Chiefs Hire Chris Ballard From Bears; Kevin Turks Becomes Bears' New Director of Pro Personnel

Front-office moves are a little less heralded, especially in the wake of the draft, but the Kansas City Chiefs poached the Bears' director of pro scouting, Chris Ballard.

Ballard would have been in his first season as director of pro scouting after spending eleven seasons as the Bears' Southwest Area Scout. The Bears' web site lists him as "helping to draft" Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, Charles Tillman, Tommie Harris and Nathan Vasher - of course, all picks throughout Jerry Angelo's tenure.

The Chiefs are hiring Ballard to become their director of pro and college scouting, a promotion from the Bears' position. According to the Sun-Times' Adam Jahns, Ballard is well regarded around the league, with Jahns referring to him as a possible GM-in-the-making. Ballard played a key role in the Bears' signing Jermon Bushrod, Martellus Bennett, and the remainder of the Bears' 14 veteran signings and re-signings.

Ballard steps into a void filled when the Chiefs' former director of pro personnel Ray Farmer left for the Browns. He'll be operating under new Chiefs' general manager John Dorsey - essentially an assistant general manager.

Kevin Turks will take a promotion within the Bears to become the new director of pro personnel, with Dwayne Joseph becoming an associate director.

Joseph played defensive back for the Bears in 1995 and worked for the team from 1998 to 2003 in the football operations department. He spent eight seasons in the Dolphins' organization, seven of those as a pro scout. Turks was an intern for the Bears in 2001 and became a pro scout in 2002. In 2008 he was named assistant director of pro personnel.