Monthly Archives: October 2024

A Few Notes from a Busy Fall 2024

31 Thursday Oct 2024

Posted by in Agents, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

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Today, I didn’t have any topics I wanted to spend 500 words on, but I had a lot of topics I wanted to spend 100 words on, so here’s a bunch of stuff I found interesting this week.

  • Has Pittsburgh cracked the code on how to intelligently integrate former NFL scouts and executives into the organization in a way that helps identify, grade and reward top performers? Maybe. Per this story, the Panthers have brought in former Bills GM Doug Whaley to help in doling out a $6 million NIL budget based on quality of play. Given the team’s success this season (7-0 entering this weekend’s game against SMU), maybe head coach Pat Narduzzi’s plan to pay players based on production rather than promise will be replicated elsewhere.
  • Mark your calendars: the final resolution of the NCAA’s $2.7 billion deal with the plaintiff attorneys seeking NIL compensation in a class action lawsuit (for players dating back to 2016) is set for April 2025. The agreement is expected to clear the way for a $20 million-per-school tranche of money to be shared with players who participated in NCAA athletics from 2016-21. It also clears the way for schools to begin operating in ways that closely mirror a pay-for-play model, rather than the current system (which pretends that players only get compensated for their respective names, images and likenesses). Bottom line, during a time when all eyes will be focused on the 2025 draft, we could see federal and NCAA oversight of NIL representation change in radical ways. The impact of those changes could be immediate. We will do what we can to prepare you, our client, for those changes well in advance. 
  • Based on feedback from new agents this fall, the stories haven’t changed much over the years. One agent was contacted by the alleged uncle of a star player, only the uncle wouldn’t tell the agent who the player was (he would only divulge the player’s school and home location, and offered that the player is a mid-round pick). The uncle said the player’s focus is newly certified contract advisors, for some reason. We’ve also heard of a runner in South Florida who’s tried to solicit members of the 2024 agent class and wants money up front, with a promise of players later. 
  • So far, the only head coaching changes this season have been made at the G5 level. Maybe that’s why no search firms have been engaged so far, at least as far as we know. Last year, 17 G5 schools made head coaching changes. Of the 17, less than half (eight) used assistance. Of the 14 P4 schools making changes, not surprisingly, 11 hired firms.   

One other thing. If you’re a new agent (or a veteran agent trying to figure out how to keep up with the exploding costs of player representation), you should check out today’s Rep Rumblings at ITL. We’re trying to finalize a program that you might find helpful. 

We’ll also discuss it in the Friday Wrap. You can register for it here. 

Three Reasons Why Scouts Miss on Picks

25 Friday Oct 2024

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At Inside the League, we take pride in advocating for the NFL agent and scouting communities. Part of that is championing traditional methods of player representation and evaluation; in most cases, we feel like the old way is the best. Still, that doesn’t mean the tried and true methods are always right. Scouts get it wrong, and sometimes, outrageously wrong.

In this excerpt from our coming book on the 2016 NFL Draft, tentatively called The Crazy Eight because it focuses on the draft stories of eight standout players from the ’16 draft class, we discuss three reasons why NFL teams miss on players. This is just a small sample of the reasons why, in the book, we discuss the myriad reasons why scouting is such a tough profession.

Protection of players by the schools: Some programs go to great lengths to paint sunny pictures of their players, hoping to enhance their NFL chances by keeping secrets. More often than not, this just activates a scout’s antennae. Does it ultimately hurt a school’s players? Does it help them? It’s hard to know, but either way, it creates uncertainty and a harder road to familiarity for scouts, who despise unfilled blanks. In ITL’s weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap, we seek feedback from NFL evaluators on the schools they love and love to hate, and Rutgers (at least in 2024) falls squarely into the latter category. That’s because the order has come down from head coach Greg Schiano that only positive feedback will come out of any Scarlet Knight officials. Will this impact his players negatively in April 2025? Maybe. Maybe not. But it certainly explains why some of them may have very different NFL fortunes than they deserve.

Drafting for need: Free agency takes place in March. The draft takes place at the end of April. This means, teams tend to look to the draft to finish their shopping lists instead of simply taking the best player available. The teams that often do best on draft day often pick head-scratchers if looked at simply on need. The Packers got plenty of criticism for drafting Utah State’s Jordan Love with a healthy and productive Aaron Rodgers still around, but after a few uncomfortable years, who’s laughing now? The Vikings drafted Marshall’s Randy Moss in 1998 despite having Jake Reed and Cris Carter on the roster. The Saints drafted Ole Miss’ Deuce McCallister in 2001 after trading their entire draft (literally) to get Ricky Williams out of Texas just two seasons earlier. I could go on. Sometimes (often?) drafting for need works, but the best-drafting teams tend to stick to their respective boards.

