Champ Kelly‘s continuous rise through the front office ranks of the NFL was put on hold last year when he took a slight step back with the Raiders after serving as their interim general manager in 2023. After parting ways with Las Vegas last month, Kelly has agreed to join the Dolphins as a senior personnel executive in 2025, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Beginning his front office career in the National Indoor Football League, in which he first served as a player and coach, Kelly entered the NFL in 2007 as a college scout for the Broncos, rising to assistant coordinator of pro and college scouting and, eventually, assistant director of pro personnel. In 2015, he joined the Bears as director of pro scouting before being promoted to assistant director of player personnel.
He then moved to Vegas, where he served as assistant general manager starting in 2022, eventually filling in in an interim role after Dave Ziegler was fired. While he was still in the running for the Raiders’ official general manager role, Kelly also interviewed for the Panthers’ open position that eventually went to Dan Morgan. After missing out on both jobs, he returned to Las Vegas with a slight demotion from interim GM back to assistant general manager. This offseason, Kelly auditioned for the Jaguars’ open job which was ultimately awarded to James Gladstone.
With his new role in Miami, Kelly will work roles in both pro and college scouting for the Dolphins. He’ll set himself up once again to start working towards another general manager opportunity.
Here are a few other updates from former NFL staffers, though these men have transitioned to the collegiate level of the sport:
After being fired in early-2023, former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwichvowed to return to the NFL. Immediately following his dismissal, Leftwich interviewed for the offensive coordinator role in Baltimore that ultimately went toTodd Monken in 2023 as well as the Patriots’ head coaching gigthat went toMike Vrabel and the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator gigthat went toKlint Kubiak in this last cycle. After failing to land an NFL job for the third straight cycle, Leftwich will reportedly take an assistant role with Deion Sanders at Colorado, per Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. It’s unclear exactly what his role will be with the Buffaloes, but it will be Leftwich’s first taste of college ball since he graduated from Marshall in 2002.
Ron Rivera may be done as an NFL coach and could be making a move to the front office. According to an announcement from his alma mater, Rivera will reportedly be taking a job as general manager for the Golden Bears at Cal. Before getting fired following the 2023 NFL season, Rivera had spent 13 years as a head coach in the NFL — nine years with the Panthers and four years in Washington. Following his dismissal, Rivera interviewed for defensive coordinator jobs with the Cowboys, Rams, and Eagles for the 2024 season but failed to be selected for any of those jobs. He also interviewed for head coaching jobs in this most recent cycle with the Bears, Raiders, and Jets but didn’t land any of those jobs either. He’ll now join the new ACC school as the world of NIL has created a need for a general manager-type role for colleges looking to stay competitive.
Lastly, former Titans and Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has earned another head coaching gig, per HBCU Premier Sports. Five years after his NFL coaching career came to an end, Fisher took an advisor role with Tennessee State under his former running back in Tennessee and then-head coach Eddie George. With George recently accepting the head coach job at Bowling Green State, Fisher will return to Nashville to coach the Tigers as his successor. This will be Fisher’s first coaching role since 2022, when he was the head coach of the Michigan Panthers of the USFL. Since then, Fisher has served as chief advisor for an Arena Football League team while also working as that league’s commissioner.