Category Archives: Coaches

Ask the Scouts: Who Helps the Most on the College Level?

03 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by in Coaches, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

If you read this blog regularly, hopefully, you read our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, semi-regularly, as well. Last week’s edition was one of our most popular of the year as we asked NFL scouts to tell us which schools’ pro liaisons — the official who most often interfaces with evaluators to discuss players — were the best at their jobs. If you missed it, you can get caught up here.

The truth is, we got a lot more responses than we could possibly fit into one newsletter. We got a lot of names-but-no-comments responses, and we got some scouts who were absolutely effusive about pro liaisons that no one else mentioned. We even had some who expanded the question and gave us feedback on helpful people who didn’t hold the “pro liaison” title. It was all too much to just dismiss.

As a result, we’ve complied everything that wouldn’t fit into Friday’s edition, and we present it here. We’ve tried to organize it in a comprehensive way, but may have failed, as responses were all over the map.

Here goes.

Top pro liaisons who just missed the mark last Friday, with comments (presented alphabetically):

  • Scott Aligo, Kansas — “The king of the portal . . . he is the best host and he is a superstar. . . He competes to give scouts the best access in the country. He is smart, welcoming and a genius football evaluator. Kansas is home, and he might be the best in the country at what he does. The most unique and best liaison for a long long time.”
  • Tyler Barnes, Iowa — “Among those liaisons who are working at programs that weren’t so good to scouts before they took over as liaisons, and (who) are now great visits for us and do what they can to allow us to do our best work.”
  • Brendt Bedsole, Auburn — “The Southeast is loaded with liaisons who do a great job. There are so many who help us and put in a ton of time to communicate with us and help their players, but if I had to pick one liaison who’s gone above and beyond this year, it’s Brendt.”
  • Ricky Ciccone, Toledo — “Very accommodating, very welcoming, very thorough, very knowledgeable.”
  • Jason Cvercko, Boise State — “One of the best for a long time, knows the players and also good at the evaluation part of it. Was previously at Washington State and Hawaii before Boise and did awesome at those places, too.”
  • Nate Dennison, Purdue — “Just wide open. It’s almost as if they drop whatever they are doing to aid. Last-minute visit when someone else changes a schedule, and Purdue is like, ‘sure, come on in.’ They got the schedule lined up for (us). Gives access, honest about their players and (isn’t) ’t trying to sell. They have realistic views, which isn’t always easy when you love your own, which is appreciated.”
  • Ean Deno, North Dakota St. — “Very good communicator and follows up with info after visits. Organized visit schedule and knows what you’re looking for.”
  • Matt Doherty, Arizona — “Very informative and knows the players.”
  • Darby Dunnagan, Northwestern — “Highly organized, detailed, and facilitates a very efficient visit.”
  • Taylor Edwards, South Carolina — “Understands what we are looking for on the visit. Always communicating and is organized in his approach.”
  • Lucas Gauthier, Colorado State — “Good info pocket, access to coaches.”
  • Marcus Hendrickson, Minnesota – “Another great one. Very accommodating and willing to do anything to promote his players! As organized as there is!!”
  • Aaron Hillman, Iowa State — “Really good player info, access to coaches.”
  • Chad Klunder, Duke — “Duke always had three players on both sides of the ball who couldn’t play anywhere but Duke. He shored up the Duke roster and found players who are more rugged and more competitive. . . He provides us with all information, great access, and a flip card for practice.”
  • Aaron Knotts, Washington — “He is very accommodating and does a great job setting up appointments with coaches and making sure you are able to meet with everybody that you need to on the visit.”
  • Justin Kramer, Washington State: Great information, access to coaches.
  • Marshall Malchow, Oregon — He is always organized, up front and honest with scouts. Makes visits efficient and gets us in front of whomever we need to talk to.
  • Darrell Moody, North Carolina — “Is one of us, and he makes Mack Brown’s (team) more open and more welcoming.”
  • Jay Perry along with Brittany Thackery, Mississippi State — “They are an awesome duo. First, they make the visit special with the access to film and how accommodating they are. It’s not always fun being in ‘Stark Vegas,’ but they make it worthwhile because they are super-honest in their evaluation of the person and growth potential. They know the families in and out and really give good insight on how we can help them, moving forward.”
  • Justin Speros, Virginia (formerly South Florida and Western Carolina) — “Is always honest and digs up any information that we need in a timely manner.”
  • Bob Welton, Alabama — “Gets it. One of the, if not the, top visits in the country.
  • Matt Wilson, Arkansas St. — “Matt is very well-versed on all dealings of the program. He gives really good information and makes sure all visits are very organized.”
  • Roy Witke, Syracuse — “I respect him so much for . . .  his history as a coach.  But has super great insight and is still sharp as a tack. He knows the kids, (and) he’ll point you in the right direction for the questions you should ask (if you’re new to him). Always accommodating.”

