Category Archives: ITL

My Story, and How It Might Benefit You

10 Thursday Aug 2023

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Later today, I will join my friend Billy Yancey on his podcast, Billy and the GOAT. Billy and I played together at Navy — well, I should say, he played and I sat — but we’ve stayed in touch over the years, and I was honored that he would ask me to join him as a guest on his show. 

I must admit that the closer it got to taping, the more nervous I got. What would I say? What points did I have to make? Here’s what I came up with as the key factors in  my journey so far.

Put God first: In a time when nothing is lasting and everything is relative, you must have guardrails. To me, if you don’t have God in your life, you will struggle to determine true north. Even as I write this at 54, I have a long way to go before I am the Christian I want and need to be. However, I won’t stop striving to be that person. Having a personal relationship with Christ keeps me on that path.

Take a different path: Speaking of paths, it’s crucial to go in a unique and original way. It’s not because you want to be self-aggrandizing or “me”-centered, but because you will have a whole lot less competition that way. For example, if I had chosen to try to become an NFL agent, I would have been contending with a lot of people who are much smarter, greater-resourced, more connected, and overall just better than I am. If I’ve ever been smart about anything, it’s that I was smart enough to take a road less traveled. Even today, what we do at ITL is a pretty vast departure from almost anything else out there. That means my audience is smaller, but it also gives me a measure of security.

Surround yourself with people invested in you: Sometimes those people will tell you to press on. Sometimes they will tell you hard truths. Either way, if you know these people have your best interests at heart, you can trust their counsel. There are so many people like that who’ve been part of my life. Wherever it is I am, and whatever it is I’ve achieved, neither would be possible without these people. I’m a pretty big advocate of marriage, and my wife, Polly, has been the pivotal person in my life, professionally and personally, but it’s more than just your spouse. There are so many people I’ve encountered along the way who have pushed me, encouraged me, or both. You have to have these people.

Be genuine: When I was a younger man, and thought of myself as destined for greatness on a wide scale, I never thought about the relationships along the way. In my hubris, I thought that taking time to listen to others, hear their stories and try to meet them where they are would be left to others. As God has helped me better understand my purpose (and taken me down a few notches), I’ve tried to be a servant of my clients. I don’t think that happens if you don’t take time to listen to them, learn about them, and truly care about how you can meet their needs. That may not be the road to success for others, but it’s the only way I know how to do what I do now.  

I’ll have stories and examples to illustrate these points in the podcast. Not sure yet when Billy will post it, but I’ll be sure to tweet it when he does. I’ll also include it in the Friday Wrap. You can register for the Wrap here. 

Five Tips on Passing the ’23 NFL Agent Exam from Last Year’s Test-Takers

14 Friday Jul 2023

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We’re currently 11 days away from the 2023 NFL Agent Exam. If you’re taking the test, that should give you pause (and perhaps scare you to death). But it doesn’t have to be that way. Though the exam is not at all easy, you can pass it if you approach it the right way.

This week, I reached out to several of the contract advisors we worked with during the 2022 exam prep phase. Not only did all of them pass the exam last summer, but they also were among the rare rookie agents who landed players on NFL rosters in their first year in the business (one even had a player drafted).

Here’s what they told me about how they pulled off passing the test.

