Ozzie Newsome Learned GM Role From Belichick 

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome got his first non-player position in the NFL as an assignment scout for the Cleveland Browns in 1991.
 
It was the same year that Cleveland also got a new head coach, Bill Belichick, now the head coach of the New England Patriots. In two years, Newsome was promoted to being the assistant to Belichick, the pro personnel department and the offense.
 
It was that time that molded how Newsome would eventually operate as a general manager.
 
“I was taught by Bill Belichick, at a very early age, that scouting begins on Sunday,” Newsome said last week during a town hall conference call with season ticket holders.
 
“You need to know your football team. The only way you get to know your football team is you’ve got to be able to watch them at practice. … That’s my niche.”
 
Newsome spends nearly every day at the Ravens’ training  facility, chatting with players in the halls, in the locker room and as they come off the practice field. He watches every practice, then goes back to his office and watches the practice again on tape.
 
Essentially, Newsome is constantly connected with the players and Head Coach John Harbaugh during the season.
 
While that may not sound newsworthy, it’s not how all general managers devote their time. Others spend much of their time scouting incoming college prospects in preparation for the NFL Draft.
 
“I know Ted Thompson from Green Bay, he came up as a scout, so he likes to be on the road,” Newsome said. “And I know Phil Savage, when he went to Cleveland, he came through [Baltimore] as a scout, so he liked to be on the road. But, I came through as a player.
 
“I think everybody has to find their niche where they’re very much at ease in their position.”
 
Belichick left the Browns following the 1995 season, before the team was relocated to Baltimore. Five years later, he became the Patriots’ head coach and has developed a reputation for not only controlling the coaching but the team’s draft as well.
 
Newsome came with Owner Art Modell to Baltimore in 1996 as the team’s vice president of player personnel and essentially played the role of GM. He officially became the NFL’s first African American general manager in 2002 and has since earned a reputation as one of the game’s best.
 
Part of what has made Newsome so successful in the draft is his inclusiveness. Every coach and scout gets a say in the process.
 
“[T]he only way I can do it, I have to trust [Director of Player Personnel] Eric [DeCosta] and [Director of College Scouting] Joe [Hortiz] and the scouts and their ability to go out and do their job,” Newsome said.