Others who received a mention: Chandler Arbizzani, Montana St.; Michael Doctor, Oregon St.; Billy High, Tennessee; Mike Pechac, Indiana; Landon Salem, Memphis; and Troy Wingerter, La.-Lafayette.

 

Others offered unsolicited comment on school officials who excel.

GUYS WE MISS: One scout offered an extensive list of not only the liaisons that excel, but those who are no longer working with scouts for various reasons. They include:

  • Gone for the NFL: Wake Forest’s Taylor Redd (Patriots) and Charlotte’s Carter Crutchfield (Rams).
  • On the move: Duke’s Jim Collins, who left for the AAF and then Elon; Matt Lindsey, who left Ole Miss for Athletes First; and Geoff Martzen, who left Michigan State for private business. Also, John Srofe (Richmond to Appalachian State) and Patrick Hickman (Virginia to BYU) have taken on new roles in new places.
  • Retired: South Carolina State’s Gerald Harrison and Liberty’s Paul Rutigliano.
  • Passed away: Texas A&M’s Gary Reynolds and Texas Tech’s Tommy McVay.

And finally:

STRENGTH COACHES, ETC.: Pro liaisons aren’t the only ones scouts come in contact with, and strength coaches are especially in demand. Here are a few comments on the best ones.

  • David Feeley, Duke — “One of the most honest strength coaches with scouts.  Great charisma. He also maximizes players’ potential in the weight room.”
  • Kevin Glover, Maryland — “Is a mentor. Coaches the coaches on how to  coach hard and coaches the players on how to accept constructive criticism.”
  • Brandon Hourgan, Vanderbilt — “A great, goal-oriented strength coach. He started giving us the numbers and pictures over a player’s freshman to senior seasons, with numbers for every calendar year, almost a decade ago when he was at Wake. . . We (get to) see a body change over time. We see strength numbers, test numbers, body fat percentage numbers change. No hiding bad test numbers or bad pictures. He provides an open book, a true portfolio of what his players have accomplished. Accountability attained!”
  • Woody McCorvey, Clemson — “Coaches the players at Clemson to accept hard coaching. He is an excellent resource if he allows you schedule a one-on-one visit with him.”
  • Chad Scott, Coastal Carolina — “A young star. He built a weight room at Charleston Southern. He built the credibility between the players and staff at Coastal. Unsung hero who speaks truth, has morality, and is a great role model. Motivates players in an impressive manner.”
  • John Williams, East Carolina — “Mentors individual players who are very difficult to reach. He is a life coach and a strength coach.”

If you missed last week’s Friday Wrap, make sure not to miss this week’s by registering here.

An Update on XFL Player Acquisition

27 Friday May 2022

Posted by in Agents, Coaches, Scouts

≈ 1 Comment

We’re starting to get a lot of questions about the XFL player pool and how an agent (or anyone, for that matter) gets a client into the league player pool. XFL officials want to make sure agents and players are aware that its showcases are around the corner and that spots are filling up quickly, with some dates already at capacity.

Here are a few things XFL officials want to make sure are clear to players and their representatives.

