Monthly Archives: February 2025

2025 ITL Symposium: Thoughts from a G5 GM

28 Friday Feb 2025

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This morning, we welcomed 11 Power 4 GMs as panelists for the 2025 Vestible ITL Symposium Presented by Mascot Alliance and Powered by Dropback. Before an audience of about 300 members of the college and pro football community, they provided insights on the industry over a 90-minute period.

However, there was one thing missing — the thoughts of an equivalent member from a school competing in the Group of Five conferences. For that, we enlisted Jose Jefferson, who’s not only the co-founder of the College Gridiron Showcase but also the newly minted GM at Florida International University in Miami.

Here’s what Jose provided earlier this week regarding some of the hot topics in the college football business.

  • What is the role and job description of the college GM?: “I think that varies with every GM role.   Everyone does it differently. I think it is based on your relationship with the head coach.  It involves managing the roster, managing NIL revenue, managing the recruiting process and evaluating the current roster vs incoming players. In short, if your team is good, it is your job to make the team better.  If you are great, it is your job to make the team exceptional. If you are exceptional, it is your job to keep the team exceptional and in front of the curve.”
  • There’s been a trend of NFL scouts moving to executive roles in the college ranks.  Will this continue? “I think as the position evolves, there will be a trend of making college football front offices like NFL front offices. I think there is a learning curve; the evaluation process may differ as most of these players are not developed. There have been several players who are Hall Of Famers who weren’t recruited out of high school or who weren’t three-star prospects. I think if you are organized, flexible, and creative with your process, yes, NFL scouts would be great candidates for GM roles.”
  • Do you see a day when colleges have NFL-style scouting staffs, or will coaches remain as the chief evaluators? “Coaches want to be scouts and scouts want to be coaches (ha ha). In the college game, I feel coaches will still be the main evaluators. Until they create an NFL-style draft, college is all about relationships. Now it is getting less that way as ‘bags’ are being dropped off and things seem more transactional. However, the relationship has to start with who the player will be working with; who he will be mentored by; and who he’s developing with. So yes, I feel coaches are still the front line. It is the GM’s job to take a deeper dive with their selections and make sure a player is a ‘fit’ with the team, the culture, and scheme.” 

For a closer look at today’s event in Indianapolis, make sure to check out the Friday Wrap this week, in which we recap all the award winners from Wednesday and the panelists’ responses this morning. Not registered? Fix that here.

The College GM: Five Big Questions

21 Friday Feb 2025

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In a week, more than 20 college general managers and directors of player personnel, most of them from Power 4 conferences, will convene in Indianapolis for the Vestible ITL Symposium Presented by Mascot Alliance. They won’t be alone, of course: we’ve also got about a dozen major NIL agencies (some NFLPA-certified, some soon to be), 10-12 NFL scouts, and lots of other members of the sports business community on their way to Room 205-206 of the Indiana Convention Center Friday morning.

We’ll be there to network, of course, but also to talk about the issues. As many benefits as the transfer portal and the NIL era have been for college football — and I strongly believe it’s been a net positive — there have also been a lot of negatives and even abuses. That’s what our panelists will be discussing.

The exact panelists and the schools that will be represented will be in today’s Friday Wrap, as well as the symposium registration link if you’d like to join us (but hurry, because we’re almost at capacity). You can register for the Friday Wrap, if you don’t already receive it, here.

So what will be the topics? There won’t be topics as much as there will be questions. My counterpart for this symposium, C.J. Cavazos of CJ Recruiting and NIL, will co-host the event, alternating asking questions to the panelists.

We’ve got a list of 18 questions we’re going to try to get to during the 90 minutes we’ve got scheduled. Here are five of them.

