Clearing Up a Few Misconceptions About Scouting

20 Friday Mar 2026

Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

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We’re a little more than a month out from the draft, so that means there’s going to be a lot of talk of scouting, what scouts are doing, how scouts get their jobs (and lose their jobs), etc. There have been some dumb posts on social media already, and there are more to come. Here are a few things to remember as the topic of player evaluation comes up in the coming weeks/months.

  • Scouts tend to get released after the draft: Contracts typically are for two years and run through the end of April (sometimes May). That’s why a lot of people tend to watch our Twitter a little more closely in May. I can tell you there have already been some scouts released that haven’t been made public yet, but generally speaking, the turnover is going to start in May and will (mostly) be over by the end of June.
  • A fired scout does not equal a bad scout: Every year, we publish that a scout was let go by a team and fans get on social media and rejoice. It’s celebration day! Their favorite team has finally cut out the cancer! No, not really. More often than not, that scout got priced off the team. He’s not GM timber, he’s making well into six figures, and the team needs that money to pay its new analytics hire, or to give someone else a bump. The scout that gets let go didn’t do anything wrong. He’s just too expensive. For this reason, I’ve gotten used to seeing 3-4 good scouts terminated every year. I used to scratch my head when this happened. I don’t anymore. It’s simple economics.
  • Dismissals are independent of that year’s draft: I used to have this on a pinned tweet, but no owner (or GM) comes in the first day of May, declares that the team’s draft sucked, designates a certain evaluator as having done a poor job, and casts him onto the unemployment line. Decisions have already been made on which scouts will be dismissed this summer. We (and they) just have to wait to find out who they are.
  • Executive-level scouts are often called to cover pro days because no one else is available: This is important when you hear that a team’s Director of College Scouting attended a school’s pro day. It doesn’t necessarily mean that team is super-interested in one of that school’s players. There’s a LOT of ground to cover in March. It takes everyone.
  • A Top-30 visit doesn’t mean a team is drafting a player (or even considering it): This is pretty obvious, but still bears saying. The thing to understand is, most teams won’t sign a player unless he’s had a physical. So if a kid didn’t go to the Combine, a team might be bringing him in simply to get some answers, medically.

If you read our blog regularly, you probably already know these things, but maybe you didn’t. Well, now you do. Enjoy the draft.

Five Things for New NFL Agents to Know About Pro Days

13 Friday Mar 2026

Posted by in Agents, Getting started, ITL, NFL draft, Scouts

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Tonight, I gathered with several members of the 2025 NFLPA agent class to discuss pro days and the things they need to know this time of year. In the process, I developed 10 truths regarding pro days. I pulled five of them from my notes tonight, and they’re below.

Here’s my take on what new agents need to know about March.

  • No matter what scouts say, 40 times and pro day performances are important. This is something that was really brought home to we when I was writing my last book. It’s probably more true today than ever. A fringe prospect who tests poorly can take himself off most — maybe all — draft boards.
  • Pro days are not a right; scout coverage is not a right. I think that as the draft has grown in popularity, there’s a perception that every player gets his chance to shine in a workout. That’s not true. Even if every single NFL scout was dispatched to pro days across the country, they’d be tasked with gathering numbers on 1,500-2,000 players across about five weeks, and that’s just at the FBS level. Never mind that most are just not NFL-caliber players. Scouts are people, too.
  • One scout is way better than no scouts. I’ve had agents lament that there was only one, maybe two, scouts at a pro day. Most teams share numbers through what’s called the APT Coalition. If a player worked out at a remote school with minimal NFL talent, let’s face it — there’s probably better places for a scout to be.
  • If you get a player into a pro day, there’s a good chance he will only get to run a 40. Some schools are very liberal with how many players from other schools they allow to work out, but here’s the catch — they only let them run the 40. If their time doesn’t measure up, they don’t get to finish the rest of the drills. Once again, pro days are not a right, and scouts and school officials have to be economical with their time and efforts.
  • Pro liaisons often know less than you’d think. It’s not their fault. Their job is to help their respective teams win on Saturday, not get their players into the NFL. The point is, defer to them on some things, but make sure you verify everything they tell you.

