Over the past few weeks in this space, we’ve been focused on helping aspiring NFL scouts improve their chances over the next few months. In mid-December, we had a few general tips on the job search. Last week, we told you what to look for in a team with openings.

This week, let’s take a look at where the “entry-level” hires in the league came from over the last three years. We’ll count “player personnel assistants” and “scouting assistants” as entry-level positions. Here goes.

2025 (32 hires)

  • Sixteen came directly from college scouting positions. Of the 12, just three were non-P4, and just two were sub-FBS.
  • Eight were working in some capacity with NFL teams already, with seven of the eight getting promoted and staying with the same team.
  • Two moved up from non-NFL coaching positions, one high school and one small-college.
  • Two were with BLESTO.
  • One was technically not in football (though he worked at ESPN).
  • We couldn’t find any background info on three of the hires, which probably means they were employed in jobs outside of football.

2024 (49 hires)

  • Twenty were hired from college teams. Of the 20, 13 were from P4 schools, while five were from G5. Just two were sub-FBS.
  • Fourteen were promoted from an intern-level position; just one wasn’t promoted by the team he was already working for.
  • Three came from quasi-football organizations (Haslam Sports Group, 49ers Investments, and Stanford’s collective).
  • Two came from the Senior Bowl.
  • One didn’t work in football.
  • We couldn’t find any background on nine of the hires.

2023 (17 hires)

  • Nine came from schools. Six were P4, one was G5, two were sub-FBS.
  • Four were promoted from within; all of them were promoted by the teams they already worked with.
  • One was promoted from the Senior Bowl.
  • We could find no info on three of them.

So here are our observations.

  • If you are already working in a college personnel department, you have the inside track. If you’re at a P4 school, so much the better.
  • The best non-school “feeder programs” are BLESTO (not NFS, for some reason) and the Senior Bowl. If you’re really intent on working as an NFL scout, maybe Step 1 is landing a job with one of these organizations.
  • About a fourth of the new scouting assistants hired every year moved up from other positions with the team, but you already knew that working for an NFL team gives you a big advantage.
  • If you’re not already working in football, you’d better have an angle. For example, one of the hires from “private business” is the son of an NFL front office employee.

Good luck! For more on the industry, check out our newsletter, the Friday Wrap. Register for it here.