Longtime senior scout Anthony Patch leaves the Eagles for the Raiders
Patch, the Eagles’ senior director of college scouting, was a key figure in the team's recent success in the NFL draft.
Anthony Patch, the Eagles’ senior director of college scouting, is leaving the organization to take a senior position with the Raiders.
Patch was one of the Eagles’ longest-tenured scouts, having first joined the organization as college scouting coordinator in 2002. While others in the personnel department received promotions or moved into other roles in recent years — some of them mostly nominal — Patch was a consistent presence on the college evaluation side.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Eagles declined to comment, but a source said that the team was sad to see Patch go but understood that taking what amounted to a promotion with the Raiders was best for him professionally and personally. The Raiders announced the deal later Monday.
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There are likely more changes coming to Eagles personnel and football operations. Most contracts for staffers run through the draft and the month of May is often a busy time for turnover in scouting departments across the NFL.
Patch may not be familiar to many outside the NovaCare Complex, but he has been one of general manager Howie Roseman’s most trusted aides and has been a key figure in the Eagles’ recent drafting success.
“One of the best teammates you could ever ask for,” a former Eagles executive said of Patch.
Based in Washington, Patch became West Coast area scout in 2003 until he was promoted into a leadership role in 2009. In 2012, he was named director of college scouting. He was fired in 2015 after Chip Kelly was given final say over personnel over Roseman. Patch was one of several Roseman loyalists who were either fired or moved out of football operations when owner Jeffrey Lurie gave Kelly full authority. He was brought back just a year later, however, after Kelly was fired and Roseman regained control.
Patch will work under new Raiders general manager John Spytek, who was a scout with the Eagles from 2005-09. He also gets to work for the Las Vegas-based franchise, which is closer to his home base.