Obviously, there’s plenty more to know about pro days as well as how to get a player his best pro day; the vagaries of alternative leagues like the CFL and UFL; NFL local pro days; and the all-important Day 3 of the NFL Draft. These are all things I covered tonight with Inside the League clients.

We didn’t record things, but I’ve got pretty detailed notes. Happy to share them if you join the ITL family.

A Few Thoughts on How We Can Improve Our Combine Events

06 Friday Mar 2026

Posted by in Agents, College personnel, ITL, Media, NIL, Transfer portal

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Forgive me if this is a little self-indulgent for a couple of events that have already taken place. However, I’ve spent the last week thinking about how we could make our two Indianapolis events last week, the 2026 Ellison Kibler at Merrill Lynch ITL Combine Seminar and the 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium, even bigger in 2027. Here’s what I’ve come up so far.

More space: We were smart enough to increase our space for Friday’s symposium — and thank the Lord that we did, because we had a packed house — and increased our space for Wednesday. However, we probably need to expand our space even further for both events. Hopefully we can return to the first floor while meeting our needs, size-wise.

More imaging: We improved our social media game since last year, but let’s face it: we had nowhere to go but up. I’ve had a lot of the participants from Wednesday and Friday seeking photos of themselves from the events. I get it. When you work in the shadows, you have to find a way to let others learn who you are (or, at least, what you look like). We’ve done a good job with photos for the seminar, but not always got the pictures out. Friday, our photography was minimal. We’ll do better on both counts next year, and we’ll get shots out to people from Wednesday sooner this year.

Registration: I think we have to cut off signups earlier. We also have to level up our registration process. We’ll be giving this more thought before next year. Several people got into the symposium late despite registering days, even weeks before the event. That’s not fair to them.

Roundtables: Panelists (agents and GMs) had a really difficult job. We posed some difficult questions (they’re in this email in case you were wondering), and it’s not easy to respond when there are 400 people in the room. Some of the feedback I got was that they might be more comfortable sitting at tables with only a few people from the community. I’ve seen this done at previous symposiums, and it came together really well. However, they didn’t have as many people as we had, and it requires signups well in advance so you can kinda plot things out. We had a significant amount of walkup registration and that will probably continue next year with schedules in Indianapolis so volatile. I’m not sure if we can pull this off. But maybe we’ll try.

Promotion: I devoted three newsletters and 3-4 podcasts to promoting our symposium; I also put a ribbon on our website with all the details. Still, we had members of some of the top agencies who expressed disappointment that they didn’t know we were having it. I’ll admit I focused my personal texts, emails and DMs on college GMs and directors, hoping that agencies would participate if we had enough members of the college personnel community. Next year, I’ll be more aggressive about reaching out, personally, to people who have attended in the past.

If you were there, and you have ideas, I’d love to hear what you’ve got. I’m sure there are things I’m missing. I want to make both our events the place the football community comes to share best practices and meet key people. I won’t stop trying to improve both. DM me on Twitter at @insidetheleague.

More Thoughts on Friday’s Symposium and Where We Are

01 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in College personnel, NIL, Transfer portal

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I’ve been thinking about our event Friday, the 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium, which took place Friday morning in the Indiana Convention Center before about 400 members of the college personnel community. We had 48 FBS schools represented, including 37 P4 schools and 20 GMs. Anyway, our two panels (three GMs, three NIL agents each) weighed in on 20 questions posed by Dropback founder Luke Bogus and myself over almost two hours on the second floor of the convention center.

I already posted a few takeaways in our Friday Wrap, but I had a few more today. First let’s get the cliches out of the way.

  • No one wants to take NIL payments away from players, no one is saying players shouldn’t be compensated for their images, etc.
  • Everyone is willing to let things be decided on the field, and no one is asking for mercy.
  • Everyone accepts that life isn’t fair.