  • The XFL will have a comprehensive player pool.
  • The league will announce its team-by-team personnel directors next month, though we’ve heard that timetable might be moved up so as not to miss out on any talented players from the ’22 draft class.
  • Though we don’t have any definitive info, it’s our understanding that players need not have participated in one of this summer’s engagement camps to be signed.
  • All players interested in demonstrating their skills in front of XFL personnel and coaches are asked to visit showcases.XFL.com or to email info@XFL.com.
  • The HBCU camp and the engagement camp in Hawaii are by invitation only because the league is trying to tightly control participants, limiting them to only those of Pacific Islander heritage for the event held in Honolulu and to players from historically black schools for the HBCU workout.
  • XFL head coaches and personnel directors will select players for the exclusive XFL draft pool based on the following criteria:
        1. XFL Showcase evaluations
        2. College/pro film evaluations
        3. XFL staff evaluations at NFL training camps. Invites to the draft pool will be sent to players in early June.

Only players invited to the draft pool will be eligible to be drafted. Visit Info@XFL.com and check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section for more information.

War Story Thursday: Calling (For) Your Shot

09 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

This week, as I interviewed former Giants scout Steve Devine for our weekly Catching Up feature in tomorrow’s Friday Wrap (register here so you don’t miss our feature on Steve), our conversation drifted beyond the interview, as so often happens. One story, in particular, was appropriate for this space, where I try to encourage and enlighten young people interested in getting in the game.

Steve made several stops along a lengthy coaching career that pre-dated his time scouting for the Giants, and late in 1988, he found himself at San Diego State as offensive line coach under Al Luginbill. That year, as one of his collateral duties, he was in charge of hiring the grad assistants. He had just about filled all his spots when he found one last candidate that fit the bill perfectly, but who hedged before accepting the position. Steve was a bit frustrated, but willing to wait. That’s when his phone rang.

The call was International, and it came from the obscure coach of an English pub team. The coach called because he’d heard the Aztecs had an opening and he wanted badly to be considered for the job. He explained that he’d played at Eastern Illinois, then bounced around indoor football leagues (even getting a cup of coffee during the strike year in 1987 with the Bears) before finding himself coaching and playing in an overseas league. Though Steve liked the young man’s initiative, drive and attitude, he didn’t have any openings.

“Thanks for your interest, Sean, but I think we’re full,” Steve said, politely dismissing the enthusiastic young coach.

The next day came and went with no word from the coach Steve was hoping to hire. It wasn’t late yet, but it was getting late. Still no call . . . from the coach he hoped to hire, anyway. There was a call, though. It was from his new friend, Sean.

“Hey Coach Devine,” said the overseas caller. “Just wanted to check and see if anything had opened up.”

Steve told him, no, still nothing, but thanks for the call, anyway. After a bit more friendly small talk, they hung up.

On Day 3, Steve was starting to get antsy and eager to fill all his openings. That’s why, when the young coach called again, it gave him pause. Still, when the caller expressed his interest in the position — and guaranteed that he would be there when needed, no questions asked — Steve could offer encouragement but no interview.

On Day 4, Steve could wait no longer. The coach he wanted still wasn’t calling, and it was time to move forward. Surprisingly, he didn’t hear from his friend Sean. That is, not until 11 p.m. PST.

“Hey Coach Devine,” said the young coach. “I’m still really interested in that job. Has anything opened up?”

Yes, there’s an opening, Steve finally told him. But there were caveats. No. 1, he could give him no more than an interview, with no guarantees. No. 2, the interview would take place in 24 hours. No exceptions. No. 3, San Diego State had no travel budget for its interviewees. Basically, the young coach would have to drop what he was doing, pay his own way to fly and drive thousands of miles, and be fresh and ready enough to interview immediately. Done, said Sean. Naturally, it wasn’t that easy.

For whatever reason, he didn’t fly directly into San Diego. Instead, he flew into Chicago and rented a car, then drove the 2,000-plus miles to Southern California . . .  barely. The day of the interview, Steve got a distress call from the coach. “My car is smoking,” he said. “I think it’s the radiator.” Somehow, he made it to Steve’s house, where he stayed for a few days, as he had no money for a hotel.

When he arrived at the coaches offices to interview, he looked just like someone who had only found out a day-plus before that he’d be interviewing for a Division I football coaching position, then flew and drove across an ocean and a continent to get there. Still dressed like he’d just walked off the practice field, his clothes were rumpled and wrinkled, and he’d brought nothing to change into. Steve scrambled for something to make him look presentable, but all he could find was his own sweat-stained San Diego State coaches shirt. Luckily, it fit Sean.

