Speaking primarily of the BB GM (Marc VandeWettering), It's closer to the latter, but much more involved. His description is to 'collaborate' w/Greg Gard on things such as roster management & recruiting, which suggests to me that he focuses on the year-to-year turnover, tries to manage who may or may not appear to be a long-term commitment & how that effects roster structure going forward, and is also the point man regarding revenue allocated to BB (Can we afford this transfer? If we pay A, B, & C "X" number of dollars, how much do we have left for D & E, and will that be enough?) He also is in charge of non-conference scheduling.
I doubt that his recruiting involvement goes any further than input as to how a prospective recruit might effect the current/future rosters, and how much can be comfortably allocated to a particular kid. Nothing regarding scouting or actually hitting the recruiting trail.
I'm guessing the FB GM has similar duties. But one never knows what Fickell might have written into his deal AFA additional control. I suspect it's a collaborative thing as well, as unlike the NBA or NFL the AD is the 'boss', not the GM.