With that said, there were a few recurring themes:

  • The January portal was a win, simply because it was one window instead of one in December and one in the spring. The timing is still tricky, but I don’t think there was a lot of pushback. If there was any, it was that there’s no certainty that this is the policy going forward. No one in a position of authority has declared the January window “the way” going forward.
  • The feeling on the panel was that money should go to veteran players. I mentioned this in the Friday Wrap, but Iowa GM Tyler Barnes raised the point that there should be some kind of cap on pay for high school players. Unknown players don’t have a lot of name recognition anyway, to say nothing of the limited snaps they usually play. We’ve seen the NFL basically do the same thing in the 2011 CBA. Unfortunately, this is probably wish casting as it would take federal legislation.
  • There’s clearly a lot of mystery about who represents which players; it’s so bad that one GM said he relies on journalists to tell him who represents whom. The problem here is that there’s nothing comparable to a Standard Representation Agreement (SRA), the document that the NFLPA requires players to sign when they agree to representation. Again, short of some kind of federal intervention or an opt-in to some governing body, that’s impossible.
  • With no rules, college officials and agents are left to rely on their own senses of honor; the value of relationships was mentioned so many times I lost count. However, as we know, morality is subjective, and honest people sometimes disagree. I raised the idea of some kind of code of conduct that could be accepted across the industry, but no one seemed to think that would make a difference. Unfortunately, the panelists are probably right.
  • You can argue about the makeup and effectiveness of the College Sports Commission (CSC), which is supposed to call balls and strikes on NIL deals, but you can’t argue that they’ve communicated effectively with schools. No one on either panel said he’d heard a word from the CSC. No one seemed to know much about what the CSC was doing, and given the role the CSC is supposed to play, that’s a concern. I hope someone at the CSC reads this. People in NCAA personnel offices would love to hear from them.
  • Unfortunately, for the second straight year, there was little to no optimism that tampering could be curbed, much less stopped. It’s admirable that the NCAA is trying to do something about it, but the panelists just shrugged their shoulders, figuratively, at these efforts. Even in the agent world, which is governed by the NFLPA, there’s almost no way to stop this. The player who benefits from such activity is never going to turn in his benefactor.
  • I was happy with the candor and honesty shown, but let’s be honest — when you’re giving opinions on touchy issues before a room of 400 people, it’s natural to edit yourself. The feedback is that people would be more open to talk in a roundtable situation, maybe 12 people talking about the issues. I’d like to think there’s someone out there that could provide such a forum, but who knows? Maybe I’m the one who should.

Just more stuff to think about. I think the problems facing the game may not be as overwhelming as some claim, but it’s not perfect. I hope ITL can be part of any solutions.

Here’s Why You Should Attend Our Combine Events

20 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Getting started, Scouts, Transfer portal

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The 2026 NFL Combine is next week. If you read this blog regularly, you know I encourage you to take chances if you want to work in football. Well, if you aren’t going to Indianapolis next week, and you want to be a scout, coach or agent, you’re making a mistake if you don’t go.

Why? Think about this.

If you want to accomplish your goals, you must seize opportunities. I know that travel, hotels, food, etc., cost money. But there’s more than just a financial risk you’re taking if you don’t go — there’s also an opportunity risk. You don’t know who you’ll meet if you go. But you know that if you don’t go, you definitely won’t meet anyone.

It’s a people business. To succeed in this business, you must be a hard worker, of course. However, if you don’t get the chance to work for anyone, it doesn’t matter. Every NFL head coach has been on a bad team at some point, but he got another opportunity in the game because of the people he’s worked with before. If you don’t know many people in the game, there’s only one way to change that.

The Combine offers the best chance to meet people. As we’ve discussed before in this space, we’re seeing a change in philosophy by NFL teams toward all-star games. At the same time, access at the biggest game of them all (the Senior Bowl) has been reduced significantly. It’s true that there are fewer NFL people that go to Indianapolis than there used to be, but there will still be droves of scouts, coaches, league officials, agents, trainers and others who could be really helpful in getting your big break.

We provide two shots at improving your chances. I’m sorry if this comes across as bragging, but I’d argue that the Combine is a better place to network than ever because of our seminar (Wednesday night) and symposium (Friday morning). For $100 (or for no money if you already work for an FBS team), you can associate with literally hundreds of NFL scouts (Wednesday) and NCAA personnel (Friday) in a relaxed, collegial atmosphere. All the details for the weekend are in last week’s Friday Wrap.

