French
DeutschJon-Eric Sullivan
| Green Bay Packers | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Vice president of player personnel |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | 1976 or 1977 (age 47–48) Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight: | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Catholic (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Fork Union Military (Fork Union, Virginia) |
| College: | South Carolina (1995–1997) Gardner–Webb (1998–1999) |
| Undrafted: | 2000 |
| Career history | |
As a coach: | |
| |
As a staff member / executive: | |
| |
Jon-Eric Sullivan (born 1976 or 1977)[1] is an American professional football executive who is the vice president of player personnel for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks and Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs and joined the Packers in 2003.
Early life
[edit]Sullivan was born in 1976 or 1977 in Columbia, South Carolina.[1] His father, Jerry Sullivan, was a long-time wide receivers coach in college and the National Football League (NFL).[1] He started playing football in third grade and was a wide receiver.[1] He first attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he caught passes from future NFL player Warrick Dunn.[2] His father became a coach at Ohio State while Sullivan was at Catholic, and he thus moved in with friends.[2]
Sullivan's grades declined and his father later enrolled him at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, where he played his junior and senior seasons.[1] He was asked to begin playing cornerback and earned all-state honors as a junior after leading the state with nine interceptions, in addition to totaling 247 receiving yards.[1][2] He then won all-state honors at wide receiver as a senior.[1] He finished his stint at Fork Union with 37 receptions for 771 yards and eight touchdowns, being recruited by several major programs and committing to play college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks.[3]
College career
[edit]At South Carolina, Sullivan quit the team before the regular season in 1995.[4] He later decided to return in 1996 as a walk-on, but had to sit out the season.[3][4] He described his initial departure from South Carolina as "probably the worst mistake I've ever made in my life ... [but] I'm glad I got a second opportunity to come back here."[3] In the 1997 season, he was a backup and totaled eight receptions for 110 yards.[1]
Sullivan transferred to the NCAA Division II Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in 1998.[1] He played two seasons for the team and caught 43 passes as a senior in 1999, being selected all-conference.[1] He graduated from Gardner–Webb in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and was later inducted into the school's Gallery of Distinguished Alumni.[5]
Executive career
[edit]Following his playing career, Sullivan worked a season as a student assistant and wide receivers coach at Gardner–Webb.[1] He then became an employee at GMAC Insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1] He later became a sales rep for L.G. Balfour Company in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] In 2003, he "missed football" and became a training camp intern for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.[1] The following year, he was hired by the Packers as an employee in the football operations department.[1]
Sullivan spent several years as the Packers' National Football Scouting representative at the NFL Scouting Combine.[1] In 2008, he became a scout for the Central Plains region, and after four seasons in that role, he became a Southeast region scout in 2012, a position he remained in through 2015.[1] In 2016, he was promoted to director of college scouting.[6] He became an important figure in the team's drafting and was described as the "right-hand man" to general manager Brian Gutekunst.[7] In 2018, he was promoted again, to co-director of player personnel, along with Jon Wojciechowski.[7] In 2022, he was promoted to vice president of player personnel.[8]
In 2025, Sullivan was interviewed by several teams as a general manager candidate, including the Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets.[9][10][11]
Personal life
[edit]Sullivan's wife, Jennifer, is the daughter of coach Pete Hoener.[1] They have three daughters together.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cohen, Michael (April 25, 2018). "Sullivan 'indispensable' to Packers' Gutekunst". Green Bay Press Gazette. p. C6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Daniels, Rob (September 30, 1994). "Sullivan: Leader of the pack". The Daily Progress. p. 15, 17 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Simpson, Kamon (August 25, 1997). "USC's Sullivan returning for second chance". The State. p. 6, 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Sullivan returns with new attitude". The Greenville News. August 24, 1997. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Jon-Eric Sullivan". Green Bay Packers. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ McGinn, Bob (August 29, 2016). "Packers put faith in scouts Sullivan, Peprah". Stevens Point Journal. p. A8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Cohen, Michael (May 27, 2018). "Packers make player personnel promotions". The Oshkosh Northwestern. p. C8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Walker, Teresa M. (January 16, 2025). "Titans interview Packers' Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Spytek of the Bucs for their GM job". Star Tribune. Associated Press.
- ^ Suss, Nick (January 16, 2025). "Tennessee Titans interview Jon-Eric Sullivan, Packers executive, in 2nd round of GM search". The Tennessean.
- ^ Alper, Josh (January 14, 2025). "Raiders request G.M. interview with Jon-Eric Sullivan". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports.
- ^ Alper, Josh (January 14, 2025). "Jon-Eric Sullivan interviews for Jets G.M., set for second Titans interview". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports.
