Here is a press release from the New England Patriots announcing the hiring of Floyd Reese as senior football advisor.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots have hired Floyd Reese as senior football advisor. Reese, whose 30-plus years of NFL experience have included a wide range of responsibilities in football operations, will be involved with various football-related assignments, including contracts.
Nick Caserio, as director of player personnel, will manage the daily operations of the personnel department, continuing to work closely with Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick on all personnel matters.
“We consider ourselves fortunate to have the opportunity to add someone with Floyd Reese’s NFL experience and expertise to our staff,” said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. “Floyd will be a tremendous asset serving Coach Belichick in an advisory role.”
“Floyd and I go back a long way, practically to the beginning for both of us,” said Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. “He has handled as much as one person can possibly handle in this league and to a certain extent, so has Nick. In Nick and Floyd, we have two outstanding men who each bring a wealth of knowledge and flexibility to this organization. I look forward to joining with both of them and working toward the common goal of our team’s improvement and success.”
Floyd Reese will enter his 32nd NFL season in 2009, including 17 seasons in player personnel and 15 seasons as an assistant coach. He joins the Patriots after serving 13 seasons as the executive vice president/general manager of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise from 1994-2006. He also served as the assistant general manager of the Oilers for four seasons from 1990-93. Reese served as an assistant coach with Detroit (1975-77), San Francisco (1978), Minnesota (1979-85) and the Houston Oilers (1986-89).
In his 13 seasons as the general manager of the Oilers/Titans, Reese’s teams won 111 games – setting a franchise record for wins by a general manager. Houston and Tennessee won 11 or more games in a season four times during Reese’s tenure as general manager while recording eight seasons with a record of .500 or better. Over a five-year period from 1999-2003, the Titans led the NFL with 56 wins, including three seasons with 12 or more victories. In 1999, the Titans claimed the AFC Championship and reached the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, falling just a yard short of the title in Super Bowl XXXIV against the St. Louis Rams.
Reese’s positive impact is still being felt in Tennessee. The 2008 Titans earned the AFC’s top playoff seed while 16 of 22 starters on their final 2008 roster were originally acquired while Reese was general manager, including nine of 11 starters on defense. The 2008 Titans are sending six of Reese’s acquisitions to this year’s Pro Bowl – QB Kerry Collins, CB Cortland Finnegan, DT Albert Haynesworth, S Chris Hope, C Kevin Mawae and T Michael Roos.
Reese entered the NFL as the strength and conditioning coach for the Detroit Lions in 1975. He spent three years with the Lions, including a two-year period from 1976-77 while Bill Belichick was also a member of the Detroit coaching staff. In 1978, Reese joined the San Francisco 49ers as the strength and conditioning coach. He joined Bud Grant’s staff in Minnesota in 1979, beginning a seven-year tenure with the Vikings. During that period he held a dual role coaching linebackers and special teams from 1979-83 before being named defensive coordinator in 1984. He coached the Vikings’ linebackers in 1985.
In 1986, Reese began a 21-year association with the Oilers/Titans franchise. He served as the Oilers’ linebackers coach for four seasons from 1986-89. In 1988, the Oilers’ top three tacklers were all linebackers and in 1989, three of the team’s top four tacklers were linebackers. Reese moved into the Oilers’ personnel department in 1990, and served as assistant general manager for four seasons, each of which ended in a playoff appearance.
Reese served a four-year stint in the college coaching ranks as an assistant coach at UCLA (1971-73) and Georgia Tech (1974). He was an All-America defensive lineman for UCLA from 1966-69 and also played one season (1970) for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
FLOYD REESE’S COACHING/PERSONNEL CAPSULE
- 1971-73 – UCLA – Assistant Coach
- 1974 – Georgia Tech – Assistant Coach
- 1975-77 – Detroit Lions – Strength & Conditioning
- 1978 – San Francisco 49ers – Strength & Conditioning
- 1979-83 – Minnesota Vikings – Linebackers/Special Teams
- 1984 – Minnesota Vikings – Defensive Coordinator
- 1985 – Minnesota Vikings – Linebackers
- 1986-89 – Houston Oilers – Linebackers
- 1990-93 – Houston Oilers – Asst. General Manager
- 1994-2000 – Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans – Executive VP/General Manager
- 2001-06 – Tennessee Titans – Executive VP/General Manager & Director of Football Ops
- 2009 – New England Patriots – Senior Football Advisor
Nick Caserio is in his second season as the Patriots’ director of player personnel in 2009. He is entering his ninth season with the Patriots and his ninth in the NFL. Caserio has been with the Patriots organization since 2001 and has served in a number of roles in the personnel department and on the coaching staff.
Caserio spent the 2007 season as the Patriots’ wide receivers coach after a three-year stint as the Patriots’ director of pro personnel (2004-06). In his one season as the Patriots’ wide receivers coach, Caserio tutored a unit that combined for 292 receptions for 3,814 yards and 39 touchdowns. The Patriots’ 2007 wide receivers included All-Pro Randy Moss, who set an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions, and Wes Welker, who tied for the NFL lead with 112 receptions – the highest reception total in NFL history for a player in his first season with a new team.
Caserio originally joined the Patriots in June 2001 as a personnel assistant and celebrated the Patriots’ first Super Bowl title that season. During that year, his role was expanded to include film breakdown and scouting report preparation for Charlie Weis’s offensive coaching staff. He became an offensive coaching assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff in February 2002. After a season in coaching, Caserio returned to the personnel department in 2003, serving as an area scout that year. He was named the Patriots’ director of pro personnel on February 6, 2004 and spent three years in that role. In addition to his personnel duties, Caserio filled in as the Patriots’ running backs coach while Ivan Fears was on medical leave during 2005 training camp.
Caserio began his coaching career in the collegiate ranks, serving as a graduate assistant at Saginaw Valley State University from 1999-2000. He was a graduate assistant at Central Michigan in the spring of 2001 before joining the Patriots in June 2001.
Caserio attended John Carroll University, where he was a four-year starting quarterback. He left John Carroll as the holder of 16 school records, including most passing yards and most yards of total offense.
NICK CASERIO’S COACHING/PERSONNEL CAPSULE
- 1999-2000 – Saginaw Valley State – Graduate Assistant
- 2001 – New England Patriots – Personnel Assistant
- 2002 – New England Patriots – Offensive Coaching Assistant
- 2003 – New England Patriots – Area Scout
- 2004-06 – New England Patriots – Director of Pro Personnel
- 2007 – New England Patriots – Wide Receivers
- 2008-09 – New England Patriots – Director of Player Personnel
