Author Archives: itlneil

In Your 30s and Not Making Progress? Here’s What I Did

07 Friday Jun 2024

Posted by in Agent Exam, Getting started, ITL

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Last week, I wrote a post about when to “say when” as you pursue your place in the football world. It seemed to strike a chord, especially resonating with the 30-plus crowd, so this week, I thought I’d expand on it a bit, especially as it comes to the last point I made about being entrepreneurial.

You absolutely should be willing to start your own thing. It’s honestly not a lot different from pursuing a job in the NFL, or working atop a P5 football office, or anything else like that. It doesn’t take a genius; I’ve proven you can support a family, live semi-comfortably and follow your passion by going your own way without having any extraordinary gifts. Still, there are a few things I want to share based on my own journey.

  • When I launched ITL in 2002, it was only after a mountain of market research and lots of positive feedback. Because of that, I was dumb enough to think our launch on Labor Day Weekend would be so big it would crash our servers. Instead, on Day 1, we got two subscribers. On Day 2, one of them wanted his money back. 
  • Our initial subscription price was $250 for a nine-month subscriber cycle (we planned on taking the summer off). After our humiliating start, the week of our launch, I dropped the price to $45 (I announced it as a “sale”). We didn’t get to 20 subscribers until maybe December, even at that price point.
  • For the first five years, we grossed about $5,000 a year. Keep in mind that I was hoping this would be my new profession by that time. Basically, I had a small side hustle instead of a new career, and I had no Plan B, professionally speaking. 
  • Keep in mind that my “day job” at the Houston Chronicle was making me about $42,000 per year. At this point, I had a wife and two kids. 
  • Things went so poorly that in 2007, when I got hired to run the Hula Bowl, I was elated, mostly because I could shutter ITL and move on with my life with some measure of honor. 
  • When the Hula Bowl went on hiatus in January 2008, shortly after the game, the main reason I relaunched ITL is because I didn’t have any other options. 

So that’s the bad new. But there are also rewards.

  • When I got laid off in 2009 by the Chronicle (I had gone back in 2008 to basically be a secretary), it was sink-or-swim time. At that point, my wife had “retired” from teaching to raise our boys. I suddenly had incredible focus. 
  • The “new” ITL was $25/mo., which enraged a lot of people when I announced at the 2009 NFL Combine that we’d relaunch in the fall. I mean, I was mocked endlessly. But by around late November, most of my old subscribers had returned at the new rate. It was then that I realized I might have something. 
  • We introduced the first elements of our exam prep program shortly after this. In a few years, we’d turned July — at one time a month I hoped my family could just pay its bills — into our most lucrative month. It still is, due to our study guide, practice exams and video series. 
  • Today, I’m not rich or famous, but I’ve built a network of friends and associates that  “get me,” and that I get, as well. My family lives a good life and I have no complaints. I was born to do what I do now.

I don’t think all this happens without a decent idea, an ability to adapt, a will to survive, and God’s grace. In my case, it certainly didn’t happen overnight, but I started it at 33. Youngish, but not a baby by any means. Today, maybe you’re right were I was in 2002. If so, I hope you’re able to achieve the same measure of success. 

 

Are You On Track to Achieve Your Scouting Goals? Ask Yourself These Questions

31 Friday May 2024

Posted by in Getting started, Scouts

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This time of year, I’m overwhelmed with people looking for (mostly free) advice on how to break into scouting. However, there’s another segment of the personnel community I hear from that is in a completely different mindset, and I had one of those conversations today.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I spoke to a very talented, highly qualified evaluation professional from the college ranks who is at wit’s end on what to do next. He’s in his early 30s and has done his job well for years, but just wonders if he’s making the progress he should be making.

It’s very hard to diagnose someone’s situation and offer them effective advice on what path he should pursue, but since these themes have become common ones (especially these days, with the fury of the spring portal in the rear-view mirror and burnout prevalent), I thought I’d address the questions you should be asking yourself if you fall into this category.

