Douglas in 2016.
Hunt has already interviewed for the Steelers GM job as well.
Dave Caldwell, a former GM in Jacksonville and currently personnel executive with the Eagles, is expected to stay with the organization but not be in the running for perhaps a reimagined assistant GM-like role.
As for Donahoe, he ran the Steelers’ personnel department from 1993-1999 and gave Andy Weidl, who is a Pittsburgh-area native, his first job in the NFL as a player personnel assistant.
Many believed Donahoe would be out last season after the high-profile disagreement in the war room when the Eagles selected Milton Willims in the third round of the 2021 draft. Donohoe and the scouting department preferred Alim McNeil, who was believed to be higher on the organization's board.
While purely speculation at this point, Andy Weidl could be looking for his way out even if it's not for a GM job after watching the Eagles essentially fire his younger brother and then move on from one of his key mentors.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
