KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mount Carmel native Brett Veach doesn’t work for the Philadelphia Eagles anymore, but as a guy who used to work for the Birds and who has a lot of friends still there, he thinks Eagles fans should be excited.
Veach, promoted by the Kansas City Chiefs last week to co-director of player personnel, said he thinks Eagles fans should give their team a little breathing room after its furious offseason of roster moves, including trading running back LeSean McCoy and quarterback Nick Foles, letting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin go and signing Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray.
“I used to work there, and Ed Marynowitz (Eagles’ vice-president of player personnel) and I are really good friends and we still talk a lot,” Veach said Monday by phone. “I think they’ve done a good job. I know Ed is a very smart individual, and I think he and Chip (head coach Chip Kelly) are on the same page. I think they had a really solid draft and they’ve been thinking outside the box. In the NFL, that can be a good thing. At the end of the day, I think Eagles fans should be excited.”
Veach, the former Associated Press Small School Player of the Year at Mount Carmel in 1996 who later starred at the University of Delaware, went west with Kelly’s predecessor, Andy Reid, to the Chiefs in 2013. He was promoted from pro and college personnel analyst to co-director of player personnel, a position he’ll share with Mike Borgonzi, who was assistant director of pro scouting. Chris Ballard, former director of player personnel, was promoted to director of football operations.
The change in title will mean a subtle change in duties, according to Veach.
“We kind of do a lot of cross-training in the (front) office,” Veach said. “I’ll still do 35 or 40 schools that I’ll be responsible for scouting, but I’ll also come in now during the week and help out a little more with some of the game stuff for the next week.”
Veach is in his ninth year at the NFL level. He came in as Reid’s personal assistant with the Eagles and remains very much a Reid disciple. He thinks his boss and the rest of the Chiefs’ staff has done a tremendous job in a short period of time. The Chiefs were 2-14 the season before Reid took over in 2013. Last season, the Chiefs made the playoffs.
“I think we laid the foundation in the first year (2013) and really built on it last season,” Veach said. “I think there’s a really good blueprint in place. Last year we beat (Super Bowl opponents) Seattle and New England. Now we have to learn to finish off some games. I feel real good about where we’re at.”
Veach said most NFL teams have similar front office and football operations structures, but said the successful teams go a step further.
“Everybody needs to be on the same page, not just in looking for talent, but also as a culture,” he said. “Players need to know their roles and responsibilities. A lot of it is really developing chemistry.”
One of the reasons Veach decided to go with Reid to Kansas City was to also work with general manager John Dorsey, who built a solid reputation at Green Bay.
Veach said the staff is pleased about the Chiefs’ recent draft. Their first pick (18th overall) was Washington cornerback Marcus Peters, followed by offensive lineman Mitch Morse of Missouri, and two third-round picks, Georgia wide receiver Chris Conley and Oregon State defensive back Steven Nelson.
“We’re always going to take the best player available,” Veach said. “After that, you factor in things such as character, depth at position and those kind of things. We named three or four guys we had in mind for each round and I feel like we got some outstanding players.”
The lower rounds of the draft are the ones that make it most interesting, according to Veach.
“The top 50 people everyone knows all about,” he said. “After that, when you get into rounds three through seven, it’s more about how you evaluate guys. Some jump right out at you. Others, you want to see a little more.”