  • Organize your notes: This was probably the most popular advice of all. It’s not just making sure you have a copy of the CBA printed out and neatly tucked into a binder. It’s much more than that. “I had three binders plus my outline on test day,” said David Gregory, the only independent first-year agent to have a player drafted this spring. “(I had) a binder for CBA with all charts that I knew I would use frequently placed up front; a binder for the drug and performance-enhancing substance policies, and a binder for all side documents and other policies.” Said EJ Gonzalez of Grady Sports: “I set up my notes on my desk the day before (the exam) in a way that I knew where everything was, then reviewed where everything was the morning of and again before I took it.” “I had page numbers of where to find certain topics next to each section within my notes,” said Samantha Blitzer of Goal Line Football. “That way, if I had to refer to the CBA, I wasn’t scrambling to find it.”
  • Pay attention at the NFLPA seminar: You can glean a lot of what will actually be tested from the three days of classes provided pre-exam. “They aren’t speaking for their health,” Gonzalez said. “They are telling you what’s on it. I took 10-12 pages (front and back) of notes during the seminar and I remember a couple answers just being based off seminar notes.” At the same time, it’s important to keep your sense of humor. “The (questions asked in the online) chat functions . . . were hilarious,” said Juan Lozano of Red Envelope Sports. “They gave me a lot of confidence because I knew some people were asking ridiculous questions and they would have no chance passing that test if they were asking those questions a day before the exam.”
  • Give yourself plenty of time: Obviously, there’s no way to turn back the clock, but hopefully you didn’t begin preparations this week. “I started studying in January, so I gave myself plenty of time to get to know the material,” said Alex Broers of Vantage Management Group.
  • Pace yourself/don’t rush: Making sure you don’t spend too much time early in the exam, forcing you to rush late, was a recurring theme. “You only have three minutes per question, so you don’t have a lot of time,” Broers said. Added Gregory,  “I made sure I was done with 20 questions by the end of Hour 1 and 40 questions by the end of Hour 2, etc. If you’re not sure, just answer the question and come back to it at the end. if you have time.”
  • Read the questions carefully: “They will throw fluff in there that has nothing to do with the answer,” Blitzer said. “On the test, they definitely try to trick you with how they word questions rather than which topic the question is referring to. There will be one or two words that will completely change the scenario, so keep an eye out for that.”

If you found these tips helpful, we’ve got more. In this evening’s Friday Wrap, we’ll have five more, straight from the people who were successful in passing the exam last summer. You don’t want to miss them, and you won’t as long as you register for the Wrap, which you can do here.

When Should You Start Studying for the NFL Agent Exam?

09 Friday Jun 2023

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This week, I got this same question from two different aspiring NFL agents. I’ve included one of them verbatim (or mostly verbatim):

“I’m . . . interested in figuring out when I should start reviewing (exam) materials, when I should hop on the zooms, and when I should start doing the deep dive? Is it too early to start looking at things now for the sake of at least getting a general understanding? Let me know your thoughts.”

My response is different from the one I used to give.

With the exam less than two months away, we’re starting to get our usual surge of study guide, video and practice exam purchases. I think that used to be the right amount of time. Not long ago, if you studied hard for two months, you were pretty much golden. It wasn’t long ago that the passing rate for the exam was, well, pretty reasonable. However, starting in 2015, the pass rate got a lot harder.

I remember the responses from people who had barely failed a pretty passable exam in 2014, then came back excited and optimistic in 2015, only to find a test that was appreciably harder. I felt terrible for the ones who came up short that year, earning themselves a five-year waiting period until they could try again. Most never did. However, since 2015, the NFLPA has doubled down. I tell test-takers these days that there’s about a 25-percent chance of passing for first-timers, and maybe 50-50 on the second try. That’s not based on hard numbers, but I think it’s pretty accurate.

As a result of this, when people approach me about taking the exam next year, I tell them it’s not a bad idea to get started now. I recommend they pick up the study guide and start getting familiar with the terms. Maybe they order the videos if they are more visual learners. Bottom line, if you think you can just wait until a few weeks before the exam to get started, like it’s an algebra test, you’re sorely mistaken.

I mean, it’s possible to pass in less time, but you’re looking at a major investment of time and money. It just makes no sense to take that kind of risk, especially when the amount of money you’re spending is absolute peanuts in the face of the costs associated with representing players in the modern era. 

If you’re reading this, and you’re taking the exam in the summer of 2024, get started on the CBA now. You’ll thank me later. If you’re taking it in 46 days, start now. NOW. You cannot procrastinate and expect to pass an exam that 75 percent of test-takers (all of them with a secondary degree, most of them attorneys) routinely fail.

For a full rundown of everything we offer, including topics of all our videos and costs of all our services, sign up for the Friday Wrap. You can register here.

 

2023 All-Star Season: Notes from Week 1

13 Friday Jan 2023

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Week One of all-star play for the 2023 draft class is in the books with the College Gridiron Showcase wrapped and the Hula Bowl set for this weekend. Here are a few things of note that have happened, or that I’ve heard, so far.

  • You like long arms on offensive linemen? Then you’ll love South Florida OT Demontrey Jacobs, who turned in 37-inch arms as a member of the CGS Desperadoes roster this week. That’s a full inch-and-a-half longer than any other player in Fort Worth. Special notice also goes to East Carolina WO Isaiah Winstead, who had 33.25-inch arms as a pass-catcher. That’s longer arms than six of the Wranglers offensive linemen. Meanwhile, Illinois St. DT Jason Lewan had the biggest hands at 11.5 inches. The only other player in Fort Worth with an 11-inch hand span was Jacobs

    Legendary IFL coach (and would-be train wreck veteran) Les Moss and me, the idiot who managed to get hit by a locomotive in ’85.