Though the interviewee was arriving from Great Britain, he didn’t look like he’d just walked over from Savile Row. Still, it was good enough, and he won Steve and Luginbill over with his fresh offensive ideas, his energy and his drive to succeed. He got the job, and launched a career that would include a Super Bowl XLIV victory, NFL Coach of the Year honors in 2006, and 139 NFL wins (regular season and postseason) — but not before pissing off some of the team’s offensive coaches in his first team meetings with his ideas (which Steve said were correct, by the way). By now you’ve figured out that we’re speaking of Sean Payton.

If you’re someone who aspires to be the next Sean Payton — or Drew Rosenhaus, or Chris Ballard, or Bill Belichick or whoever — you’re going to have to humble yourself, you’re going to have to ask for things (nicely) that have already been promised to others, and you’re going to have to dig into your own pockets for a Hail Mary chance at a great opportunity that could lead to something more. It’s called paying your dues, and it’s as true today as it was in 1988 (or 1888, for that matter). I think almost anyone who’s at the top of the business would agree with me.

Good luck, and keep working hard.

 

 

2020 NFL Draft Process, Coronavirus Edition: How Scouts, Agents, Players Are Adjusting

27 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in Agents, Coaches, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Obviously we’re in an unprecedented time. Here are a few observations on how the football world is shifting to accommodate the coronavirus situation, and how we’re trying to be a small part of the solution.

  • It looked bad for open venues this week, so we moved several up in an attempt to stay ahead of the closings. As a result, we were able to get two in on Tuesday in Dallas and one in Tampa, thanks to former NFL evaluators Bob Morris (Browns, 49ers) and Richard Shelton (Titans). Bob handled things in Dallas and Richard in Tampa. Unfortunately, our instincts were correct. We had a workout in New Orleans slated for today, but the venue was shuttered on Thursday. We’re hoping two pro days we have scheduled for today in Atlanta go off without a hitch (ex-Raiders scout Von Hutchins and Mike Hagen, last with the Chiefs, are calling the shots there).
  • Because we’ve brought in former NFL personnel to run these pro days — sort of serving as a ‘proctor’ for the big exams — we’ve gotten good feedback from NFL teams. Contacts with two teams have asked for all the numbers from our scouts’ pro days, and we’ve been happy to oblige. Meanwhile, our RT of a Twitter post on another player drew an immediate response from a director-level scout with another team. If you’re a player or agent, don’t think for a minute that teams aren’t working overtime to make the best of these strange circumstances.
  • We’re pretty excited about the response we’ve gotten on our Google Form that will supplement the work the APT Coalition (the consortium of NFL scouts that shares pro day information during a normal March) normally does. We’ve gotten more than 300 players’ information so far with about 48 hours to go before we pull the plug and ship it out to all 32 teams. “Through your help, I’m down to 27 players that I need draft info for,” said one scout that we’ve been trying to help with player, agent and college contacts. We’re hoping that after this weekend, those remaining 27 players’ contacts (and their agents, of course) are in his notebook.
  • One note about that Google form: a handful of agents included their contact info but not their players’ contacts. While we understand that they represent the players, scouts are not going to want to have to go through a third party to collect simple information about draft prospects over the next month before the draft. We’ve removed all entries that omitted players’ info, but not to worry: we’ll send out the form one last time this evening.
  • Of course, if you’d like to update things immediately, we also sent out the link to all NFLPA-licensed contract advisors last Friday at 6:30 p.m., Monday at 6 a.m. and Wednesday at 6 a.m. (all times central). The link is somewhere in your inbox if you’re a licensed agent, so check your trash.
  • We’re hoping to be part of a national solution to the lack of pro days in mid-April. We’re working on a project that, hopefully, can bring a neutral, professionally run local workout to hundreds of players. Fingers crossed, of course, that we’ll have open venues and some return to normalcy by Easter.

