In last week’s edition of the Friday Wrap, we delved into scouting changes over the last three years, especially as it relates to the number of scouts entering the league as scouting assistants and those who are hired (or promoted) as area scouts. Over the last three years, at least, we found that about 30 new area/college scouts are hired and about 20 scouting assistants (31 and 21, respectively, to be exact).

We got a lot of positive feedback, so we decided to expand our look into the numbers. Here’s a look at a few other numbers we found at different strata of the industry.

Directors (college): Here I’m looking strictly at college director, i.e., how many scouts are making the jump to the executive level. I’m not counting Directors of Player Personnel, which is another jump entirely. So, how many scouts typically “graduate” from scout to Director (or Assistant Director) of College Scouting each year? We counted six this offseason, 16 last year (a whopping eight assistant college directors were named) and 10 in 2021. That means you’re looking at about 11 people who elevate above the area scout/national scout level each offseason.

National scouts: So how many people are “on deck,” traditionally speaking, for the director level? Just three National Scouts were hired this offseason, a big surprise given the recent trend to split up over-the-top roles into two and sometimes three evaluators. Last year, for example, we saw 19 National Scouts hired, and in 2021, a similarly robust 11. Once again, an average of 11 scouts make the national grade every year, though I could see this number falling as most teams have already divided up the role. I don’t see any teams going to four National Scouts anytime soon.

Pro scouts: This one is tricky to measure because we’re seeing more and more seasoned evaluators who are being given dual pro/scout roles. What’s more, we don’t know yet if teams who are expanding their analytics departments are also expanding their budgets or taking from their college/pro departments? Based on the numbers, it seems like pro departments are holding up quite well despite expanding data departments. We counted nine pro scout hires this offseason, 16 last offseason and 17 in 2021 (all of these hires were solely pro scouts — no college/pro hires were part of these numbers). That makes for an average of 14 pro scouts hired per year. More often than not, we’re seeing scouting assistants moved into pro roles as their first full-time gig. Incidentally, we’re seeing plenty of advancement in pro departments, as well, with director-level evaluators growing. Later this month, we’ll look at the size of all 32 scouting departments and the growth trends. 

Hopefully, if you’re an NFL scout or hope to be someday, this helps you understand the picture of how front offices are staffed, and at what pace they turn over.

We’ll discuss this more in today’s Friday Wrap. You can register for it here.