The head of the Celtics’ scouting department reportedly is leaving the organization.
Remy Cofield, Boston’s director of scouting for the last three seasons, agreed to become the general manager of the University of Arkansas’ athletic department, according to a report Tuesday from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Cofield has worked for the Celtics since 2013, serving as a scout and the GM of Boston’s G League affiliate before ascending to his current position in 2022. He was raised in Newton, Mass., played college basketball at Penn and earned his MBA from Bentley in 2014.
“There used to be this idea that you had to play a sport at the highest levels in order to understand and contribute to the front office or coaching staff,” Cofield told Bentley Magazine in 2021. “I believe that intelligent people, regardless of their background, can be impactful for a team.”
During his time as Maine’s GM, Cofield oversaw the development of players like Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet, who spent time with Boston’s farm team in 2021-22 and now are core members of the Celtics’ rotation. In Cofield’s three-year tenure as director of scouting, the Celtics drafted JD Davison (53rd overall, 2022), Jordan Walsh (38th overall, 2023), Baylor Scheierman (30th overall, 2024) and Anton Watson (54th overall, 2024; since released).
GM jobs at the collegiate level have become increasingly prevalent in today’s era of relaxed transfer rules; name, image and likeness (NIL) contracts; and revenue sharing. The New England Patriots experienced a similar departure earlier this month when Pat Stewart, their director of pro personnel, left to become GM of Nebraska’s football program.
“I want somebody that’s done it,” Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman said when asked what he’d want in a Razorbacks GM, via the Fort Smith Southwest Times Record. “So you may have to go to the NFL, NBA, whatever, to find somebody like that. You want someone who’s kind of done that before, whether it be the top dog or the second, you know, somebody that understands that. Because that’s something that I’ve never dealt with. Well, I have for three years, and I want some help.”