Scouting, personnel guru Allen named Dolphins’ assistant GM

The Miami Dolphins have hired Marvin Allen as the team’s assistant general manager, putting him in a position where he’ll be second in command of the scouting and personnel department, according to a league source.

Allen, a former Tulane tailback who played five seasons with the New England Patriots, rushing for 378 yards and two touchdowns on 94 carries, was hand-picked by general manager Chris Grier, who was named the top football executive by owner Steve Ross on Dec. 31.

ESPN was the first to report Allen’s hiring.

Before joining the Dolphins, Allen spent one year as a national scout for the Buffalo Bills. Before that, he spent four years as the director of college scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 25-year veteran of the NFL scouting community has also served as a national scout for the Atlanta Falcons.

Allen, who is 53, spent the early part of his career with the Patriots, where he was an area scout from 1993-2008.

That’s where he developed a relationship with Grier, who worked in the Patriots scouting department from 1994-2000.

Grier, Allen and Brian Flores, expected to become the Dolphins’ next head coach when the Patriots’ postseason ends, all worked under Scott Pioli during their time together in New England.

Flores worked in New England’s scouting department from 2004-2007 before becoming the a special team’s assistant.

Allen followed Pioli to Kansas City when Pioli, who is now the assistant general manager for the Falcons, was the top executive with the Chiefs.

The Dolphins previously didn’t have an assistant general manager because Grier served as the second in command while Mike Tannenbaum held the role of vice president of football operations. Tannenbaum was removed from the football side of the organization after the 2018 season ended.

Allen’s hire indicates that more changes could be coming to Miami’s front office this offseason.