    (11 inches exactly).
  • One of the fun things about all-star season is seeing old friends, but this year was special for me as I got to shake hands with the reigning Indoor Football League Coach of the Year, Les Moss of the IFL’s Northern Arizona Wranglers. Les is more than just a legendary coach in the indoor game, but he was also in the car behind me when, in 1985, my car (a tiny MGB) was hit by a fast-moving coal train in Poca, W.Va. One day I’ll tell the story of that day in this space.
  • I also want to say what a pleasure it was working with the member of the 2023 CGSU class. Mike Rittelman and I had the honor of leading 16 aspiring NFL scouts who came to Fort Worth and worked extremely hard over a three-day period. The 16 were Brandon Ashe, Mark Austad, Garrett Ballard, Mike Bey, Davarus Branigan, Gus Christensen, Daniel Docal, John Grout, Dondrell Harris, Michael Joiner, Jordan Kalfon, Joe Luke, Brandon Morris, David Senko, Cardell Rawlings and Brandon Tamres. This group was very tight-knit and worked as a team, just as a football group should. Look for them in NFL front offices some day.
  • I also want to thank all the scouts who spoke to our CGSU class, sharing their experiences and providing tips on how to break into the game. Among scouts who spoke to our group were Dom Green (Jets), Eloy Ledesma (Lions), Tom McConnaughey (Jaguars), Bob Morris (USFL’s Gamblers) and Rodrik David (formerly of the Falcons). All of them were very giving of their time and did so without any compensation.
  • Kudos also go out to the 13 players who arrived in Fort Worth as part of the Small School Showcase (the Marshals) and fought their way onto the Desperadoes roster after impressing scouts. They were Lincoln DE Arnold Mbembe, Westminster OB Brayden Thimons, La.-Monroe DT Caleb Thomas, Arkansas Tech OH Devontae Dean, Texas A&M-Commerce OB Demetrius Walker, Texas A&M-Commerce DE Celestin Haba, Nevada DE Phillip Huff, Sam Houston St. OT Jordan Boatman, Delta St. OT Nicolas Melsop, SE Oklahoma St. DC Ja’Lon Freeman, Utah Tech FS Darrius Nash, Sam Houston St. WO Cody Chrest and Carson-Newman WO Braxton Westfield.
  • I also learned of a new Panthers scouting intern Kaleb Leach, who earned his way to Carolina by developing an overseas scouting service called Europe’s Elite. All week, we preached to the CGSU class that sometimes the road to fulfilling your passion is one that’s less traveled. Going your own way after identifying an underserved market is a great way to succeed in football.

We’ll discuss what’s ahead during the all-star phase of the pre-draft period in today’s Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

2021 ITL Seminar: Three Reasons You Should Join Us

19 Friday Feb 2021

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The 12th annual ITL Seminar will be held Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. ET. This year, as you know, there’s no NFL Combine, so we’re going online. I hope you can join us! Here are three reasons you should tune in.

This is your chance to hear from football business leaders: There was a time when we brought in people from around the industry to talk about the football business. Among our list of previous speakers includes former Bears GM Phil Emery and former Browns GM Ray Farmer; we’ve also had panels with ex-scouts; analytics seminars; and we were even honored to host the contract advisor conference led by Peter Schaffer of Authentic Athletix in 2019. This year, I’ll give closing remarks based on pay and hiring practices based on what I’m seeing this year. So many people want to get into scouting; my goal is to give them tips and a look at where the industry is headed.

If you want to work in the business, you need to know what’s going on: We’ve had people like Saints AGM Jeff Ireland, Colts GM Chris Ballard and 49ers GM John Lynch on hand to accept awards the last three years, along with Bears scout Jeff Shiver and Arizona State Director of Athletics Ray Anderson, just to name a few. People are always asking me how they can separate themselves from the pack when they are job-seeking. Well, one way is to celebrate with the people who are being honored. If you attended our seminars the last three years — or really, the last 11 years — you had multiple opportunities to meet and congratulate the leaders in the game. Sending an executive a congratulatory text, email or tweet when their team wins a game is easy. Lauding him when he wins an industry award provides far more resonance.

