FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons have promoted Ryan Pace to vice president of football operations/player personnel, Tokunbo "Tumbo" Abanikanda to director of college scouting, Michael Ross to assistant director of college scouting, Hakeem Smith to pro scout, Stephanie Gutierrez to senior director of football systems, Danny Leskin to manager of football data science and Nathan Ellis to scouting coordinator.
In addition to the seven promotions, the Falcons have hired Harrison Ritcher as a national scout as well as Cami Pasqualoni and Kevin Weisman as scouting assistants.
Pace joined the organization in 2022 as a senior personnel executive before being promoted to director of player personnel in 2023. Prior to Atlanta, Pace spent seven seasons (2015-21) as the general manager of the Chicago Bears and served as a member of the New Orleans Saints personnel department from 2001-14.
Abanikanda joined the Falcons in 2012 as a scouting assistant before taking the role as an area scout where he was responsible for the southeast region of the country in 2013. Prior to his latest promotion, he was promoted to national scout in 2021.
Joining the Falcons in 2008 as a player personnel intern, Ross' new role marks his seventh promotion within the organization, with his sixth to national scout in 2021 after two years as a regional scout, four years as an area scout and one year as a pro scout.
Smith joined the Atlanta staff in 2022 as a scouting assistant on the personnel staff before being promoted to assistant pro scout in 2023. Prior to joining the Falcons, Smith served as a student assistant in the University of Pittsburgh Football Recruiting Office from 2019-22.
Gutierrez joined the Falcons in 2018 and in her position oversees the development and management of internal football operation applications, working closely with football operations departments to ensure the effective integration of technology in operational strategies. In 2020, she was named a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion council for AMBSE and now serves as Co-Chair on the Atlanta Falcons DE&I council. Gutierrez joined the Falcons after serving as senior software engineer for the Chicago Bears, beginning in 2014, after three years at STATS LLC.
Leskin joined the Falcons in 2018 as a football analyst before elevating to senior coordinator of football analytics, assisting all football operations departments in aiding decision making using data and analytics, prior to his latest promotion. He joined Atlanta after two years as a project engineer at Tishman Construction Company where he was a part of the $4.7 billion LaGuardia Airport redevelopment project, serving as both a project manager and engineer for the major project.
Ellis served as a scouting assistant for the Falcons in 2023 after two years as a recruiting assistant/coordinator at the University of South Carolina. His first NFL experience came as a pro scouting intern for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021-22.
Ritcher joins the Falcons after six seasons with the Washington Commanders. He joined the organization as the team's BLESTO scout during the 2017 offseason and was promoted to the role of college scout in the 2019 offseason, overseeing the team's scouting operations in the southeast region. After beginning as a recruiting intern at Florida State in 2010, Ritcher spent his first four NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns from 2012-15. He spent his first two years interning in the Browns' personnel department before being promoted to player personnel associate prior to the 2014 campaign. Ritcher, a native of Raleigh, N.C., played fullback at North Carolina State from 2006-09. He is the son of 16-year NFL veteran Jim Ritcher, who played for the Bills and Falcons from 1980-95.
Pasqualoni joins the Falcons after two seasons as a recruiting intern for the Syracuse football program where she assisted the director of on-campus recruiting with all on campus recruiting activities. Including official visits and unofficial visits with prospective student-athletes. Pasqualoni also assisted with recruiting quality control as well as serving as a member of the recruiting team that focused on the area of upstate New York, New England and Canada regions.
A 2022 University of Georgia graduate, Weisman returns to the state following two years in New York City where he served as an intern and advocate for a variety of organizations while focusing on his Juris Doctorate at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. While at UGA, Weisman served as a player personnel assistant during the Bulldogs' 2021 College Football Playoff championship season where he assisted in recruiting efforts while analyzing NIL opportunities.
