Bill Michaels of the Bill Michaels Sports Talk Network in Wisconsin joined "The Audible" on KNBR to breaks down both of the San Francisco 49ers general manager candidates from the Green Bay Packers. The first is Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf and the other is director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst. Both were interviewed by the 49ers on Thursday, January 5.
Michaels started by discussing Gutekunst, who the 49ers are reportedly very interested in. "He's been more the business side of things," said Michaels. "He's a guy that's not only in charge of player personnel, he also works closely with Russ Ball, who does contracts, who does a lot of the travel, who does the front office stuff. Being a general manager is not only going out and scouting talent, but you have to then how to manage your team. Gutekunst has been a guy that's been kind of groomed for that."
Michaels then discussed Wolf. "Obviously, his dad was a very famous general manager in Packer lore," Michaels said. "He's basically been a sponge since he grew up. he's just grown up around football. He knows how to scout. He knows what he's looking for. I've had a chance to sit with him a couple of times and just kind of listen to him and talk a little bit and while he still has the youthful exuberance, he's a very intelligent guy. He knows what he wants."
Michaels went on the explain that a lot of the disciples of current Packers general manager Ted Thompson have taken what they learned from him about drafting and supplemented it by addressing other needs via free agency.
"There's no reason to believe that Eliot Wolf would not be good at that position just because he's a younger cat because the guy's been around it his whole life and all he does is absorb football," Michaels continued.
Who would Michaels select as a general manager if he had to pick one? "There is no reason to believe that Eliot Wolf or Gutekunst – either of those guys would not make good general managers in the National Football League," Michaels said. "I would take Eliot Wolf in a heartbeat."
Michaels explains that Wolf has just been around it for so long. "He's worked his way up through every position and he knows it as well as anybody," Michaels said. "And he's had the benefit of sitting in on every draft session, every war room and being able to understand what teams are looking for and how they go through the process. I would take him in a heartbeat."
You can listen to the entire interview on KNBR.
