Eugene Shen leaves Commanders; Brandon Sosna takes over analytics Features, Specs

A new head of analytics takes over as Commanders…

1 January 1970
by admin

As part of a broad front-office shake-up, the Washington Commanders’ head of analytics is “transitioning out” of the organization, a team spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday.

The ownership group led by Josh Harris hired Eugene Shen as senior vice president of football strategy to much fanfare in October, but General Manager Adam Peters, who was brought in to rebuild the organization in January, made his own hire to lead the department.

Now, analytics will be overseen by senior vice president of football operations Brandon Sosna, a fast-rising executive whom Peters hired away from Detroit last month. Sosna also will be the club’s lead contract negotiator and oversee other departments, including health and performance and football administration.

The Commanders are expected to hire more analytics staffers in the lead-up to training camp. They promoted one member of the department Tuesday (manager of football research and development Doug Drewry) and have posted two job listings in analytics.

The Commanders spokesperson said Shen is “currently in discussions” to work for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the company founded by Harris and David Blitzer that owns and operates the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and other franchises.

The Commanders also made more than a dozen other promotions and hires in their football personnel and scouting department as well as football support. Notably, franchise legend Doug Williams left the business department, where he was an adviser to the team president for the past three years, and shifted back to football operations as a senior adviser to the GM.

The team lured senior director of team support and advancement Dylan Thompson away from the Houston Texans, where he was highly regarded by the team’s top players. And spokesman Sean DeBarbieri was promoted to vice president of football communications, making the 30-year-old one of the youngest VPs in the NFL.

With the hiring of Sosna, Rob Rogers went from senior vice president of football administration to VP of football administration. The Commanders also hired Chris White, formerly the Chicago Bears’ assistant director of pro scouting, as their director of pro scouting and Cody Cejda as their director of process innovation. In a news release Tuesday, the Commanders described Cejda’s experience with the Los Angeles Chargers, with whom he was special assistant to the head coach in 2021 and 2022, as a liaison between different parts of the organization who “oversaw communication for the football staff” and “helped streamline the day-to-day operation.”

The Commanders’ other promotions and hires:

Sarah Szabo, assistant to the general manager

Dwaune Jones, national scout

Jack Quagliarello, pro scout

Dustin Regan, college scout

Charles Brensinger, Alberto de la Guardia, Mitch Sterner and Miles Turner, scouting assistants

Brooks Santanello, director of video operations

Alexis Dotson, coordinator of player and family support

Travis Ho and Connor Nickol, coaching analysts

Jerod Carrier, manager of football communications

Samantha Fristachi, football communications coordinator

Matt Peterson, football operations coordinator