  • How old are you?: I’ve written this before in this space, and I’ve said it before many times, but I feel that 30 is a good milestone for progress. If you are where you want to be, or seriously feel you’re near it, at 30, proceed. If not, it’s probably time to start another path while you still have the time and energy to excel at it. There IS life after football.
  • How much money do you have socked away?: I know many of you are volunteers, or are working for money far below your value, but it’s smart to put money away if you can. As my father once told me, money equals independence. If you don’t have something in savings, for example, there are great football jobs you simply won’t be able to take because they don’t pay well enough. 
  • Do you have legitimate NFL contacts? Or are you just sending emails wildly, hoping to get traction?: If you listen to my podcast, or you read this blog regularly, or you subscribe to my newsletter or my website, you know that I value network over everything else as you climb the scouting ladder. You better have a mentor who believes in you, and you better have some well-placed friends. If you’re relying on a certificate from a third-party service to get you a job, or you’re hoping years of scouting reports and tweets will get you into the league, it gives me no pleasure in telling you this, but you’re wrong. 
  • Can you live without a senior college personnel position/NFL scouting post?: This is probably the toughest question of them all, because so many people I come across have their entire identity invested in football. With that said, I’m not sure I could answer “yes” to this question (though I very nearly had to a couple decades ago). 
  • Are you entrepreneurial?: I was 32 when I decided I’d try an Internet-based information service for people who worked in football and who were willing to pay a monthly subscription fee online. For a lot of reasons, that was a terrible idea, because I didn’t really have a lot of connections and didn’t know quite what I’d write about, but I was willing to give it a shot. Twenty-plus years later, I’m far from a household name, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. This is what I was born to do. It’s a special feeling to know God had this in store for me.

God has something in store for you, too. Maybe by asking yourself these questions, you can figure out if that thing is football. Good luck and Godspeed on your path. 

 

How Do You Evaluate the Best-Drafting Teams?

23 Thursday May 2024

Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

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For all of May, we at Inside the League have tracked the comings and goings in NFL front offices. It’s big-time stuff to scouts and front office employees, as well as agents and other members of the football community, but why should fans (like this guy) care?

My feeling has always been that if you know who does best in talent management — both in drafting but also in free agency, as well as player development (i.e., turning raw players into established pros) — then you can pretty much tell the future, at least with regard to who’s gonna be a playoff team consistently. Of course, this begs the question, who does the best in talent and roster management?

I think, when it comes to how well a team drafts, here are five criteria worth considering.

Did the team draft and develop its own QB? I think you have to give Buffalo, Baltimore, Green Bay, Philadelphia, San Francisco and others like them a lot of credit for not having to go through free agency to find the most important position on the field. There are two reasons: you get a cost-controlled QB for five years, and you get system stability, which is a critically important (and highly understated) factor.

Does the team keep its first-rounder for the fifth year at least 80 percent of the time? This isn’t a failsafe, because sometimes a player barely gets the extra season (or gets it by default), but it’s still a good metric, especially when you see how many former first-rounders don’t get renewed.

Are the starters on the offensive and defensive lines team-drafted? It all starts up front, so if a team can build out its offensive and defensive lines — especially at the edges (DE/OT) — that’s good work and clearly gives that team an edge (no pun intended).

Does the team’s draftees hang around the league? Not every player a team drafts will make the roster — especially if the team consistently drafts at a position of strength — but is he good enough, consistently, to make another team’s roster? That’s a great indicator, I think. 

Does the team make the playoffs at least 70 percent of the time? Granted, this might be a high standard, but it’s all about making the playoffs, right? If you’re not succeeding at this basic measure, you need to make changes. If you don’t get to the tournament, you can’t win the title. 

Are there other measures of a team’s ability to draft? Of course there are. But I believe if you analyzed NFL teams and gave each one a point for each one of these items annually over the last five years, I bet you’d find that the leaders were universally considered the best teams on draft day. 

