FRISCO, Texas – On Wednesday the former Vice President of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt, was recognized on the Ring of Honor Walk at the Star. He became the 22nd member of the Cowboys’ hallowed Ring of Honor, and it is only fitting that his name joins many of the players he brought to the organization. 15 of the 19 players on the Cowboys’ ROH, Brandt is responsible for acquiring. He was a true innovator of his time in the world of scouting, and many of the techniques he created are still being used today. He built a team from scratch at the club’s inception in 1960 that led to the birth of America’s Team.
The team has another visionary in Will McClay. McClay was a former head coach of the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League and is now the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys. He joined the team’s staff in 2009 as a Pro Scouting Coordinator and was the Director of Football Research from 2011-2013. He was bumped to Assistant Director of Player Personnel (2014-2017), and became the VP of Player Personnel in 2018.
Many teams around the league have been interested in McClay for vacant General Manger positions for his exceptional track record for success with free agents he has landed and dissecting selections through the Draft process that best fit the team’s scheme. McClay creates the famous draft board and values speed, intangibles, and the best player available.
Executive Vice president, Stephen Jones, discussed with me the impact of McClay on the draft process, “I think something that is interesting, at some point you come to a point where you agree to disagree and we try to avoid those players; The ones where we do not have consensus. You try to find a player who fits at that level where there is a consensus. I think we do a great job of that and a lot of credit to Will. He is a great consensus builder and he spends a lot of time with his staff, and spends a ton of time with each of our position coaches, and of course he is very intensely involved with Jerry and myself in terms of how we communicate. He is as good as they get. “
Dallas has had great success the past several years in the draft, and a large portion of that goes to the influence of McClay in the ‘War Room.’ He is a behind the scenes force behind the Cowboys’ roster the past few years, and his ability to recognize and discern where talent lies, is why he has been elevated to his current position. He has helped the Cowboys’ land several difference makers on the field including Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, and Amari Cooper to name a few. He is a modern ‘Brandt’ innovator in Dallas and his wisdom is making a sizeable impact on the field.
