BROWNS ANNOUNCE THE HIRING OF PHIL SAVAGE TO BECOME CLUB’S SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER
Press
Conference Scheduled for Friday, 5 p.m. at Browns Training Facility in Berea
The Cleveland Browns today announced that the club has
hired former Baltimore Ravens executive Phil Savage to become the Browns’ new
Senior Vice President and General Manager. A press conference is scheduled for
Friday, Jan. 7, at 5 p.m. at the team’s training facility in Berea.
Savage spent the last nine seasons with the Baltimore
Ravens organization, including the last two (2003-04) as the Ravens’ Director
of Player Personnel, and is known throughout the NFL as one of the league’s
top talent evaluators. Savage, a 14-year veteran of the NFL, worked directly
with Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome to oversee both college and pro
scouting.
Savage, 39, was named the Ravens’ Player Personnel
Director in 2003. In addition to his responsibilities of scouting collegiate
players around the country, Savage was involved in many of the day-to-day
football operations of the team and also negotiated player contracts.
In his nine years with Baltimore, Savage was instrumental
in drafting 10 Pro Bowl players, including T Jonathan Ogden (D1a, 1996), LB
Ray Lewis (D1b, 1996), WR/PR Jermaine Lewis (D5, 1996), LB Peter Boulware (D1,
1997), DB Chris McAlister (D1, 1999), RB Jamal Lewis (D1a, 2000), LB Adalius Thomas (D6, 2000), TE Todd Heap (D1, 2001), S Ed Reed (D1, 2002) and LB
Terrell Suggs (D1a, 2003).
He also helped guide the Ravens to three post-season
appearances, including a Super Bowl XXXV victory over the N.Y. Giants in 2000.
Savage spent the first seven years of his career in the
coaching ranks (University of Alabama, 1987-89; UCLA, 1990), including a stint
as the Browns defensive backs coach from 1991-93.
In 1994, Savage moved to the player personnel side of the
business full-time as an area scout on the West Coast and was elevated to
national scout for the 1995 season. When the franchise moved to Baltimore in
1996, he became the Director of College Scouting, a post he held for seven
years before being promoted to Director of Player Personnel prior to the 2003
NFL Draft.
Savage prepped at Murphy (Mobile, Ala.) High School
before playing football and baseball at the University of the South (Sewanee,
Tenn.). He earned a B.A. in English and was a three-time All-Conference
shortstop in baseball. He received a Master’s degree in physical education
from the University of Alabama in 1989.
Phil is married to his wife, Dorothy, an accomplished
theatrical actress.