Don't expect a household name to be the new addition to the Buffalo Bills' personnel

department in 2010.

It's the nature of the business that many top talent evaluators in the NFL are not well

known outside league circles.

Yet the Bills will have a lot of qualified candidates to consider in the coming weeks as

they work on overhauling their football operation.

The Bills are expected to start interviewing candidates to become either the new general

manager or the new director of football operations sometime after Christmas.

The Bills may not hire anyone in the front office until they find out what former Denver

coach Mike Shanahan plans to do. The Bills have had an initial interview with Shanahan. Any

team hiring Shanahan would have to allow him to pick his own personnel man, since he would

come with the clout to call his own shots. Hiring Shanahan still has to be considered a long

shot for the Bills, since he is likely to have more attractive offers from other teams facing

less of a rebuilding task than the Bills. Meanwhile, Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ

Brandon is studying GM-type candidates.

Here is a look at some of the large pool of personnel men the Bills could consider:



Experienced aides





Greg Gabriel: A Buffalo native, Gabriel has run the Chicago Bears' college scouting

department for the past eight drafts. In Chicago's Super Bowl season of 2006, eight of 11

starters from the team's dominant defense were from Gabriel's draft classes. Gabriel, 58,

tutored under legendary Giants GM George Young. He spent 16 years with the Giants, all as a

college scout, and was involved in three Super Bowl seasons. Gabriel got his start in the NFL

as a part-time scout with the Bills in the early '80s.

Dave Gettleman: He has been the Giants' director of pro personnel the past 10 years and won

a Super Bowl ring two years ago. Gettleman, 58, is highly regarded and was considered for the

Chiefs' and Browns' GM jobs last January. He's in his 24th NFL season. One thing he hasn't

done much of in his post is deal with agents of players. Gettleman also has Buffalo ties. He

got his start in the NFL under Bill Polian with the Bills. He was a college scout in Buffalo

from '87 to '92.

Bill Kuharich: He was purged from the Kansas City organization in April after the Chiefs

hired Scott Pioli to run the team. Kuharich, 56, is a veteran of 23 NFL seasons. He was with

the Chiefs for nine years and with the Saints for 14 years before that. In K.C. he ran both

the pro side and the college side for stretches. He tutored under legendary GM Jim Finks at

the start of his New Orleans tenure and was president and GM there from '96 through '99,

rebuilding the club into a playoff team in 2000.

Scott Studwell: A former star linebacker with the Vikings, the 55-year-old Studwell has run

Minnesota's college scouting operation the past seven drafts. He was a player personnel chief

10 years before that. The Vikings have traded away a fair number of picks in recent years but

have had some big hits, like running back Adrian Peterson. It might be tough to get him out of

the Twin Cities.

Younger scouts





Eric DeCosta: Anyone who is an aide to Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome is worthy of mention,

because of the Ravens' strong personnel track record. DeCosta, 38, led the Ravens' college

scouting from 2003 to '08 and was put in charge of player personnel this year. Former right-

hand men of Newsome, Phil Savage and George Kokinis, both failed in Cleveland.

Marc Ross: It may be a bit too soon for Ross to take on a rebuilding job the size of

Buffalo's, but his star is on the rise in the league. He has been the Giants' college scouting

chief the past 2 years. Before that he was a college scout for the Bills for three

years, brought to Buffalo by Tom Modrak. Ross is 36.

Ron Whaley: He's in his 10th season as Pittsburgh's pro scouting coordinator. Whaley spent

three years before that as a scout with Seattle. Whaley is in his mid-30s.

Big names





Former general managers who are out of the league include Floyd Reese and Charley Casserly. Reese, 61, is the former long-time Titans GM. Casserly, 61, formerly was GM in Washington and with the Houston Texans from 2002 to '06. Another big name was taken out of play on Thursday when the Redskins named Bruce Allen their new GM. Allen, son of Hall of Fame coach George Allen, formerly was personnel chief in Oakland and general manager above Jon Gruden with Tampa Bay.

Other options





Among the many other potential candidates:



Jimmy Raye III, 41, is player personnel director for San Diego under GM A.J. Smith, the

former Bills assistant GM. Raye was the Chargers' director of college scouting from 2000 to

'07. Getting the GM title in Buffalo would be a step up, but he has a good gig in San Diego.

Bobby DePaul, 46, has been the pro personnel chief in Chicago the past nine years. Before

that he was a scout for the Eagles and an assistant coach with the Bengals and Redskins.

Michael Lombardi is NFL analyst for the National Football Post Web site. He's a former head

of the Raiders and Browns personnel departments. He knows what a good player looks like and

would like to get back in the league. He also has ruffled the feathers of some in the football

establishment with his outspoken analysis.



Rick Mueller currently is in charge of United Football League personnel. He's a former

personnel man with New Orleans. He's close with former Saints coach and ex-Bill Jim Haslett.

... Ruston Webster is in his fourth year as player personnel chief in Seattle and he's the

interim GM after the recent firing of Tim Ruskell. Webster might wind up staying in Seattle,

even if the Seahawks re-hire Mike Holmgren. ... Ted Sundquist formerly was the personnel man

with Shanahan in Denver.