I ran this by several friends in scouting, got a general thumbs-up from them. What am I missing? Let me know on Twitter or DM me. 

2024 Spring Portal Window: Agents Respond

17 Friday May 2024

Posted by in NIL, Transfer portal

≈ 1 Comment

Last week, we spoke to personnel directors at several schools to get their take on the spring portal window, and how it measured up to expectations as well as how it compared to December. This week, as promised, we are passing along what we got back from several agents who had players seeking transfers. Here are our takeaways.

Talent was average.

  • “The spring window tends to be weaker, I’d say this one was particularly weak. (Players) are starting to understand how the portal works, and December is really the best time to go in for them.”
  • “You saw most high-end teams needing 1-2 positions, whereas in December, teams were hunting for a lot of best available players at numerous positions. April was more position-specific, based on team needs.”

  • “You’re not seeing a lot of tenured guys hit the portal as you did last spring or even in the December window. Teams are doing a much better job of roster management.”

The money was not nearly as plentiful.

  • “I saw less of teams being desperate to sign lesser players.”
  • “I felt like more Tier 2 or 3 players were getting in expecting huge paydays based off of what they heard about the December portal, but not everyone was able to get that.
  • “I felt like things were slowing down a bit and teams were starting to settle on ranges for players. There appeared to be a bit more level-headedness when it came to the April portal or a better understanding of the market/what they could do specifically as a team.”
  • “This spring portal window was underwhelming to say the least. You’ve got guys like Josh Pate at 247 hyping this up to be the craziest portal window ever and it absolutely wasn’t.”
  • “A lot of big P4 schools are getting away from the bidding wars. (LSU head coach) Brian Kelly came out and said they aren’t going to overspend on players just because of a need.”

Schools are getting better at all aspects of the portal.

  • “Teams and collectives are getting smarter with roster retention. Coaches are able to better evaluate who is a potential roster defector and collectives are putting language in their contracts that helps from players being tampered with before the portal window opens.”
  • “There’s still players that will slip through the cracks, but now it’s more of your second or third guy in the rotation at a position going to a school where he will be the No. 1 guy.”

It’s not surprising that it’s becoming more of a buyer’s market as the portal era continues and the people writing the checks get smarter about how they allocate their dollars. The ball is in the court of agents who now must figure out how to leverage their players and identify the schools with the biggest budgets. We’ll continue to monitor the development of things.

2024 Spring Portal: Feedback from the Personnel Side

10 Friday May 2024

Posted by in Uncategorized

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The spring portal closed end of last month, so things have slowed down on the transfer front. Unfortunately, that coincided with the draft, then a vigorous scout hiring/firing season, so we haven’t had a chance to get the picture of the April window this year.

With that in mind, we reached out to several people on both sides of it — agents and personnel people at schools — to get a sense of how the spring went. Here’s what we were told, first from the team/personnel side.

Talent, as expected, was a little low, though prices were still high: “There were some talented players, don’t get me wrong, but the teams that struck out during the winter portal were desperate to get them,” said one personnel director. “That drove the player’s market value up. . . Overall, it was hard to find elite talent in April’s portal compared to winter. I don’t think teams overpaid, per se, but the market value for certain positions increased.” Said another: “You’ll see a few high-profile guys go in, but it’s usually because they didn’t like the new staff that took over the program or NIL that was promised isn’t actually what is being given.” 

Patience is thin: “Was surprised to see the amount of redshirt freshman in the transfer portal,” said one source. “Players that rarely played last year, that did not have much tape to evaluate. Personnel like myself needed to evaluate based off high school HUDL tape.”

Jucos have a tougher path: “There were a good amount of former junior college players that entered the transfer portal,” said one personnel director. “Their path becomes challenging because of the transcripts that you need to acquire, and also you’re taking a shot on a young man that’s a 2/1 that may have not played too much in his past.”