  • What is the role and job description of the modern college GM?: We’re seeing an avalanche of hirings at the GM level, especially in P4 football. Despite this, there seems to be no consensus on what a college GM actually is. Is he primarily an evaluator? More of a capologist? Does he have the authority to hire and fire, to build a roster?
  • Will the trend of NFL scouts and executives moving from the NFL to the college ranks continue?: What are the people who are running college personnel departments looking for? On the college level, coaches more or less function as the team’s scouts (along with several volunteers who are usually students). Will we see the “professionalization” of player evaluation in college football?
  • One of the most common complaints in portal-related matters is tampering, i.e., open recruiting of another team’s players, often in-season, often by coaches on another team. Is there any way to stop this? : This is the one topic that unites coaches and personnel types, especially when it comes to G5 teams that are often picked over by P4 schools.
  • Should there be any restrictions on the number of times a player can transfer?: I know this could be a controversial idea, but how much is enough? Wouldn’t some reasonable standard improve the game? Is stability a dirty word now?
  • What’s the biggest immediate change in the portal if the House settlement is approved in April?: All I’ve heard is that most teams and agents are trying to front-load their agreements signed in December because of the uncertainty of the portal beyond April. Studying the settlement is part of the job for modern college GMs. What have they found?

If these questions intrigue you, you should see the entire list of 18 we’ve come up with. We’ll publish all of them in the Friday Wrap this evening. Make sure to check it out (register here for our newsletter) , and if you’d like to listen in on experts talking about these matters, I hope you’ll join us in a week. The registration link for Friday’s symposium will also be in the Wrap. See you at the convention center.

Which New GM Has the Best Chances of Success Quickly?

14 Friday Feb 2025

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Your turn to play GM. Given the following, who would you want to be? Mike Borgonzi (Titans), John Spytek (Raiders), Darren Mougey (Jets) or the to-be-named Jacksonville GM? 

TITANS (3-14)

  • Day 1: Tennessee “earned” the top pick.
  • Picks: 8 (a first, a second, two fourths, two fifths, a sixth and a seventh)
  • Head coach: Brian Callahan enters Year 2; it’s hard to judge him, given the hand he’s been dealt.
  • QBs in 2024: Neither Will Levis or Mason Rudolph (who’s a free agent) would be the starter next season in a perfect world.
  • Division: The Texans went two rounds into the playoffs. The Colts barely missed the playoffs, and the Jaguars fired both their head coach and GM. The Texans probably bounce back next season, but the Colts are a question mark unless QB Anthony Richardson takes a big leap forward.

RAIDERS (4-13)

  • Day 1: Las Vegas has the sixth pick.
  • Picks: 10 (a first, a second, two thirds, a fourth, a fifth, three sixths and a seventh)
  • Head coach: Pete Carroll is a youthful 73, and has a history of success.
  • QBs in 2024: None of Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ridder or Aidan O’Donnell were the answer. 
  • Division: Stacked. The Chiefs went to the Super Bowl, and the Chargers (11-6) and Broncos (10-7) both made the playoffs. Plus, all three have QBs who are in their respective primes, or on the rise.

JAGUARS (4-13)

  • Day 1: Jacksonville holds the fifth pick in the draft.
  • Picks: 10 (a first, a second, two thirds, two fourths, a fifth, two sixths and a seventh)
  • Head coach: Liam Coen arrives fresh off his success in Tampa Bay, but the bigger issue is that, with Executive VP of Football Operations Tony Boselli around, the new GM will have to fight to be heard.
  • QB in 2024: Though he finished the season on injured reserve, the team has Trevor Lawrence on an extended deal. He probably hasn’t been the QB everyone thought he would be, but he’s clearly the class of these four teams. 
  • Division: As discussed earlier, the Titans are in turmoil and the Colts are unsettled under center, though the Texans underplayed in 2024 and should be better next season.