Fear of media reprisals: Ask any GM or executive if the media plays any role in who gets picked and you’ll get an eye roll. Maybe that’s technically true, but in subtle ways, the media (and especially social media) play a role. That’s especially true when a prospect has a spotty background that warrants extra scrutiny. We’ve seen the reaction when Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil had an indiscretion on video shortly before the draft, and we’ve seen it with West Alabama’s Tyreek Hill after his incident at Oklahoma State. It’s also important to note that owners read all the websites and spend a lot of time weighing the impact of certain players on the team’s profile in the community and, obviously, they have full veto powers. Some of them exercise it.

Five Qualities Owners Want in GM Hires

18 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by in Scouts

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We’re getting toward midseason and the good teams are starting to sort themselves out from the bad ones. Maybe that’s one of the reasons the topic of new GMs came up in this week’s edition of the Scouting the League podcast. It’s something I hadn’t really given much thought until this week, but there are definite “traits” — as Rodrik described them.  

In the old days, you were looking for a guy with decades of experience, probably from within your own organization, to come in and “fix” the franchise – hire a head coach, draft all the players, sign all the free agents, and create a culture (Bill Polian, Jim Finks, Ernie Accorsi, Ron Wolf, Bobby Beathard.) Today, it’s very different. Here are things that I’ve observed owners to prefer in a GM candidate.

It’s important to come from a successful program: Most teams used to have a line of succession in-house, but more recently, owners look outside the franchise to a team that’s a proven winner. For the past 10 years, we’ve seen owners pick off the Patriots tree (Bob Quinn in Detroit, Nick Caserio in Houston, Jon Robinson in Tennessee, Monti Ossenfort in Arizona, Dave Ziegler in Las Vegas, Eliot Wolf in New England and Jason Licht in Tampa). More recently, we’re seeing them pick from the 49ers tree (Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota, Martin Mayhew and then Adam Peters in Washington, Ran Carthon in Tennessee and Trent Baalke in Jacksonville). 

Having a background on the road is not enough: In the past, you were looking for a pure evaluator to run the draft for you. However, more recently, we’ve seen owners bring in cap guys to be part of the GM structure (Carolina) and we’ve seen more analytics-minded hires (Minnesota), especially with teams owned by “new guard” owners who are more from the business world than the football world. We’re seeing more and more scouts/executives come to us for CBA/cap work than we did five years ago. 

Youth and appearance: I think we’re in an era where it’s important to “win the press conference,” and it’s easier to do that with a hot new name, especially if that person is on the young side. George Paton in Denver, Jerry Jones in Dallas, Tom Telesco in Las Vegas, Chris Grier in Miami and Mickey Loomis in New Orleans are among the few over 50. You also want someone who looks sharp and professional. You don’t see any GMs who are overweight, and I think that’s because they are part of the face of the franchise. That may be unfair, and it probably is, but it’s still true. 

Good representation: Scouts always tell me they are lightly regarded within their own staffs but when they get accolades outside the team, that’s when owners/executives take notice. This is why it’s been cool to start the BART List to give the unsung scouts out there some recognition. Media can help with that, too, and media attention usually comes from the agencies, especially the bigger ones. This probably isn’t necessary until a scout gets to the director level; if you’re a scouting assistant, hold your horses and prove yourself first.

An impressive alma mater: You might not think that where you went to school matters when it comes to football acumen, but you may not think like the modern NFL owner. They are used to working with upper-level professionals with strong pedigrees, and they see their general managers as just such people. So if not Ivy League, a GM today needs a degree from Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt, or other comparable schools, at least in most cases.

We’ll discuss this topic and more in the Friday Wrap, our free weekly newsletter that goes out to members of the football industry. Register for it here.

There Are Many Roads to NFL Scouting Jobs

11 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by in Getting started, Scouts

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Next week, we’ll start our team-by-team breakdowns of the front offices of all 32 teams. It’s our Know Your Scouts series, and it takes place each fall. The goal is to really drill into the scouting backgrounds of evaluators on all 32 teams with an eye toward providing tips that might help in getting a job.

Here are a few things people that reviewed last year’s Know Your Scouts series might have learned before “scout hiring season” (roughly March through July).

