The Montreal Alouettes have yet to play a game under the tenure of general manager Danny Maciocia, but they’ve already lost a key piece of their front office staff.
3DownNation contributor Moe Khan has confirmed an earlier report by NFL insider Adam Caplan that Alouettes assistant GM Tom Gamble has been hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars to work with new GM Trent Baalke. The two worked together previously with the San Francisco 49ers.
Hired by Montreal last January before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 CFL season, Gamble was a personnel man for 29 seasons in the NFL, spending 10 with San Francisco. He was the assistant general manager for the 49ers in 2015 and 2016.
When John Lynch was named the 49ers’ GM, the two men met and felt it would be best if Gamble left the franchise. He also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts.
His father, Harry Gamble, started as a volunteer coach for Philadelphia in 1981 and worked towards the general manager position, which he held for 11 seasons from 1985 to 1995. Former Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil gave Gamble his start in the city of brotherly love. Gamble was raised in a football household in New Jersey.
While working with Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco as the director of player personnel, the 49ers selected Colin Kaepernick during the second round, 36th overall of the 2011 NFL draft. The next season, San Fran went 11-4-1 and made it to the Super Bowl, losing 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens. The connection with Gamble led him to join the University of Michigan Wolverines staff in 2017.
The job with the Alouettes was Gamble’s first CFL foray but it’s now over before it really began, as he joins a new-look Jaguars team with college coaching legend Urban Meyer at the helm and generational quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the way. He may not be the last Canadian connection headed to Florida either, with former CFL coach Marcus Brady set to interview for the Jaguars vacant offensive coordinator spot.
