A day after things surround the Miami Dolphins' search for a new General Manager went silent for the first time in four days, a new name has emerged today. According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the newest name who could be on the Dolphins' candidate list for the GM position is Brian Xanders.
Xanders is currently the Detroit Lions' Senior Personnel Director, a position he assumed in 2012. Prior to that, he was the General Manager for the Denver Broncos, working his final year in Colorado underneath John Elway and being credited by Elway for helping the Hall of Fame quarterback adjust to his role as Vice President of Football Operations in Denver.
“It was tough because I have a great deal of respect for Brian as a football man but also as a person,” Elway said at the time, according to Pro Football Talk. “Even more so as a person. He was very helpful to me in this first year getting acclimated back to the NFL. I owe him a lot. Just from the conversation we had, we just thought for his career and for the Broncos we felt that now was the best time to go a different way.”
Xanders began his tenure with the Broncos in 2009 before he and the team mutually agreed to part ways - the same term used for the parting of the Dolphins and former GM Jeff Ireland this year.
Prior to joining the Broncos, Xanders spent 14 seasons, from 1994 to 2008) with the Atlanta Falcons, starting as a scout and working his was through the player personnel, football operations, and technology/systems portions of the franchise. He also spent time as a defensive assistant coach, including during the team's 1998 season, ending with a loss in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Xanders was an All-ACC linebacker for Florida State from 1989-1992.