We’ll have you out in an hour: Normally, when we’re in person, the goal is to keep everyone no more than an hour and a half. Of course, during a normal year, we also offer an open bar and plenty of chances to network, so people are more eager to hang around. With none of those attractions this year, we’re going to make it short and sweet. The idea is to bring you an hour of education and information, then let you get back to your life. 

We’ll be talking more about our program, and about the industry in general, in today’s Friday Wrap, that comes out this evening. You can register for it here.

I hope you can join us next week. As with everything since the virus changed our lives, this year’s seminar will be a little different. Still, I”m hoping we can preserve the spirit of things and honor some of the unsung heroes of the industry. See you Wednesday.

ITL College Week: Highlights from Our Three Speakers

24 Friday Jul 2020

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This summer has been a weird one, for sure, but at Inside the League, we’ve tried to turn lemons into lemonade. One way we’ve done that is by holding weekly Zoom sessions with different segments of the football world.

In June, we held the ITL GM Academy and hosted several scouts and executives with four ex-GMs giving presentations. Earlier this month, we held ITL Agent Week, and had four other league authorities serving up gold to dozens of NFLPA contract advisors. Finally, this week, we held ITL College Week.

Three speakers held court on Zoom for 90 minutes each on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the returns were very positive. “I just wanted to say that was one of the most unique and impactful experiences I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of,” wrote one participant in an unsolicited email. “I wanted to make a point to thank you for the opportunity to take in this knowledge. It means more than you know.”

Here are a few quotes from our speakers this week that I thought were particularly interesting.

Former Bucs GM Mark Dominik on getting lucky: “So anyway, (Tampa Bay) wound up hiring our (fourth) choice as head coach. We thought we were gonna get Bill Parcells, then he turned us down, and then we thought we’d get Steve Spurrier and that didn’t work out, and then Jimmy Johnson, so we got stuck with Tony Dungy. He’s everything you can imagine. He’s exactly who you would want him to be. I probably haven’t been in touch with him for four months, but if I texted him, he would text me right back tonight. That’s what kind of guy he is.”

Former Titans Director of College Scouting Blake Beddingfield on evaluating pass rushers: “Does he have a pass rush plan? Is he doing the same thing over and over? (Former Titans DE) Kyle Vanden Bosch was going 100 mph every play. He was the most intense player I knew, but he always set up his sacks. He was setting up the tackle the whole game to work his favorite (move), a chop on the outside, and he did that for a number of years and to make the critical play in the red zone. He was only 8-9 sacks per year, but they were big sacks.”

Former Rams GM Billy Devaney on passion: “It’s a pet peeve of mine, and especially with ex-players, they’ll say, ‘this coaching stuff is getting old,’ and the ex-player would say, ‘I don’t know what I want to do. I know I don’t want to coach. Maybe I’ll get into scouting.’ I’d think, you screwed yourself. ‘Maybe I’ll just do scouting.’ That would always burn my ass. I’m extremely partial to guys that want to make this a career. In an interview, I’ll ask, ‘what do you see yourself doing 10 years from now? Five years from now?’ And if they say, ‘maybe analytics, maybe coaching,’ I’m not gonna hire that guy. I’m gonna hire the guys that says, ‘I’m gonna be the best scout, then maybe work in the office as the director, then eventually be the GM.’ I want someone who wants to make this a career.”

There’s plenty more to talk about. Join us this evening for our Friday Wrap when we discuss this week, as well as what we have planned for the coming weeks. You can register for it here.

2020 ITL Agent Week: Highlights from Our Speakers

10 Friday Jul 2020

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As you may know, this week was ITL Agent Week, and we had four speakers talk to 30-plus agents on the nuances of how to build a scouting network, how to look at players, how to survive in the business without a bottomless bank account and plenty more. It wasn’t a good week — it was a great week. Here’s a tiny taste of what our participants heard this week.