JETS (5-12)

  • Day 1: New York holds the seventh pick in the draft. 
  • Picks: Eight (a first, a second, a third, a fourth, two fifths and two sixths, but no seventh)
  • Head coach: Aaron Glenn comes to New York hoping to recreate the magic he was part of in Detroit.
  • QB in 2024: The Jets just cut their starter, Aaron Rodgers. 
  • Division: The Bills are among the best teams in the NFL. However, the Patriots are still a ways away and the Dolphins underachieved in 2024.  

Which one would you choose? Not an easy choice. To me, Spytek has the hardest job given his division. The command situation gives me pause in Jacksonville, despite having Lawrence around. That leaves the Jets and Titans. I think I lean toward the Jets given the promise of Glenn, along with three picks in the top 100 vs. just two for Tennessee. Tough call, though. 

Getting to Know New Jets GM Darren Mougey

06 Thursday Feb 2025

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With pieces on new GMs Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee) and John Spytek (Las Vegas) completed the last two weeks, we turned to Darren Mougey, who’s taken over the same role with the Jets. It was easy to get takes (all of them positive) on Mougey, who’s been aggressively reshaping New York’s front office in his first few weeks on the job.

Here’s what his colleagues said about “Moug” this week:

  • “Really very smart. That’s one thing that really stands out, and he’s a good person. These guys are kinda hard to find sometimes, that have the personality and also a football mind. I knew right off the bat he’d be where he is, because I’ve been around so many GMs. I think he encompasses what you need in a GM. First of all, he’s a good guy to keep things together, he’s fair, he’s a pleasant guy, and he’s all football. Very likeable. He doesn’t say much, he’s kinda on the quite side, but he’s all football and he’ll definitely make the Jets a better program.” 
  • “Moug, as he is known across the League, is highly respected among scouts and coaches. He is an incredible evaluator with many years of experience scouting and playing. He is extremely detail-oriented, efficient and organized, and uses a very thorough process in all of his work. His leadership traits will make him a great GM and he has the personality to click with anyone and everyone. (I) have no doubt that he will be very successful in this next step of his career leading the Jets.”
  • “Always a good day to do a school call with Moug. Really sharp, good evaluator, has strong opinions on players, always positive with school staffs, easy guy to connect with. He’s always willing to help out another scout if they needed anything. Never afraid to roll up his sleeves to get a job done.”
  • “If you know Moug, no one is surprised he got the job. He’s a great person that is detailed and never afraid of the work that needs to get done. But what really separates Moug is he is really good person and he truly loves the game of football.
    Working with him for (almost a decade), you could always trust that the work would get done with Moug, and he is fun to just sit down and talk ball with because he  has the confidence to answer questions but still has a low ego.” 

  • “I would say that he is extremely bright, very smart, and has a good eye for talent. He is (also) very adaptable from the standpoint of being able to relate with different types of people, and I think that stems from just his experience in football and sports and being around just different guys in the locker room. So he’s very relatable. People gravitate towards him. Great personality. I would also say that he’s somebody that I think would be a collaborative type of guy where he would take input from different people and respect that, but yet at the very end of the day would be the guy that would make the decision . . . he does not come across to me as like an authoritarian-type leader where you know it’s his way and not really taking a lot of input. I could just see him being like a guy that would encourage that kind of culture, a collaborative culture . . . I think he’s gonna do really well in the job. I think he’s a guy that’s gonna be decisive when it comes to . . . making decisions. It looks like he and (head coach Aaron Glenn) are putting together a pretty nice coaching staff, a nice mix of young guys and veteran guys, so . . . I think he’s gonna do a really good job in New York. I’m excited for him, for sure.”

Before we go, a fun fact: the 2015 Broncos scouting staff featured Assistant Director of College Scouting Adam Peters, National Scout John Spytek, and Mougey, who was then an area scout covering the Southwest. Within 10 years, all three of them would ascend to the GM chair with NFL teams. 

Want to learn which other teams are “breeding” future GMs? Make sure you’re reading the Friday Wrap, which comes out Fridays (duh) at 7:30 p.m. EST. Register for it here.