Still not sold? Read today’s Friday Wrap (register here), in which we’ll discuss the panelists, review topics, answer frequent questions, list the awards, and provide other details that may make it sexy enough for you to be at one or both of them. Remember:

  • 2026 Ellison Kibler at Merrill Lynch ITL Seminar: Weds, Feb. 25, 530 pm. Room 205, Indiana Convention Center. No cost, no registration.
  • 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium: Friday, Feb. 27, 830 am. Room 205, Indiana Convention Center. Register here. Free to FBS personnel; all others $100.

Hope to see you there.

Work in Football? First Combine? Here Are a Few Tips

10 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Getting started, Scouts, NFL draft, combine prep

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I always kinda thought people who work in college personnel offices knew the drill when it comes to the NFL Combine, but I recently came to the understanding that they don’t, given how busy their jobs are. I’ve previously written about how to approach the NFL Combine if you’re a job-seeker, but let’s say you work as a personnel director at a P4 school. When should you get to Indy? When should you leave? Here are a few thoughts.

First, know the deadline for getting credentialed: It’s Saturday. You’re going to want to apply before then if you want access to Lucas Oil Stadium. This page has all the details. This is where you actually apply.

But before you apply: You need to know which (if any) of the players at your school are invited and when they’ll be working out. If you haven’t already heard from the players at your school, sometime this week, the NFL will publish the entire list of 350-odd players. Obviously, they don’t all work out on the same day. Click here to find out when they will test. Obviously, this will determine when you need to be there to offer support.

What if your school doesn’t have any combine invitees?: I recommend one of two schedules. At the very least, come in Thursday night so you can attend our symposium Friday morning. We’re hopeful that there will be 50 P4 schools represented, most by their GMs. We’re also going to have a who’s who of top NIL agents there. It’s going to be big. Here’s a more detailed rundown of what to expect. Best of all, if you’re a member of an FBS college personnel staff, you don’t have to pay. You only have to register, which you can do here.

So you arrive Thursday. When should you leave?: Here’s what I recommend. Indianapolis will be filled to the brim with NFL and college football types Friday night. Hit the town. I’d recommend grabbing a meal downtown, then hitting High Velocity, the bar at the JW Marriott, that evening. It will be jam-packed with NFL scouts and executives, agents, wealth managers, and others in the industry of every stripe. It’s a great chance to renew acquaintances or make new ones. Come to think of it, it’s probably not a bad idea to hit High Velocity Thursday night as well.

What if you have more time?: I strongly recommend you come in Wednesday afternoon and join us at our seminar. It’s the Academy Awards of the scouting business, and it’s free (you don’t even have to register). It starts at 5:30 p.m. and will go about an hour. We’ll have 150-200 scouts there and it’s a lot of fun. We’ll hand out more than 30 awards and there’s a celebratory atmosphere that you don’t always find in football. I hope you can join us. More details are here.

Six Points: A Few More Tips and Ideas for Getting a Job This Time of Year

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

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This time of year I get a lot of people reaching out to ask about tips on getting a job in scouting, college or pro. Here are a few more things to think about and/or ideas for you.

Update your LinkedIn: I used to dismiss people who serially updated their LinkedIn page, but I have to admit it’s nice to have someone’s complete employment history readily available. I know some people really overdo it, but if you use it judiciously it can be a really positive tool. I know it’s been easy to advise people when they ask for counsel on finding a job when I can review their LinkedIn pages first. By the way, if you really want to go the extra mile, set up a Linktree.

Go to the Combine: I know it’s intimidating, and can be costly, but you can figure it out. The Senior Bowl is no longer the best place to network. Indy isn’t easy — there are a few events you can attend, including ours — but mostly you’re going to need to be in the right place at the right time, eager to seize an opportunity. It’s a risk you have to take.

Seek out volunteer opportunities in Indy: It’s too late to land something with an NFL team or with combine organizers, but there are enough things going on that a helping hand might be needed. Think outside the box. There’s no better way to make a connection than to be a good worker. If you can’t find a football organization, maybe reach out to an agency that you know has players at workouts.