That’s all we have so far. Hopefully, we’re still moving in the right direction. For more on how “the new normal” is affecting the data-gathering process and how teams are adapting, check out today’s Friday Wrap. You can register for it here.

 

Our First Seminar for Coaches of Agents: Three Takeaways

02 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by in Agents, Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

So yesterday was our first-ever seminar solely for agents of NCAA and NFL coaches, the Franklin Capital Strategies Coaches Agent Seminar presented by Texas Interventional Orthopedics.

Actually, it really wasn’t a seminar; it was a limited-participation morning with our three panelists, Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post (formerly ESPN); Doug Whaley, Sr. V.P. of Football Operations for the XFL (and formerly with the Steelers and Bills); and perhaps the top name in the coach search firm business, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Here are a few takeaways:

  • While there’s a lot of energy associated with representing players, the real interest is in working with coaches. The problem is, no one has nailed down the business model. Joe told the story of one assistant coach who dangles the prospect of 10 percent of his first-year salary to any agent who can get him a job as head coach of a specific team. In this way, he sends droves of hungry agents out to work for him without locking himself into an agent who may or may not always burn the midnight oil.
  • Doug said the key to getting a job in today’s world is knowing the trends. One thing he said was that in the old days, trends trickled down from the NFL. That’s not true today. College football is undergoing a renaissance, and the most imaginative offenses are not in New Orleans or Kansas City but in Oklahoma and Texas Tech (hence Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury). Therefore, to get a job in the NFL with a progressive team, it’s advantageous to have an association with one of the hotter programs in the NCAA, even if you’re on the personnel side.
  • Also from Doug: When he was with the Bills, he and his staff conducted a review of all coaches in the NFL just in case the team needed to fill a vacancy on the fly. We hear a lot about breaking down the draft, and even scouting active NFL players, but who knew teams actively scouted and evaluated coaches.
  • What’s the first thing an agent negotiates for a coach? His salary, of course. However, once the salary is set, it’s time for the benefits. Country club memberships. Private jet hours. A car for the coach’s wife. Luxury box access. You might think that a coach getting paid millions of dollars wouldn’t worry about these things, but that’s not the point. The point is, a good agent sets it up so that they don’t have to. If you want to rep coaches, you better be prepared to do the same.

Still curious about what was said and heard at our first-ever seminar for agents of coaches? We got you. Reach out to our title sponsor, Paul Franklin of Franklin Capital Strategies, by any of these methods.

Ask the GM: How Does a Team Handle an Earl Thomas Situation?

05 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Agents, Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

It’s been a privilege to get to know former Bears GM Jerry Angelo over the last few years. Jerry is not only an incredibly connected and experienced veteran of NFL front offices (scouting with the Cowboys and Giants and serving as personnel director of the Bucs before heading to Chicago), but he’s a true gentleman and a man of great class.

Jerry has headed Inside the League’s interview prep work over the last couple years, and he’s worked in classroom settings and one on one with dozens of top draft prospects over the last several years. However, Jerry’s true value comes in drawing on his time in the league to address situations that arise in the NFL. He’s a great sounding  board and provides counsel on a number of football topics to people across the game.

For this reason, I reached out to Jerry this week to give me some perspective on a storyline that has dominated the early going of the 2018 season (and to some degree, even ’17): Seahawks safety Earl Thomas and his ongoing attempt to get a new deal from Seattle or to press for a trade to a team that will give him one.

There aren’t many people alive with first-hand experience in situations like the one that faces Thomas and the Seahawks, but Jerry is one of them. With that in mind, I decided to ask him about the Thomas scenario in Seattle as well as the Bell situation in Pittsburgh. My questions, and Jerry’s answers, are what follows.

