The Chicago Bears haven’t made notable changes to their scouting department in a long while. For the first time in years, that finally changed. It appears GM Ryan Pace wasn’t afraid to make some pretty interesting promotions and tweaks. That includes vacated the prestigious Southeast area scout position in favor of a new face along with two new members at the top of the entire scouting department.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the names that got the notable pay raises and new titles were Jeff King and Sam Summerville. King first emerges on the radar back in 2016 when the Bears promoted him to pro scout. This in the wake of their outstanding free agency work that year, capped by the arrivals of Akiem Hicks and Danny Trevathan. Since then King has played a big part in the team adding names like Prince Amukamara, Allen Robinson, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Tashaun Gipson among others.
Word is the #Bears made a few moves in their personnel department. On the pro side, Jeff King was promoted to director of pro scouting. GM Ryan Pace has praised King multiple times since free agency kicked off.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) June 22, 2021
He wasn’t the only rising star getting his due.
Sam Summerville has been one of the most well-respected college scouts in the Bears organization for years. That is why they gave him the keys to their most valuable position, evaluating players in the loaded Southeast region. Since 2014, he’s had a hand in securing players like Kyle Fuller, Eddie Goldman, Nick Kwiatkoski, Eddie Jackson, Tarik Cohen, Roquan Smith, and Darnell Mooney. That run of success finally earned him a promotion to national scout.
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On the college side, I'm told Southeast area scout Sam Summerville has been bumped up to a national scout. Midwest scout Scott Hamel will now cover the Southeast and Combine scout Brendan Rehor will handle the Midwest.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) June 22, 2021
Hamel has been the Bears’ Midwest scout since 2017. During that time his impact has certainly been felt with names like James Daniels, David Montgomery, Cole Kmet, and now Justin Fields having his fingerprints on them. It isn’t hard to see why the team is trusting him with the valuable Southeast region moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Rehor handles the Midwest in his stead. He too was last promoted in 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMzyyxmmITg
Chicago Bears continue a proper trend of rewarding their own
One could argue Summerville’s promotion, in particular, is long overdue. His track record speaks for itself. Making him a national scout just makes a ton of sense. This way the Bears are able to get his eyes on all of their potential draft prospects and undrafted free agents rather than those coming from just one specific region. This also continues a trend the Bears have been on for a long time.
While other organizations like to add new faces to the mix from the outside both to the scouting department and front office? Chicago has preferred to focus on rewarding its own. They haven’t made a single new addition in years, choosing to only elevate guys within the organization. This is a great way to maintain continuity and also foster loyalty and dedication from those involved. It seems to have served the organization well. Their drafting seems to have steadily improved over the past few years.
Good on them for doing it this way.
The Chicago Bears will need those guys in the coming next few offseasons. Those will be crucial in the development cycle of Fields. They must build a proper roster around their new quarterback. Something that won’t be so easy without a 1st round pick in 2022. King may also have to help them find more help at wide receiver what with Allen Robinson a threat to leave without an extension.