Renew all your key acquaintances: It’s not easy to stay in contact with everyone in your neighborhood 24-7, and if you’re not carefully, you can come across as inauthentic. Still, you should be able to think of a reason to reach out to everyone who could be pivotal, job-wise, over the next 60-90 days. For example, you could ask when they get in to Indianapolis. Or wish them a happy President’s Day, I guess. If they show up on a podcast, make sure you compliment them — genuinely — and make it clear with context that you actually listened. Obviously, a job change (especially a promotion) gives you an automatic opportunity, as well. The key is to remind them, subtly, that you’re around.

Don’t forget about business cards: I know they’re passe’ but the fact is, they’re cheap and they fit easily into someone’s wallet. You don’t have to walk around with a wad of cards in your hand. Just have them ready if the need arises.

Remember that information is key: You need to know something that potential employers don’t. I do not think you should carry around your latest mock draft. But I do think you need to be ready with information on the upcoming players on your current team, or inside information on what jobs might be available on your own team, or anything else. If you don’t have anything, don’t fake it. But there’s no better way to prove your future value to a potential employer than by having something you can offer now.

One more thing — make sure to know where recent scouting hires have come from, which teams you should be focusing on and, well, read this, too. Good luck.

Are We Entering the Post-All-Star Era?

30 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in All Star Games, NFL draft

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Wednesday night, I drove home from the Senior Bowl. It’s about seven-and-a-half hours on the road alone, which gives you a lot of time to think. One of the things I considered was the plight of the modern college all-star game, especially the Big Two, the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl.

Unlike the other all-star games, these two have the distinction of attracting Day 1 and Day 2 draft prospects. The big question is, how much longer can we expect top-100 players to even take part in all-star games? Consider:

  • The national championship game featured two players who will be top-five picks (Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Miami’s Rueben Bain) along with three other players who might be Day 1 picks (Miami’s Francis Mauigoa and Akheem Mesidor in addition to Indiana’s Carter Smith). As you may know, the Hoosiers and Hurricanes each played 16 games. Sixteen! That’s almost a full NFL season. At some point, players need to take a break. What’s more, the teams that made it to the semis played 15 and the ones who got to the quarters played 14. That’s a lot of football for a lot of talented players who might say enough is enough.
  • The national championship game next year will be Jan. 25, 2027. For comparison, the Shrine Bowl was played on Jan. 27 this year and the Senior Bowl will be played Jan. 31. That pretty much takes the players from the top two teams out of consideration for the top two games.
  • As recently as 10 years ago, you’d see most NFL head coaches and GMs at the major all-star games. For a number of reasons, that’s just not the case anymore.
  • It’s a really popular take to call the NFL Combine the “underwear Olympics,” but the fact is that pro days and workouts matter. The best prospects in the draft can’t risk running or jumping poorly. That week spent playing another game may be better spent focusing on the 40.
  • In 2016, North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz used the Senior Bowl to vault into the conversation for the top pick, as I detail in my latest book. Almost a decade later, it’s probably true that another member of the Bison, OG Grey Zabel, went from a late Day 2 prospect to a first-rounder based on his play in Mobile. However, in the era of the transfer portal, the number of sub-FBS players in the top 100 is limited.
  • There’s one more critical reason that no one wants to talk about: more and more, what we call “college football” is really pro football. When the better players are making more than a million dollars per season, it’s hard to convince them to prove themselves (for no pay) in an all-star format. It’s human nature.

I think the lower-tier all-star games can still make a convincing argument to players. More often than not, they’re attracting prospects who are just fighting to make sure they play in the NFL. The problem there is that those names don’t sell tickets or create ratings, which makes it hard to recoup the investment (stadium rental, flights, hotels, jerseys) that is necessary.

This is why we might be entering the post-all-star game era. It’s been such a successful model for so long, and frankly, covering the ins and outs of the invitation process, the people running the games, and the games themselves have been a big part of ITL for more than two decades. For this and many other reasons, I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I’m not.

2026 NFL Agent Exam: The Cost and the Risk

23 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in Agent Exam

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Today, I found out that an ACC running back was added to the East-West Shrine Bowl roster and it almost made me laugh out loud. Here’s why.