  • Did you ever face a situation where a key player and locker room leader was openly dissatisfied with his contract with several years left on the deal, and campaigned for a trade? 
“I have experienced the situation you described where high-profile players were disgruntled with their contracts. I had several situations, one with (former Bears LB) Lance Briggs, (Bears) running back Thomas Jones and (Bears TE) Greg Olsen. All wanted new deals and requested trades if we weren’t able to accommodate their demands. For whatever it’s worth, they were all represented by the same agent. I’m not blaming the agent; it was just a coincidence.
“Saying all this, all I can say when you’re in those dilemmas, you ultimately have to do what’s in the best interest of the team. In Briggs’ case, we were able to work things out. Unfortunately, the other two situations ended up with us trading the players, which was my last resort, but we had to do something or potentially watch things continue to escalate and have a very negative affect on not only the player, but the team.
“The lesson is twofold. Do your best to stay in front (of) taking care of your core players. Secondly, when you come to an impasse, don’t put your head in the ground. It’s about damage control, and again, when in doubt, the only question to ask is, ‘How does this affect the team?’ “
  • How would you have handled this situation, starting with the time that Thomas initially expressed dissatisfaction with his contract?
“Really, I can’t sit and give a specific answer. I have a lot of respect for the Seahawks and their front office. I don’t know (if) they didn’t try to get something done, but couldn’t. There were some trade rumors, but we don’t know the specifics. These types of things happen all the time.
“All I can say is, that’s why they have contracts. A player can show dissatisfaction, but the bottom line is, he agreed to it. No one twisted his or his agent’s arm to take his last deal. Naturally, the next contract/contracts for players at his position are going to be larger in all likelihood, and why? (Because) the cap keeps going up. Players understand this, and certainly their agents do. Unfortunately for Thomas (I’m presuming), he won’t accept it. His gesture was child-like and uncalled for. Why? Because he didn’t get his way, and because he got injured, it’s the team’s fault? That’s what babies do.”
If the Thomas and Bell situations interest you, you’ve probably got a mind for the inner part of the game. That means you’d probably really enjoy our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap, which is read by thousands of people in the industry every week. In it, we talk about the news of the week that no one’s talking about, plus we look at trends and items of interest to people in the business of football.
This week, we’ll continue our conversation with Jerry, asking him several other questions, including how to maintain team harmony and salary structure in this situation; whether or not you risk losing the locker room in this situation; and how he would compare the situations involving Thomas and Steelers OH Le’Veon Bell, who’s also in a contract dispute.
And the best part is, you don’t have to be an agent, financial advisor, coach, scout, player or draft prospect to receive the Friday Wrap. You can register here. We promise we won’t spam you, and you won’t be disappointed.

How the Eagles Built a Front Office That Built a Champion

09 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Lost in last weekend’s pre-Super Bowl hypefest was a story in the Baltimore Sun with a hidden Eagles subtext. In the story, which announced that GM Ozzie Newsome would hand the reins to Assistant GM Eric DeCosta after the 2018 season, was this paragraph:

“The Ravens have struggled in recent years with losing scouts such as Joe Douglas, Andy Weidl, Ian Cunningham and T.J. McCreight. All four currently work in the front office of the Philadelphia Eagles. . . They had 55 years of working experience combined in Baltimore.”

It’s worth noting that the Eagles won this year despite going against the NFL hiring grain in almost every way when it comes to how its front office was crafted. To wit:

  • Owner Jeffrey Lurie pulled off the unusual move of demoting the de facto GM, Howie Roseman, while keeping him in the building. Equally surprising: Roseman accepted the exile, then returned stronger and better after a year of growth on the business side.
  • When hiring GMs, the league tends to pick from the Packer, Seahawk or Patriot tree. Two of the last four GMs hired in the last two months (Cleveland’s John Dorsey and Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst) were well-rooted in the Packers’ ways, while the three hired in 2016 (Miami’s Chris Grier, Detroit’s Bob Quinn and Tennessee’s Jon Robinson) came off the Patriots’ branches. But the Eagles have gone their own way. Except for Senior Personnel Executive Trey Brown, none of their senior executives are from those three organizations.
  • You could argue that the Eagles put as much emphasis on the pro side of scouting as any team in the league. While most teams put most weight on the college side, the Eagles have six scouts with ‘pro’ in their title. While numbers aren’t available for other teams, that total is likely to be among the highest, if not the highest, in the league.
  • Unlike teams that rely on continuity in their scouting staff, the Eagles have been aggressive about making changes until finding the right mix. Joe Douglas, the V.P. of Player Personnel, has been with the team less than two years. Assistant Director of Player Personnel Andy Weidl was hired the same day as Douglas. Director of College Scouting Ian Cunningham, Player Personnel Executive J. McCreight and Director of Pro Scouting Dwayne Joseph all have two years or less in the Eagles’ front office.

