Given all the high-profile additions the Bears have made this offseason, the hiring of Tim Ruskell has made no bigger splash than a pebble being thrown into Lake Michigan. But that pebble is going to make ripples that will turn into waves.
Big waves.
Ruskell's addition as director of player personnel was the primary part of a significant front office restructuring for the Bears. For the first time in general manager Jerry Angelo's tenure, he has assigned an overseer of the entire personnel department.
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In essence, Ruskell is doing the jobs of former college scouting director Greg Gabriel and former pro personnel director Bobby DePaul, as well as assuming some of Angelo's responsibilities.
And what makes Ruskell uniquely qualified for the job is he can act as an extension of Angelo better than anyone in the league because the two worked together for 13 years in Tampa and have remained confidants. Philosophically, they are two of a kind.
But Ruskell was not hired because he was Angelo's best available buddy. Angelo made that clear to everyone at Halas Hall when he made the move. In his decade in Chicago, Angelo repeatedly has resisted the temptation to hire friends — though many have come to him with resume in hand. Ruskell is different.
After Ruskell resigned as Seahawks president of football operations last winter, he was an easy target for critics. His last two Seahawks teams finished 9-23.
There were extenuating circumstances. The team changed head coaches after the 2008 season. The Seahawks lost 129 games by starters due to injuries over the two seasons, according to studies by the Dallas Morning News. Only three teams in the league had a higher number.
It was easy to forget what Ruskell had accomplished before that rough stretch of road.
In his first year in Seattle, he brought in 21 new players, including six starters. The result: the Seahawks won their first playoff game since 1984 and played in their first Super Bowl. The team then embarked on its most successful three-year run in its 33-year history.
It was an extension of a nine-year run in which Ruskell's teams played in 16 postseason games, including two Super Bowls and four NFC championship games.
Over that time, Ruskell wore almost every kind of hat a front-office executive could wear, dealing with college scouting, pro evaluating, contracts, administration, league matters and community issues. He worked with many coaches with many styles, including Tony Dungy, Monte Kiffin, Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren, Jim Mora, Alex Gibbs, Mike Tomlin, Ray Rhodes and Jim Zorn. He even worked with Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli.
This breadth of experience appealed to Angelo so much that it inspired him to change the structure of the front office.
"Tim has done everything from a personnel standpoint, and he's done it for a long time," Angelo said. "I have a lot of confidence in his ability to communicate with coaches and scouts and make sure we're all on the same page."
The Bears are counting on Ruskell to use his experience to bring together three departments — pro, college and coaching. In the past, the Bears had an unspoken policy that encouraged different departments to take separate orbits.
One of Ruskell's first orders of business has been getting the pro scouts and college scouts to speak the same language by changing their grading system. He also has acted as the personnel department's liaison to the coaching staff — which the team really didn't have before.
"We've all got to get on the same page," Ruskell said. "When you bring a player in and you have the personnel side pushing for him and coaches on board with it, you increase the odds of that guy being successful. We're not going to agree on everybody. If we do disagree, let's look at the guy together. Maybe we can hash it out. If not, let's move on."
Ruskell joined the Bears less than a month ago, but his fingerprints are already all over the Bears' front office. Among his suggestions being implemented are a remodeling of the draft room and some changes in the information technology area. The team is putting up a free agent draft board that will mimic what the college draft board looks like.
The authority Ruskell is being given, as well as the length of his contract — three years — indicate he was not brought to Chicago just to stick his finger in a dike for a year.
Ruskell's impact on this organization can be significant and lasting.