In September, we started pitching members of the 2025 NFL agent class on the idea of working with veteran contract advisors as mentors during the 2026 draft cycle. The pitch was easy: pitch in a significant part of training fees, and in return, you’d not only be placed on the player’s SRA, but you’d also be counseled through the all-star process, on pro day, and most importantly, on Day 3 of the draft. It was a chance for the kind of growth and professional enhancement that almost no independent rookie agents ever get to experience. It looked like a win all around, and the initial response from new agents was impressive. Again, this was in September. We had about 30 who expressed interest.

By October/November, when I asked again, we were down to about 20-25.

By the time we got to December, and the time to actually write the check, the number had fallen even more. We actually wound up with less than half the original number who actually proceeded with the program. The reason I laughed is because the running back I mentioned earlier was presented as a potential fit with 2-3 agents who all passed on him for various reasons. Too risky. Well, that guy is in the No. 2 all-star game and is almost a lock for an NFL roster this summer.

The lesson here is that risk is part of the job. If it’s January, and you haven’t spent more money than you’re comfortable spending on a player who you feel confident will make an NFL roster — but who you are far from certain will make it in the league — than you’re probably not really an agent. That risk, that uncertainty, are just part of the game. That feeling in the pit of your stomach is what tells you you’re actually in the game. If you don’t feel it, it’s either because you have so little money and/or time invested that you have nothing to lose, or it’s because you don’t have a good enough handle on the business to know the odds you face.

You may be considering registering for the agent exam this summer. You may have already done it. Either way, please accept this unsolicited advice: you’re going to have to make a significant financial investment (probably $15,000 minimum), and you’re going to have to take a risk on a player who’s anything but a sure bet. That’s just part of the game. I take no joy in telling you this, but I still think it bears saying.

Best of luck, and I hope we get to work together. But whether we do or not, investment and risk will be part of your experience. Make sure that’s something you’ve accepted, and that you can handle.

Getting to Know New Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan

16 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

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A year ago, we had a good time talking to people about new GM hires such as Mike Borgonzi (Titans), John Spytek (Raiders) and Darren Mougey (Jets). The newest GM of this cycle is Jon-Eric Sullivan, who’s taking over in Miami as the successor to Chris Grier.

Jon-Eric is an interesting guy. He’s got a strong pedigree as the son of an NFL lifer (longtime receivers coach Jerry Sullivan), as well as a very strong, very stable foundation in player evaluation after rising through the Packers front office over two decades. He’s also been honored by his peers twice (2022, 2025) as a winner of a BART List Award for scouting excellence. However, I’ve never worked with him, so I reached out to several people who have. Here’s what they told me — off the record so they could be completely candid.

  • “First of all, he’s a football junkie. . . with his dad being . . . arguably one of the best receivers coaches in the history of NFL, you know, and the things that he learned from being around him, he just simply knows football. He is a grinder. He works his ass off . . . not only from a football standpoint, but he takes care of himself (as a) healthy, fitness-oriented type of person. . . He’s a great family guy with a beautiful family . . . fun to be around. Good energy to be around.”
  • “Incredible eye for talent, sees the big picture. Outstanding at fostering and maintaining relationships. Most importantly he LOVES football and is passionate. Does a great job listening while still having his own convictions!”
  • “He is a true football guy through and through . . . from coach’s son, to player, to scout. The guy knows players and he knows ball. If given the time and proper supporting staff he will be one of the best GMs in the NFL no question! Honestly, this is long overdue!”
  • “Love Jon-Eric Sullivan. Great guy. Smart. Good evaluator. Raised the right way in this business.”
  • “Obviously, great human being and evaluator, but he’s well-equipped on the salary cap side as well. Green Bay does a good job training their guys in that regard. Not an indictment or anything negative about Miami’s roster, but there was an emphasis on building the culture in addition to the talent pool in Green Bay, and I’m sure he will take that with him. I’m excited to see how he builds the roster and who he hires as head coach.”
  • “Good man who knows how to lead. How he makes up his staff will tell you more than you think.”