  • Most aspiring scouts spend all their time poring over film and rating players on social media, but learning other skills might get you a leg up. Consider that 15 current members of NFL front offices have video production skills and worked on that side either in the NFL, the college level, or the media. They include Jay Mandolesi and Dan Zbojovsky (Jets); Robert Haines (Panthers); Greg Reuveni (Raiders); Brian Hill (Rams); Casey Weidl (Steelers); Blaise Taggart (Texans); Mike Sholiton (Vikings); Bryan Chesin (Broncos); Minh Luu (Dolphins); Jeremy Gray and Matt Holland (Eagles); Sal Conti and Ben Martinez (Falcons); and Justin Markus (Giants). 
  • Being handy with the media doesn’t hurt, either. Alex Valles (Cardinals) once worked with broadcasters for the Red Sox. Marquis Pendleton (Giants) started out as a media services intern with the team. Same for Rob Hanrahan (Panthers), Ryan Monnens (Vikings) and Dave Bratten (Broncos). Ryan Doyal (Falcons) worked for NFL Films before making his way to Atlanta. Brad Obee (Eagles) worked for NFL Matchup on ESPN. Cassidy Kaminski (Chiefs) wrote for Ourlad’s from 2015-18.
  • There’s also equipment. Sam DeLuca and Blaine Gramer (Vikings); Dan Zegers (Browns); Zach Smith (Bucs); Alfonza Knight (Cardinals); Ethan Brodsky and Chris Hobbs (Chargers); Todd Vasvari and Andrew Hoyle (Colts); Chase Leshin (Dolphins); Casey Belongia (Patriots); Chris Nolan (Jets); Patrick Mularkey and Dakota Duncan (Lions); Josh Graff (Seahawks); Bailee Brown (Texans); and Martinez (Falcons).
  • Even a job in the marketing department can lead to a scouting career, as it did for Chris McGaha (Colts), John McKay (Rams), Justin Matthews (Saints) and Ryan Gold (Cardinals). 
  • John Mancini (Cardinals) even started out in tickets. He’s believed to be the only scout with such a beginning.

There are other alternate paths. Richard Sanders (Falcons) spent 10 years in the Coast Guard before pursuing football. Kathleen Wood (Browns) spent a decade-plus as a private investigator. 

The point is, get inside the building, then figure out a way to the scouting department. How do you do that? You can start by being prepared for that time of year; usually, hiring and interviewing takes place in March and April, though it’s better to get an early start on sending out your resume than a late one. Join us at Inside the League as we start breaking down the various paths scouts pursued on their way to their pro dreams with our Know Your Scouts series. I also recommend signing up for our free newsletter, the Friday Wrap. You won’t be sorry. 

Is Being An NFL Agent An Addiction? Sure Looks Like It

04 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by in Agents, Getting started

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When someone tells me they want to pursue NFL agent certification, I usually try to talk them out of it. If they persist, I leave them with this: people normally only hang up their certification voluntarily for four reasons. They are:

  • Divorce
  • Bankruptcy
  • Litigation
  • All three.

They usually laugh (nervously) and go on about their plans. 

I’ll sometimes also remind them of one veteran agent’s “gallows humorish” quote shared with me a few years ago. Once again, they treat me like I’m joking. My point is, the feel of being an NFL agent is something that’s more than intoxicating. It’s addictive. This week, we saw another reminder of this with the return of Ron Del Duca and Jeff Guerriero.

Both Del Duca and Guerriero enjoyed success in their first respective runs at player representation. Del Duca was an agent for almost two decades before turning over his agent creds sometime in the last 5-10 years. Guerriero actually represented the No. 6 pick in the draft, LSU DE Barkevious Mingo, in 2013, before getting out in a similar time frame. As recently as 11 years ago, both Del Duca and Guerriero had clients on NFL rosters. However, with Del Duca originally certified in 1992 and Guerriero in 1997, both came of age as agents in a time prior to the signing of the 2011 CBA, when NFL owners basically took away negotiating skills as an agent’s most important trait. When draft picks’ contracts all became cookie cutter in 2011, the lavishing of benefits (in the form of splashy combine training, per diems, signing bonuses, and fee cuts) really went into overdrive. It makes sense. Everyone had to find a way to distinguish themselves from the others, and money’s always a popular way. That’s not to say that “skins on the wall” don’t matter anymore, but experience has begun to hold less and less sway. The “what do I get?” conversation is the one that every agent dreads, and it’s not going away. In fact, it’s only moving up in the time frame for most players in the NIL era. 

Will Del Duca and Guerriero reach their previous heights? Who knows? But this is the landscape they face.

  • The fight now — for every agency, big and small — is for Day 3 types. Generally speaking, all the Day 1 and Day 2 types are already signed to NIL agreements, which gives the NIL agent a generous head start on repping the player on his NFL contracts. That means agents now have to closely monitor and sign the sleepers in each draft class. This is why former Titans scouting executive Blake Beddingfield is now providing 5-7 under-the-radar-and-rising prospects weekly for ITL subscribers.
  • No one, and I mean NO ONE, doesn’t expect $10,000-$15,000 worth of combine training. There are no shortcuts there. At least not for players with any kind of real hope. 
  • There’s total uncertainty about how the federal government and/or the NCAA will rule in the next 10 years with regard to college athlete payments. If college players are made professionals (which everyone expects), it may be a net positive for player representation. However, it threatens to add layers of regulation, and usually that means costs increase even more. 

I wish the best of luck to Del Duca, Guerriero, and everyone else who recently got the good news that they are certified as contract advisors by the NFLPA. But there’s no denying they have a hard road ahead.