Priority Sports’ Mike McCartney on why he became an agent: “In 1998, I got hired by the Eagles as the director of pro personnel, and I was basically Tom Modrak’s right-hand man. We went from 3-13 to two games from the Super Bowl while I was there. Anyway, we got beat by the Giants in 2001, and as I drove across New Jersey after that game, I took inventory of my life. I would never recommend taking inventory of your life after a tough loss, and it hit me like a ton of bricks that in 20 years I’d be asking who raised my boys. I prayed long and hard after that, and I had one of 32 jobs director jobs in world, and I was on target to be GM, but wanted to find balance in my life and be there for my children. So I decided to be an agent. I knew every agent, and I knew who the guys were that worked for their players and those who wouldn’t. I pursued Priority Sports. I never wanted to compromise my integrity, and I wanted someone with an excellent reputation, and someone with resources. It takes a lot (of money) to get guys ready for the draft. Anyway, I pursued Priority, and now I’m going into my 20th year, and my 29th in the NFL. I wouldn’t trade my experience. I mean, I’ve been able to raise my kids.”

Former Bears GM Jerry Angelo on finding sleepers hiding in plain sight: “There are a lot of prospects at those big schools that fall through the cracks because the scout is spending his time on high-profile players. When at Ohio State, that’s 15-16 players, and scouts are doing juniors and seniors, and it’s impossible to do it A-Z. I used to use this example with my scouts. When Ricky Williams was at Texas, and he won the Heisman, they had another running back who fell into undrafted free agency, Priest Holmes. Texas was a really good team then, but there had to be a time when they rested Ricky, and Priest must have had game tape, but when he was out of the game, the scouts quit looking at running backs. Priest Holmes was an outstanding back, and I told my scouts, at some point, there was film. You’re going to find players at those big schools. That’s’ where our sleepers come from today.”

Former Titans scout Blake Beddingfield on the changing parameters for quarterbacks: “At quarterback, the size traits are going away. You have Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, obviously Drew Brees are around 6-feet tall, so height is not as important as it used to be. Decision-making and accuracy are, and we’re talking about accuracy, not just completion percentage. Anything from plus-1 under, anything in the flats, they take that out and readjust their completion percentages, because they should be able to make those passes. It’s the other passes that are important, so when you’re looking at a player who throws a lot in the horizontal game, you take those stats away and look at plus-2 and better. He has to be smart, and has to be able to process all the info when the ball is snapped. These are important traits. Arm strength is important, but not the sole indicator of a QB. Accuracy and decision-making are the keys.”

HOF Player Representatives’ Greg Linton on what he told players during his early days when he still had a 9-to-5 job: “You have to know the player. I tell them, ‘you’re a grown-ass man. Do you need your hand held 24 hours a day? My job is to help you. I don’t need to hold your hand 24 hours per day. When you get to the team, you’re going to have a lot of free time, and no one is going to hold your hand. I’m gonna teach you to be a grown man.”

If you’re in the agent business, and you have any questions about how to succeed, I hope you’ll join us next year. It was a special week. We’ll discuss it more in today’s Friday Wrap. You can register for it here.

2020 ITL GM Academy: Highlights of Our First ‘School’ for Future NFL Execs

19 Friday Jun 2020

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Last night, we wrapped up our first-ever ITL GM Academy, and it was a smashing success. For one night each, we had a former NFL GM talk to several young risers in the NFL scouting industry, most of them directors of college scouting, on how to get and excel in the job of NFL general manager.

I can’t say enough about how open and transparent each of our GMs — Tim Ruskell (Seahawks) on Monday, Jerry Angelo (Bears) on Tuesday, Doug Whaley (Bills) Wednesday and Billy Devaney (Rams) on Thursday — was this week. They told stories that I wish I could tell here. “The week exceeded all expectations!,”  said one of the participants.

Here are a few nuggets from this week’s speakers.

On owners (former Rams GM Billy Devaney): “You get the job, you do need to develop a relationship with the owner. He’s gonna want access to you, but it’s gotta be a two-way street. If there’s a key injury or you get a chance to make a big trade, and your guy is on some yacht in southern France, you have to have the ability to have access to him. Set up a time every week to meet with him. I mean, over-communicate early with the guy. You want to keep reassuring him that you’re the right guy.

“There’s two kinds of owners: hands-on and absentee. I’ve seen it both ways. Don’t let hands-on owners be a negative. It’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but believe me, the positives far outweigh the negatives.”