Because there are fewer seasoned players, it’s harder to know what you’re getting: “Spring tends to be more roster-fillers and guys with less snaps and chances of playing time, so you lose depth in the end and it’s hard evaluating those guys in the portal due to a lack of experience,” said one source. 

Running back value was up: “Teams seemed to be overpaying for RBs. Every RB we talked to was asking for at least $100K. Guys like (new Miami signee/ex-Oregon State OH) Damien Martinez could go anywhere he wants,” said one school official.

There remains a poor understanding of economic forces and the by some players/agents: “Guys chasing the money truly don’t know how what the market value is and how a fiscal year works (SR with only seven months asking for a year’s amount of money, for example),” said a personnel and recruiting veteran. 

Some teams are coming up with creative ways to avoid paying retail for QBs: “I like what Texas Tech did,” said one school official. “Instead of paying $1.5-$2M for a QB, they decided to do something different and just get really good weapons on offense for a lesser QB. We will see if it works.”

As always, it all starts up front: “It is DIFFICULT to find quality OL and DL in the portal,” complained one source. “They tend not to leave. So when we lost our center . . . we decided to not replace him. It didn’t make sense to us. We moved that scholarship to get another QB on our roster.” 

There is as much mystery related to the market as ever: “All the numbers kids asked for were different at different schools, and often times, the rumor that’s floating out there isn’t what the kid is seeking,” said one source. “Agents have seen that they can take advantage of the kids’ earnings and will pump the number up just because there are no parameters and kids aren’t as involved in the money side.” 

We got so much feedback that we will break this into two parts, returning next week with our feedback from player agents. Check back then for some fascinating insights from the player representation side. 
 
In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap. Do that here.

A Few Thoughts About Scout Season So Far

03 Friday May 2024

Posted by in Scouts

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The period from after the draft until training camp is when teams rework their front offices. That’s among the busiest times of year for me, because it’s the period after the  GMs and executives have been hired and fired, and the fallout begins at the lower levels.

Here’s a look at the trends so far and a few thoughts on what’s happened and what’s ahead.

  • I’ve had a few people say something along the lines of, boy, it sure has been a slow season for scouting changes so far, and I have no idea what they mean. The Panthers wiped out almost their entire pro scouting department today. The Bears parted ways with two scouts, one of whom has won multiple awards (and who is widely respected in the community). The Cardinals are down two evaluators, one of whom was their college director. The Bucs said goodbye to two more staffers, one of whom won a Super Bowl (with the Colts) and went to the division championship game (with the Jaguars). Oh, by the way, we’re still not a week past the last day of the draft. It’s been an incredibly busy — and surprising — “scout season” so far.
  • So why is this happening? I’ve addressed this on Twitter, but in case you missed it, last summer was a very busy one for hiring and firing in analytics departments. Yes, NFL teams are always looking to get younger and cheaper at the national scout/area scout level, but there’s got to be a reason why so much experience has been thrown overboard so far this year. The only thing I can come up with is that teams are planning to reinvest that money in number-crunchers. 
  • I’ve been asked if colleges will start hiring these experienced scouts, and my guess is, not yet. One reason I think that is because I’ve tried (hard) to get a lot of ex-scouts jobs with schools with no luck. The other reason is that schools don’t need evaluators as much for the transfer portal — they’ve got a coaching staff and dozens of volunteers to help plow through film. But the real reason is that the portal is less like the draft and more like free agency. Actually, there’s a third reason — teams would rather pay coaches than evaluators, and there’s only so much money to go around.
  • So with so many vacancies, where will the new hires come from? My guess is that most come from within. We’ll see scouting assistants and scouting coordinators get promoted into the lion’s share of these jobs. Many of these seasoned, competent evaluators will stay on the street, unfortunately. I know a few scouts will resurface, but historically, those scouts aren’t rehired. I hope I’m wrong.

