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In early 2005, the San Francisco 49ers took significant strides and rounded the corner with an innovative vision to restore the club’s winning ways of the past. To succeed in rebuilding the 49ers franchise, owners Denise and John York knew they would have to make every decision count, especially when it came to acquiring talented and quality players. It didn’t take long for the 49ers search committee to pinpoint the keen eye of Scot McCloughan, who was hired on February 2, 2005 to reform San Francisco’s roster. In his current role, not only is McCloughan overseeing new talent that comes through the Santa Clara practice facility door, but he’s also helping to manage the team’s salary cap and player contracts, while working hand-in-hand with Head Coach Mike Nolan in devising a personnel plan to build a young team into a powerhouse. Upon his arrival in San Francisco from his former post as the director of college scouting for the Seattle Seahawks, McCloughan had just over two months to devise a plan for free agency and the NFL Draft. He was in a challenging position, but possessed the track record and football pedigree to get the job done. Heading the 49ers personnel department enabled him to return to the Bay Area, where his football roots got started. The year McCloughan was born in San Leandro, CA was his father’s (Kent) final year playing in the NFL. Kent was a standout cornerback for the Oakland Raiders from 1965-70, and was part of the 1967 Super Bowl II squad. Immediately after his final season, Kent began scouting for the Raiders, discovering talented collegiate players around the country from the family’s new home in Loveland, CO. Respected NFL executive Ron Wolf was a member of the scouting department in Oakland at the time and brought Kent on board to bolster the department. Young Scot joined his father for film sessions at the house, and even traveled as his dad’s sidekick on trips around the area. He watched, learned and took notes. Football was life in the McCloughan household, and the environment quickly ceded Scot McCloughan into a standout on the football team as a running back, safety and return man. He was also a star baseball player, earning a scholarship on the Wichita State team where he contributed in two collegiate World Series as a designated hitter and third-baseman.
McCloughan went on to play minor league baseball for three more years for the Toronto Blue Jays organization before football beckoned him again. It was then that Wolf re-entered the picture, this time, recruiting Kent’s son to join his scouting staff in Green Bay in 1994. McCloughan went on to comb the Midlands region for college talent for three years before he took over a slot in the Southeast territory. During that span, he was part of two Packers’ Super Bowl teams, including the 1996 championship squad who defeated New England in Super Bowl XXXI. In just five short years, he made an impressive name for himself and Seattle hired him as their director of college scouting. He’s very good at what he does and has a tremendous desire to improve, Wolf said. He has an exceptional eye for talent.
Some of his early picks, like St. Louis G Adam Timmerman, Green Bay’s seventh-round selection out of South Dakota State in 1995, turned out to be hidden gems. Timmerman has since become a Pro Bowler.
In Seattle, McCloughan’s efforts came to fruition when the Seahawks won the NFC Championship in 2005 and made a trip to Super Bowl XL in Detroit to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. On that roster, 25 of the 28 draft picks on McCloughan’s draft scroll were still on the team when he left his post to join the 49ers last year.
“I think Scot is one of the bright young talents in this League. I fought like crazy to keep him here,” Seattle Head Coach Mike Holmgren said.
Along with his tireless routine of preparation, McCloughan possesses an acute memory. It served him well heading his first draft in San Francisco, where he had to put together a draft board based on the needs of a team he barely knew.
“Ten of the 11 draft picks from 2005 remained on the team and the one we did cut and wanted to put on the practice squad was claimed,” McCloughan recapped. “Two, three years into this, I think it’s going to be a heck of a draft.”
The 2005 Draft Class has already proven him right.
All 10 players, and one undrafted college free agent, saw action during their rookie campaign. Six became starters, including G David Baas and G/T Adam Snyder, who helped bring cohesion and strength to the offensive line by the season’s end. RB Frank Gore led the 49ers rushing efforts and first round selection, QB Alex Smith, took over the starting reins in the second half of the season, leading San Francisco to consecutive wins to close out the 2005 slate.
McCloughan also held the roster together with a myriad of free agent acquisitions who stepped in to take the place of many injured starters.
“That gave me a lot of confidence in Scot McCloughan and our personnel department,” Nolan said about the free agents effectively filling holes throughout the year.
Over his two-year span with the 49ers, McCloughan has also recruited talents of seasoned veterans through free agency such as LT Jonas Jennings and 2005 49ers co-MVP K Joe Nedney. And during the 2006 off-season, McCloughan helped acquire future Hall of Fame G Larry Allen and pulled the trigger on an important trade with Denver in the 2006 draft, acquiring a second pick in the first round to put San Francisco in prime position with No. 6 and No. 22 overall choices. The move gave the team firepower on both offense and defense as athletic TE Vernon Davis and agile LB Manny Lawson were selected in the two first-round slots
The McCloughan scouting pedigree likewise matriculated to his older brother, David, who shares Scot’s innate ability to unearth football talent. He also came to San Francisco in 2005 and serves as the 49ers director of college scouting.
McCloughan and his wife, Kelli, have a son, Caden, and twin girls, Adison and Avery. The family resides in San Ramon , CA. |
