The Buffalo Bills have promoted Canadian scout Curtis Rukavina.
Rukavina originally joined the Bills in May 2017 as a pro scout. He’s earned the new title of Assistant Director of Pro Scouting/Free Agency.
According to general manager Brandon Beane, Rukavina’s ability to go above and beyond what is expected has been noticed by the scouting department and coaching staff.
“Curtis has done really good with his presentations and we feel he’s earned the right to lead our free agent meetings,” Beane said in a statement. “Curtis is going to be in charge of free agency. This will give him a chance to grow.”
Beane wants to give Rukavina a chance to develop and learn what it’s like to be a director in the Bills scouting department for future growth. Rukavina will be in charge of leading and organizing free agency meetings.
The 32-year-old’s dedication to his work as a scout and football executive is one of the main traits that’s allowed him to rise in the pro football ranks quickly. His dad was a football coach so he grew up close to the game and he started playing at eight years old in the Mississauga Football League.
Collegiately, Rukavina played at Erie Community College for two years and transferred to the University of Guelph for the final seasons of his eligibility. After graduating, Rukavina was coaching at Guelph in 2014 when an opportunity came about with the Toronto Argonauts.
In February 2016, Rukavina was promoted to director of player personnel for the Argos. Rukavina was clearly fast-tracking, he had been in the CFL for a year and a half and already earned lots of responsibility from four-time Grey Cup champion football man, Jim Barker.
As Rukavina was moving up quickly in Toronto’s front office, he was doing the same in the minds of scouting connections he had developed in the NFL. After the 2017 NFL draft, Buffalo let go most of their scouting staff, which created openings, and Beane hired Rukavina the same month he was appointed GM.
Rukavina grew up a Bills fan, living an hour and a half away from where the team played, his family had season tickets for many years. The Erie Community College Kats, where he played collegiately for two years, share a parking lot with the Bills home stadium.
The Bills went 13-3 in 2020 and won the AFC East for the first time since 1995 and Rukavina played a role behind the scenes. Buffalo made it to the AFC Championship Game, but lost to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes 38-24 in Kansas City.