If you aspire to be an NFL scout and want to hear what’s next on front office openings, try out ITL. You might even be eligible for our Next Wave rate ($75 through the end of November instead of $29.95/mo.). For more information, DM me at @insidetheleague or email ITL here.

 

Former NFL Scouts Weigh in on Four Draft Prop Bets

25 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

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It’s draft week, so it’s time for some fun. I don’t gamble, but I asked four friends who are former scouts — Blake Beddingfield (Titans); Rodrik David (Titans, Falcons); Greg Gabriel (Giants, Bears); and Mark Gorscak (Steelers) — to give me their opinions on four prop bets for the 2024 draft.

Topics and their answers, with their comments — remember, this is just for fun — are below.

O/U 4.5 QBs selected in the first round
Beddingfield: “(Over). Too many QB-needy teams will push that number to at least five QB selected in the first round, possibility of six.”
David: “(Over). Almost no question we will see four quarterbacks in the first round, maybe in the top 10. Will Nix or Penix make it five or six? I will take the over.”
Gabriel: “Over. It’s a QB league.”
Gorscak: “Over. (Washington QB Michael) Penix will be the fifth.”
O/U 4.5 ACC players selected in the first round
Beddingfield: “This is a tough one; the ACC is down this year in top-level talent. Only (North Carolina QB) Drake Maye and (Florida St. DE) Jared Verse are guaranteed first-rounders. (Clemson DC) Nate Wiggins and (Duke OT) Graham Barton have potential but not guarantees. Even with those two, the number is under 4.5.”
David: “The ACC gets forgotten about with the SEC and Big Ten flexing this offseason. Will Drake Maye and Jared Verse find three more conference allies to get this one to the over? Give me the over.”
Gabriel: “Not sure.”
Gorscak: “Under. Can’t see more than four: North Carolina QB (Maye), Duke OL (Barton), FSU edge (Verse) and Clemson DB (Wiggins). ACC is a weak Power-5.”
O/U Oregon QB Bo Nix draft position 32.5
Beddingfield: “Nix will be taken in the first round, so under 32.5.”
David: “Did Bo Nix do enough at Oregon to lock up a first-round grade? Or is there enough “Auburn Bo Nix” out there to slide him to Day 2? I’ll take the over.”
Gabriel: “Under. Same as above. It’s a QB league. Six might end up going in first.”
Gorscak: “Over. Solid second. (Giants QB) Drew Lock 2.0 perhaps, but better version.”
O/U Georgia TE Brock Bowers draft position 12.5
Beddingfield: “Bowers is a top-five player in the draft, but with multiple QBs in the top 10, it will push him down. But I don’t see him getting past the Broncos at 12. (Under).”
David: “What was once a surefire top-10 pick, even flirting with the top five, is now in question in the top 15. Does the first round fall in a way to slide Brock Bower to the teens? Give me the under.”
Gabriel: “Under. Looks like Jets (at 10) or a team trading up to get in front of Jets.”
Gorscak: “Under.”

Now that you know their thoughts, place your bets!

Enjoy the draft. We certainly will. We’ll have all the breakdowns and interesting angles on Day 1 in our weekly newsletter Friday. Register for it here.

Five Thoughts About the Transfer Portal

19 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by in NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

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Here are a few thoughts based on conversations I’ve had with people around the industry during the first week of the April transfer portal window.

