For 41 year old George Kokinis, joining the Browns is a return to his roots: he spent four years with the franchise prior to its relocating to Baltimore as the Ravens back in the 90s.
He went along with the team, eventually rising to become Baltimore's pro personnel director.
Now, as he re-joins the Browns as GM, Kokinis says his long friendship with the team's new head coach Eric Mangini will be beneficial.
GEORGE KOKINIS: "I think chemistry is important. I think respecting somebody's opinion professionally is important. I think having the relationship is important because when disputes come up you still have the respect for one another in terms of walking away, giving your opinion, knowing that we're going to do what's best for this football team."}
As General Manager, Kokinis has final say on personnel. He declined to give an assessment of his current players, but said the Browns have a solid foundation.
KOKINIS: "There's core talent on this, but overall there's skill, and there's talent and capable players, and we're gonna move forward on building on that."}
One of Kokinis' first efforts will be working with team scouts to prepare for the upcoming NFL draft of college players.