Winning a Super Bowl often means boldly going in a direction that defies conventional thinking in a league full of copy cats. Credit Owner Jeffrey Lurie with having the courage to go with his gut and trust his instincts in assembling a winning front office.

For a different look at how the Eagles built their roster into a Lombardi Trophy-worthy outfit, take a look at Shawn Zobel’s analysis of the team. His piece leads off this week’s ITL Friday Wrap. It’s free, and it goes out to more than 4,000 people across the football business each week. It’s free, and you can register for it here.

Shawn is a scout with experience working in the NFL at the team level and for the league office. He owns TheSidelinePass.com and Zobel Sports Consulting; hosts the Football Headquarters Podcast with 1500 ESPN Twin Cities; and has won three state championships as an assistant at Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School.

 

 

 

A Look at College ‘Scouting’ Positions

23 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Coaches, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

This week, ITL’s Danny Shimon compiled a list of the Directors of Player Personnel or Directors of Football Operations at all FBS schools. We’ve never compiled such a list before. We did this because, most often, these are the coaches that are working with scouts when they come through, and usually the point men for coordinating pro days. In other words, these are valuable positions for young men aiming to build a network of NFL contacts that they can parlay into a job in the league.

We did this as a service to the scouts and agents who are ITL clients, of course, but also to take a look at the people who fill these positions. How do they get there? Where did they come from? What are their credentials?

Here are a few observations.

  • We counted only eight former NFL scouts holding these jobs. They are Bobby Merritt (Houston), James Kirkland (Illinois), Marcus Hendrickson (Minnesota), Matt Lindsey (South Carolina), Dave Boller (Louisville), Bob Welton (Tennessee), Dennis Polian (Texas A&M) and Bill Rees (Wake Forest). Paul Skansi also held a voluntary personnel role with the University of Washington this season, but he was recently hired by the Redskins.
  • This number is relatively, low which is surprising because as teams build out their staffs with more personnel and recruiting specialists, there’s a perception that dozens of NFL professionals have filled those roles as they wait to get back into the league. Not so.
  • Though we don’t have hard numbers, these jobs are held mostly by people under 40. There are no ex-head coaches holding these positions and no ex-NFL executives. It’s mostly area scouts in these roles.
  • Most of these positions require plenty of non-personnel duties like helping with administration, recruiting, and even fundraising. So former scouts looking to grab these jobs need to know it’s not as simple as serving as a team’s advance scout and watching film on next Saturday’s opponent, or catching up with old friends as they cycle through the team offices.
  • Unlike a lot of positions in college and pro football, these seem to be legitimate jobs that require total effort. One thing you don’t see much of in this list is last names that are common with the head coach or some other prominent football name. People in these positions have to have game. They gotta be locked in and hard-working.
  • Reading the bios, many have traveled with the head coach to multiple stops, indicating that they’ve proven themselves. Again, these aren’t blow-off jobs. They may not have the glamor of other positions, but people who don’t perform aren’t kept around.
  • These positions do seem to be populated by those who worked their way up. In other words, they worked in the football office as an undergrad, then took some low-paying job/volunteer position before landing in personnel.

We get dozens of questions about how to land NFL jobs. Well, before you land that NFL scouting assistant position, you might have to land a college job. Hopefully, you can find something in the above points that gives you a little guidance.

Taking A Look At Four More Renovated Front Offices

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Agents, Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Last week, we took a look at five teams and their front office moves, making a few observations about how they’ve addressed their vacancies. This week, we look at four more teams after another busy week in the scouting world.

I should start by saying that most teams that made changes this late — it’s pretty unusual to be making front office moves after BLESTO and National have met — stayed in-house and elevated scouting assistants into key roles.