  • This is the first time in my two decades-plus running ITL that college personnel staffers have approached me about meeting NFL agents. Personnel directors see what’s happening and they’re getting aggressive. I’m happy to oblige. Honestly, what’s taken so long? I played a (small) role in one agency hiring a portal expert just this month. I hope to do that more often. That agency is now recruiting some of the better players who’ve entered during the April window. It just makes sense that more and more firms will do this.
  • The portal is not so much about who’s in, especially this time of year, as who could be in. This week, I’ve personally spoken to a contract advisor who is shopping a highly touted player who’s not in the portal — yet. He’s had several conversations with schools.
  • We’re at the beginning of the end for collectives. Sure, they’ll still be around as a funding arm — at least for a while — but as far as being a central part of the decision-making process for a key transfer, I see that ending. Once the Tennessee and Virginia AGs successfully sued the NCAA, allowing players to negotiate deals to transfer, personnel directors I’ve spoken to are far more aggressive about wanting to go directly to players (and/or their representatives) to talk numbers. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to monetize things on a grander scale to make up for the donor fatigue.
  • The latest rule change means most players should be looked at as being on one-year deals at all times. There are no longer any barriers (outside of academic eligibility) to player movement. 
  • I do not see a mass buildup of personnel departments involving former NFL scouts: The portal chase is not so much a draft as it is a free agent pursuit. The “haves” are full of money to sign players that might help them. For the most part, the only limit on the number of players they sign is their budgets (not usually a major consideration) and their roster openings. On top of this, there have never been more young, aspiring scouts willing to work for free in exchange for a shot at their big break. Maybe populating a scouting staff will be the next arms race in college football, but I think most teams will pump that money into their NIL budgets rather than into splashy former NFL scouts and executives. Time will tell.

There’s plenty more to discuss regarding the transfer portal, and we’ll be chopping it up in the Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. Register for it here. 

Two Chances to Learn the Finer Points of Day 3

11 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Agents, NFL draft, Scouts

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As of today, we are exactly two weeks away from the 2024 NFL Draft. That means it’s white-knuckle time for the hundreds of draft prospects hoping to hear their names called over the three days of the draft. 

If you’re one of those players, or you represent one of them, you’re probably foraging for all the information you can find that might be helpful the last weekend in April. If so, I’ve got something for you. 

Tonight, former Panthers GM and Seahawks executive Scott Fitterer will join dozens of members of the ITL family for an hour, answering my questions and, maybe, even a few from the attendees. Here are the questions I’ll pose him tonight. 

  • Let’s talk about the month of April for an NFL team. Take us through, week-by-week, on what you’re doing as you finalize things for the draft.
  • If you could choose only one characteristic, would you choose traits, total playing experience, or most recent season’s production as the main reason you drafted or signed a player? 
  • About how many players each year get “draftable” grades? About how many wind up on your board as UDFAs? About how many does the staff “write,” typically?
  • What is your philosophy on Day 3? Are these picks normally players that had exceptional pro days? Are they players that “slipped” that you had rated much higher? Are you looking to fill out special teams in these rounds? 
  • Take us through your process for removing a player from your draft board, either for character or medicals. Was he really “removed,” or was he just moved to a much lower position?
  • What does Day 3 look like for you? How did you usually determine who got drafted and who got left for the UDFA chase?
  • What did your post-draft UDFA process look like? How did you integrate RMC/tryout invitations? 
  • Do you prefer rookie mini-camp the weekend after the draft or the second weekend, and why? How often did you take players who had been in a camp on Wkd 1, if you camped Wkd 2?
  • Can you ever recall “discovering” a player, or even getting information that led to you drafting/signing a player, from an agent-generated, mass email? 
  • For a player drafted in 2023/2024, when was the first time one of your scouts started evaluating him? 

If you’re an ITL client, you’re invited to join us at 9 p.m. ET for an hour-long session. Just contact us and we’ll send you the Zoom link. If you’re not part of the ITL family, it’s not too late to sign up. 

