A few questions with Vincent Newsome, Director of Pro Personnel for The Baltimore Ravens

Vincent Newsome is the Director of Pro Personnel for The Baltimore Ravens.

After his playing career (which spanned 10 years as a Safety for the LA Rams and Cleveland Browns) ended he became a Special Assignment Scout for the Browns in 1993. Upon the organizations move to Baltimore, Newsome became the team’s West area scout through the 1999 season.

Starting in 2000, Newsome spent three seasons as the Western College Supervisor, covering players from California to Wisconsin.

In 2003 Newsome was promoted to Assistant Director of Pro Personnel, where he was responsible for handling the Advance Scouting of Ravens opponents, along with covering the Canadian Football League, and conducting Free Agent workouts.

In 2009 Newsome became the Director of the Department, and has the additional responsibilities of reviewing the NFL waiver wire daily, and working with Vice President of Football Administration Pat Moriarty on determining accurate salary cap value for players.

Baltimore Sports and Life greatly appreciates Mr. Newsome taking the time to answer a few questions.

BSL: Phil Savage, James Harris, and George Kokinis were each able to build of their successes within the Ravens organization to become an NFL General Manager elsewhere. Do you hold similar aspirations as that trio?

V. Newsome: In a lot of ways I would also welcome the opportunity to build a program in the manner our GM, Ozzie Newsome, has. But more importantly feel equally inspired to be an integral part of an cohesive group that works to develop a strong team.

BSL: Kokinis has rejoined the Ravens as Senior Personal Assistant. How has his return to the team helped you?

V. Newsome: His former background as well as his recent experience as a GM with Cleveland provides me with a consultant / adviser, who has “been down that road before” ,thus allowing me the benefit of bouncing ideas off him and in the process keeping me upto date on league policy.

BSL: You played for the Los Angeles Rams during the ’83 through ’90 seasons. Your teams were generally successful as you reached the NFC Title Game twice. John Robinson was the only Head Coach you knew during that time. How important was that continuity to the overall success of the organization?

V. Newsome: Immensely important as Coach Robinson instilled a sense of team ,trust and togetherness amongst us. It was never an ‘us’ against ‘them’ mentality… more so, our team genuinely felt ‘Coach Rob’ was in the same battles as we were …weather on the field or off.

BSL: The last two years of your playing career were spent with the Browns, and their Head Coach Bill Belichick, and their Defensive Coordinator Nick Saban. What philosophies did you take from them? How large of an influence were these coaches on you deciding to stay in the game when your career ended?

V. Newsome: I was blessed to have both coaches at the tail end of my career. Both were demanding, perfectionist and always had us well prepared. Our team was ‘long in the tooth at the time’ but I appreciated their ability to motivate, veteran players, to reject complacency and raise our game to a level we may not of thought we could achieve at that particular point in our careers. Jointly they are the sole reason I am in this business today. Coach Belichick extended the offer (with Mr Modells blessings) upon my retirement and coach Saban, had me assisting him during training camp the following summer.

BSL: Would you describe everything your job entailed as the Western College Supervisor? How far in advance was your schedule planned out? How targeted were your visits? Were you coming in to get personal looks at the players your Area scouts had scouted? How important was it to build strong relationships with the College coaches?

V.Newsome: The position was far reaching at the time as I would scout the top schools ( and select small schools )from California to Wisconsin to Texas. We generally schedule our trips for the fall during the summer ( in training camp) but also keep a couple weeks open for ‘cross checks’ with the Eastern Supervisor in November. He have specific players we are targeting after having generated our “ Spring Scouting List ” but are always keeping our eyes open for “diamonds in the rough” or late bloomers when at a particular school. The interpersonal relationships with a schools coaching staff and administration(liaisons) is vital as it can make the difference in gaining full knowledge of a players character and temperament as anything else.

BSL: For me, one of the more interesting aspects about your professional experience is the time you spent covering the Canadian Football League. Prior to the arrival of the Browns, I greatly enjoyed watching Baltimore’s CFL team (led by the great O.J. Brigance). While understanding the differences in the talent, and the game itself – I always thought it was an innovative game. While you were scouting players, were you also evaluating Coaches and CFL Front Office types?

V. Newsome: I think when we interact with coaches from different leagues there is always a point, when talking shop, that I become intrigued with how a team operates or a particular coach motivates its players. There’s always a time to learn something new.

BSL:  What information is the Coaching staff looking for from their Advance Scouts, prior to reviewing film on their own?

V. Newsome: This varies from one staff to the next , as coaches are very specific and detailed. Often they view film thru a different ‘lens’ than scouts and conversely are extremely thorough schematically. So generally our job is to assess the current talent level we will be facing, bring them something they can’t see on film ( when at a game ). As well as uncover match ups both good and bad.

BSL: The Ravens made two late Spring additions in Safety Ken Hamlin, and CB Walt Harris. Both are long-time veterans who have accomplished a lot in the NFL. Harris missed all of ’09 with an ACL injury. When your reviewed the 2008 film on Harris, and the ’09 film on Hamlin – what did you see that could help the Ravens in 2010?

V. Newsome: Both are experienced Veterans that have played a lot of ball, they both possess a skill set that compliments and adds to an already fairly successful defense. Finally both bring a professionalism and work ethic that we feel enhances the “Raven Way”.