Eagles: In a series of moves that were formally announced today (but most of which we’ve already put out there via our Twitter), V.P. of Player Personnel Joe Douglas simultaneously put his own stamp on the Eagles’ front office (bringing in confidantes and former co-workers in T.J. McCreight and Ian Cunningham) and also rewarding some talented people (former Colts scout Brandon Brown and Philadelphia’s own Trey Brown, who aren’t related, incidentally). This is a very good-looking front office, at least on paper, in my estimation.

Rams: Los Angeles made a tremendous amount of moves this offseason, on both the pro side and college side, but it looks like the team is going to a more centralized evaluation philosophy. The team is moving up two scouting assistants into area scout roles, which isn’t especially unusual except that the team has seen longtime national scout Lawrence McCutcheon retire and four seasoned road scouts exit the building in the last year. Usually when a team sends a lot of first-timers out on the road, they’re looking for information-gathering rather than opinion. That strategy has become a lot more popular the last few years given the Patriots’ use of that approach.

Redskins: The ‘Skins moved a lot of people around and handed out new titles, but opted not to hire a new GM to replace Scot McCloughan. The team elevated a scouting assistant to fill one of its area scout vacancies, and also brought in former Chargers scout Paul Skansi. It looks like a good mix of youth and experience to round out their staff. Though the team lacks a GM, it looks like team president Bruce Allen carries the iron in the front office right now.

Vikings: Minnesota didn’t make a lot of moves. In fact, they made one — they brought in former Rams area scout Sean Gustus to replace Terrance Gray, who left for Buffalo. Sean did a little work for ITL over draft weekend, and I’m really happy his time ‘off’ was short. At any rate, the Vikings haven’t had to make a lot of major moves over the last few years, and usually, that’s a good thing. Stability tends to be a good thing for scouting departments.

Believe it or not, there are still a few pieces still yet to fall into place. We’ll be back with more observations and insights as the last moves take place across the league.

A Look at Five Teams That Made Major Front Office Moves

09 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Coaches

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

It’s mid-June, which means — usually — that teams have pretty much set the course for their scouting departments for the next draft. We’ve been waiting on a few teams (Eagles, Rams, Redskins, Jets mainly) to make official pronouncements and finalize things, but we’ll move forward without them for now.

What follows is our take on the changes several teams have made in the past month-plus, what and who we like, and where we see things going for each of them.

  • 49ers: It’s hard to know what to make of the Niners right now, with new GM John Lynch a total wildcard. What they have going for them is that they have ex-Lions GM Martin Mayhew around to help steer him; new V.P. of Player Personnel Adam Peters in from the Broncos, who’ve done a pretty good job in recent years; and most of the core staff of scouts that has done a mighty fine (and underrated) job of late.
  • Bills: I like the amount of talent Buffalo accumulated for its front office, with several annual candidates for GM jobs across the league. But that’s also the problem: with that many up-and-comers, the scouting department might be a little top-heavy.
  • Browns: Speaking of top-heavy, the Browns, despite presumably heading down an analytics-laden path, have eight (8!) people with either ‘director’ or ‘Vice President’ in their title, and that doesn’t even include the team’s de facto GM, Sashi Brown (Executive V.P., Football Operations) and Paul DePodesta (Chief Strategy Officer). There are also 13 scouts (thought at least two listed are no longer with the team) and eight ‘scouting assistants’ (and by the way, the Browns are known to be interviewing others). Despite the multiple layers of management and evaluators, I’ve spoken to several scouts who say they’re really impressed by the Browns’ draft this year.
  • Colts: I’d have to say Indianapolis has been the runaway winner this offseason. New GM Chris Ballard has a great resume and great energy, and I think he’s made some great moves so far. Not only do the Colts have some great new people in the front office, but they also have a clear chain of command, and maybe the move I like most is their hire of Player Personnel Strategist Brian Decker. More and more, it seems to me that diagnosing how a player handles when he’s drafted, and how he reacts to making big money, is mega-critical to the process.
  • Titans: I have to admit that the changes Tennessee made caught me off guard. After a few bumpy years, the team seems to have built a talented core and is on the way up. With that said, the area scouts the team has added (Mike Boni and Tom Roth) have been universally applauded by all the scouts I’ve spoken to. 

That’s all for now. Hopefully in a week a few more loose ends will be tied up and we can look at five more teams’ moves.