Now, let’s say you’re limited, budget-wise, but still need to get coached up on what scouts do (and agents should do as a result) related to Day 3 and the UDFA process. We got you covered. Wednesday’s edition of the Scouting the League podcast had me asking my podcast co-host, Rodrik David, several questions that are similar in nature to what I’ll be asking Scott tonight. Here’s what Rodrik, former area scout for the Falcons, handled in our podcast, which you can check out here: 

  • What is April like for an area scout? Is all the hay in the barn, pretty much?
  • Did you feel like you had a pretty good handle on all the players the team rated as draftable? Or did you mostly feel comfortable with guys from your region?
  • What were Top 30 visits like? What could players do/not do?
  • Do you ever remember a Top 30 visit that took a player off your board?
  • How much say did you have in moving players up/down during April?
  • When was your board totally “set?”
  • What was your role on local pro days? What about during the UDFA process?
  • How much power did you have during the UDFA process to really stand on a table for a guy?
  • When did you start looking to the following year’s draft class?

Either way, if you’re interested in professional development, you’ll benefit from one or both of these options. Need even more help? Make sure you’re signed up for our weekly newsletter. Do that here.

                    2024 April Portal Window: More Discussion with a DPP

                    05 Friday Apr 2024

                    Posted by in NIL, Transfer portal

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                    With the April portal window not far off, I continued my quest to learn as much about transferring and the name, image and likeness money that is changing the nature of college football. To do that, I had a lengthy conversation with a Director of Player Personnel at a mid-major not far from me.

                    We had a lengthy discussion on the ins and outs of the transfer window. Here are a few highlights from our conversation.

                    Up and down: I asked if it’s harder to recruit a P5 player to come to a G5 school or to lure an FCS player to an FBS mid-major. He said it’s harder to pull from P5 because such a player hates to switch “just because of the logo. Everybody is attracted to a logo at TAMU, so they would be harder to get.” Still, “the deciding factor is their playing time. If they’ve been at PVAMU three years in a row, they’re gonna be harder to get. Playing time at their old school is the determinant. A P5 who has played a lot is gonna be harder to get, unless the FCS guy has played a significant amount.”

                    Pecking order: The most valuable players tend to be offensive linemen, then pass rushers, he said. For the most part, start on the outside of both sides of the line for the most valuable players, then work in for players of less stature. For example, defensive tackles are valuable, but not as valuable as defensive ends. 

                    Looking for certainty: I asked if players in the portal might be ripe for a position switch. The response was that not only would a player not be receptive, but the coaches on staff wouldn’t, either. “Position switches would be a hard sell to the position coach,” my friend said. “When you get a portal player, you want him to be plug and play. That’s a one-off experience. If you coached him at your previous school, maybe, but usually no.”

                    Technology helps: The software packages sold to today’s college football team can be pricey, but they’re also diverse and directed toward every corner of the recruiting game. For instance, when I asked one DPP how he avoids publicizing the offers he makes, he said it’s impossible. “Everything is so public anyway, and there are  services that automatically scrape the Internet,” he told me. “You could get an email every single day telling you who (schools) offered, and it’s all based off Twitter.”

                    Minefield: It’s a dangerous game when you strategically offer a player, hoping bigger schools will flock to him. “We won’t offer people unless we are interested in them,” said the same DPP. On the other hand, “there might be a guy who may not be interested in us right now, but he might fall to us for academic reasons, so we offer him.” Now, that academic info is something that has to be gathered first-hand, which, again, requires manpower. 

                    A surprising turn: I asked one DPP at a mid-major if high school recruiting was now solely the bailiwick of schools like his, while big schools could sit back and harvest them once they proved themselves. He said it was the reverse: the Ohio States and Alabamas of the world can spend big dollars on five-star recruits and reap their big seasons from the start, then fill in with transfers when a recruit doesn’t work out. 

                    An inconsistent workload: Trying to predict how many volunteers the standard mid-major has on the personnel team is really hard. Having spoken to two schools this week, one said his team has 5-6 volunteers, while another DPP said he put together his entire pre-portal board single-handedly. While no two boards have the same level of detail and volume, that’s still a lot of work. 

                    Transfers won’t be the only thing happening in the football world in April. There will also be plenty of movement in NFL front offices starting in late April and continuing through July. We’ve been talking about that at Inside the League. Want even more? Make sure you register for our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap.