5 Things to Know About GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Adofo-Mensah has quietly been on the NFL radar for some time, as he was included among The Athletic’s 40 Under 40 as one of “football’s youngest power brokers” in August.

Adofo-Mensah, who was 39 years old at the time of publication, was one of 15 team personnel and business executives listed.

Berry spoke with The Athletic about why he brought Adofo-Mensah to Cleveland. Berry said:

“No. 1, it’s his general cognitive abilities. He’s a super, super bright guy, and that comes across within the first two minutes that you meet him. No. 2, and probably just as importantly, it’s just people skills. You could see how he had been able to build relationships across a number of different groups during his time at San Francisco in a role that can be very challenging, because you have to be able to not only develop (analytic) insights, but communicate them and get people to buy in. And then the other thing was just his breadth of understanding of the sport and football operations. So even though he had formally just led the 49ers’ research group, you could tell that he understood team building, people, relationships and managerial skills at a much higher level.”

4. He’s got plenty of brain power

Adofo-Mensah has quite the educational background, as he attended (and graduated from) two of the most prestigious universities in the nation.

He first graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Adofo-Mensah later went on to receive his master’s degree in economics from Stanford University.

Adofo-Mensah in June spoke at the NFL’s Coaching Summit, which is regarded as one of the most collaborative and informational league meetings on an annual basis.

Adofo-Mensah’s session focused on how he evaluates the quarterback position, and included data and metrics that provide a quantitative view to grading a quarterback’s short, medium and deep ball accuracy.

“[Analytics] is about evolution, not revolution,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We take this framework that has been used for years, and we’re just applying it to different things. We’re creating decision rules, and we’re determining how those decision rules will help us in the future.

“Hope is not a strategy,” he added. “There are lots of things that can occur in the future, and it’s our job and obligation to study them, understand the risks and choose a course of action that will put us in a good situation no matter what happens.”