The Browns announced seven new hires to their football operations staff as well as several other role changes and promotions.
Additions
Charles "Wat" Adair – Coordinator, Team Logistics
Elisha Guidry – Scouting Assistant
Tyler Habursky – Scouting Assistant
Josh Lucas – Area Scout, Mid-Atlantic
Chris Polian – Advisor to the GM
Sam Secrest – Scouting Assistant
Jack Slatery – Player Personnel Assistant
Promotions/Transitions
Will Black – Scouting Assistant
Hunter Carson – Football Operations Assistant
Kelsey Fahy – Performance Nutrition Coordinator
Kory Gillissie – Director, Equipment Operations
Eli Gooch – Junior Software Developer
Vincent Herzog – Assistant Director, Equipment Operations
D'Qwell Jackson – Pro Scout
Greg Livingston – Pro Scout
John Nussman – Scout, NFS
Alice Sullivan – Pro Scout/Contract Analyst
Joy Tapajcik – Director of Football Operations & Process
Cyrus Wolford – Area Scout, Northeast
Kathleen Wood – Scouting/Personnel Assessment & Development
Zach Zelinsky – Manager, Football Information Systems
Bre Zook – Equipment Assistant
Adair joins the Browns after spending last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a seasonal intern following a summer internship the year prior. A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Adair attended the University of Alabama. He spent five years with the Tide as an operations intern, while earning a degree in Marketing and a minor in Computer Science.
Guidry graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a BA in Economics, playing DB for the UCLA football team while enrolled there. He then pursued another degree, graduating from San Jose State University with an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, while continuing his playing career as a member of the San Jose State football team. He is a native of Long Beach, California.
Habursky is a recent graduate from John Carroll University with a BBA in Business Administration & Management, while minoring in Leadership. He was a member of the John Carroll football team before retiring due to injury and transitioning to a role on the staff as a student Defensive Quality Control coach.
Lucas has served in many different roles during his 18-plus years of experience, including most recently as the Director of Player Personnel for the Chicago Bears. Lucas is a native of North Canton, Ohio, and a Harvard graduate.
Polian joins the Browns after serving as the Director of Pro Personnel for the Washington Commanders the past three seasons. He worked his way up from being a personnel assistant to manning a variety of roles (Pro Director, VP of Football Operations, Assistant GM) before serving as the General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts, where the team went to the Super Bowl in his first season. In his role, he will work directly with the club's senior football executive team on all strategic roster and football operations decisions.
Secrest moves to an in-house position with the scouting staff after working as an external Film Analyst this past draft cycle. A native of Lebanon, Ohio, Secrest graduated from Denison University in 2023 with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics and was a four-year starter at defensive tackle on the football team.
Slatery joins the Browns after working in the behavioral health industry for four years. Most recently, he spent three years as an admission and business development coordinator at a dual diagnosis treatment center specializing in substance abuse. In his new role with the Browns, Slatery will work closely with various departments in player personnel, assisting in the coordination of player workouts, player visits and player evaluation.
Black transitions to player personnel from his most recent position with the organization working for the Haslam Sports Group as Director of Administration, where he helped coordinate and assist the day-to-day operation of the leadership team. Before that, he served as a Football Operations Intern within the Browns for two years. Black graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Sports Management and worked for the Clemson football staff as an operations/personnel student assistant before earning his MBA from the University of Findlay.
Carson joins the football operations, personnel and process groups after spending a year as the Team Logistics intern. In her new role, she will work very closely with personnel and football operations to assist with processes pertaining to player acquisition and will help with our people management framework. Carson came to the Browns from Penn State where she wore many hats, specifically contributing to their recruiting efforts. Originally from Virginia, she graduated from East Carolina University with a Communication degree and a Master of Science in Educational/Instructional Technology.
Fahy is entering her third season with the Browns and spent the past two seasons as a performance nutrition intern. In her new role, she will continue to drive new nutrition initiatives, while enhancing the player care standard and overseeing the nutrition intern program. Fahy recently became Board Certified in Sports Dietetics in the offseason. She is originally from upstate New York and a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in Nutrition and has a master's degree from Concordia University in Exercise Science.
Gillissie is entering his 11th season with the Browns. In his new role, he will oversee equipment operations, ensuring the team remains at the forefront of player health and safety, while collaborating with other key groups of football operations. From Cleveland, Gillissie played football and baseball at Baldwin Wallace University, where he majored in criminal justice.
Gooch recently completed a 12-month internship within the Football Information Systems Department. In this new role, he will contribute to internal football systems development and support the needs of personnel and football ops departments. A native of Dansville, Kentucky, he attended Centre College, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science.
Herzog is entering his third season with the Browns after spending 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions as an Assistant Equipment Manager. Among his many duties, he will continue to support the daily equipment needs, while assisting with overseeing some of the day-to-day initiatives of the equipment department. A native of Grand Blanc, Michigan, Herzog attended Michigan State University and worked for the equipment department for the Spartans for three years.
Jackson is entering his second season with the Browns front office after spending the 2023 season supporting player development. Jackson brings a wealth of experience and football knowledge to the personnel department after an 11-year NFL playing career, including eight years in Cleveland after being selected in the second round of the 2006 draft. Before re-joining the Browns, Jackson spent time in broadcast, media and other business ventures following his retirement. Jackson is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he received ACC Defensive Player of the Year and All-American honors as a linebacker. He was inducted in the Cleveland Browns Legends program in 2021.
Livingston is in his second season with the Browns and after spending 2023 as a Scouting Assistant. Before joining the Browns, Livingston worked as an Offensive Assistant at Northwestern and in the player personnel department at Boston College. He is a native of Katonah, New York, and holds a BA in Philosophy from Middlebury College, where he played wide receiver and was a team captain.
Nussman is entering his fifth season with the Browns after spending his first four seasons as a scouting assistant. Nussman will represent the Browns in National Football Scouting (NFS) as an Area Scout. Nussman will contribute to NFS, NFL combine and the team's draft initiatives in his new role. Nussman is a native of Dayton, Ohio and a graduate of The Ohio State University.
Sullivan is entering her second season with the Browns after spending the 2023 season as a Scouting Assistant. Before joining the Browns, Sullivan worked at LSU, where she served as a football analyst for Advance Scout. A native of Swampscott, Massachusetts, Sullivan holds a BS in Mathematics and History from Notre Dame, where she also worked in operations and scouting for the football team.
Tapajcik is entering her fourth season with the Browns and has had responsibilities spanning across football operations, player personnel, process development and people operations. She will now support the execution of the team's player development program and the Browns staff development programs.
Wolford is entering his third season with the Browns after spending his first two as a scouting assistant. A native of Millsboro, Delaware, Wolford attended Temple University, where he served in various football operations departments.
Wood is entering her fifth season with the Browns, having spent the past three seasons as the Northeast Area Scout. In her new role, she will contribute to the day-to-day operations across personnel processes, emphasizing assessment and development, while continuing to contribute as a college road scout. Wood spent approximately 15 years in the world of private investigations and other equity business partnerships before transitioning to football. She is a native of Philadelphia, Pa.
Zelinsky is entering his seventh season with the Browns after starting as a Software Developer in 2017. The East Liverpool, Ohio, native played basketball at Washington & Jefferson College, where he majored in Computer Science. Additionally, he was an Analytics Intern for a season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Zook is entering her third season with the Browns after starting as an intern in 2022. Zook became the first full-time female to join the ranks of NFL Equipment Managers. A native of Fishers, Indiana, she graduated from Mississippi State University, where she majored in Kinesiology. She worked for the equipment department for the Bulldogs for four years while attending school.