On the value of networking (former Bills GM Doug Whaley): “The only reason I got the chance in Buffalo was, in ‘05-’06, the league had a masters program at Stanford and it was a week-long – I got a master’s from Stanford! — and had meetings all day, then at night they would break us up into five-man groups and have us work together. We had 3-4 questions to work on every night. I wondered, why are all of us doing the same questions? Why not all do one question, then we all talk about it afterward? And (Bills executive) Russ Brandon loved that, so when Buddy (Nix) became the GM, Brandon was really promoting me because of my work with Doug at the Stanford program.” Four years later, in 2010, Whaley was hired as the Assistant GM in Buffalo, and took over for Nix as GM in 2013.

On your most crucial hires (former Bears GM Jerry Angelo): “What do you do to offset your weakness, especially if it’s the cap? . . . The Bears let me hire a cap guy, and I hired (former agent) Cliff Stein. He was in my network. Intelligent and hard-working. I interviewed guys with a better resume, but I had a gut feeling on him.

“I wish my draft picks went as well as that hire. But you have to identify someone who is good with the cap.”

On working with your head coach (former Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell): “I had all the control, and it was an awesome responsibility. I didn’t take advantage of that. I always worked collaboratively with my head coach, and I feel you have to do that.”

If this kind of thing intrigues you, make sure you sign up for our Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening. We’ll have more about our work this week with tomorrow’s GMs in this evening’s edition. We’ll also talk about the next wave of GM candidates as told to us by people across the game. Here’s last week’s edition. I hope you’ll check it out.

Miscellaneous: Five Thoughts (Mostly) on Things We’re Working On at ITL

05 Friday Jun 2020

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I didn’t have anything this week that could hold up for an entire blog post, so today we’ll take you “into the lab” and touch on several projects we’re developing at ITL (plus a quick scouting observation). Here goes.

  • I’m really excited about the video my friend, Ric Serritella of NFL Draft Bible, made to help others understand a little bit about how we work to help people build their professional network in football. It’s here. We filmed it on location in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl and at the combine in Indianapolis. As always, I hope it conveys the right message to potential partners without being too self-promotional.
  • I’m also really excited about the first-ever ITL GM Academy, which is slated to take place later this month. We’ll have four former NFL GMs (Jerry Angelo, Billy Devaney, Tim Ruskell and Doug Whaley) who’ll be discussing the interview process and how to get the job; how to deal with the media; how to hire and build a staff; and building a relationship with the owner. Each of our experts will handle a 90-minute session on each of the four nights.
  • There’s a lot of concern among scouts that they won’t be allowed into schools this fall, and that’s very possible. But here’s how to maximize your chances: be the guy who sends thank-you notes with Batman and Wonder Woman stamps. I had a lengthy phone call with a longtime scout who is obsessive about sending personal notes to all the people he talks to on his school visits. He stamps them and writes the addresses before he even gets to the school, then writes a short note when he’s killing time waiting for practice or between film sessions. Then he mails them as he leaves town. He even adds flair by using stamps depicting cartoon characters and movie stars. That is all-star level respect for the people in the game.
  • Sent the manuscript for my next book to my editor today. I think I’m going to call it ScoutSpeak: Earning, Doing & Thinking About the Job of an NFL Evaluator. It will be about 150 pages, and Saints Assistant GM Jeff Ireland wrote an absolutely superb foreword for it this week. I can’t wait to get it published, hopefully later this month. I think I counted stories and quotes from more than 30 NFL scouts, past and present. This is my tribute to the industry.
  • I’m kicking around the idea of starting a podcast. I don’t have a name yet, but the idea would be to talk to some of the most influential people in the industry about how they see the business evolving and their own personal stories of how they broke in.

OK, that’s five. We’ll have a lot more in today’s Friday Wrap, that comes out later today. If you haven’t already, register for it here.

2019 Personnel Symposium: Who Do NFL Teams Want?

01 Thursday Aug 2019

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On Monday, the ITL team will be speaking to hundreds of college football personnel professionals at the 2019 Personnel Symposium. We’ll be talking about how to climb the ladder in the football personnel business, and specifically, how to get a scouting job in the NFL, for a half-hour, starting at 4:45 p.m. CT.

On Tuesday in this space, we wrote about the experts we’ll bring to the J.W. Marriott. I’m confident they’ll make points, tell stories and bring experiences that any aspiring NFL scout will find beneficial. Still, before a person begins seeking out a new job, it’s important to know what people are getting those jobs. That’s why we looked at the nine scouting assistants who were hired by NFL teams this summer, pulled from our list of all the scouting changes this spring and summer, to get a sense of what and who teams are seeking. Here’s what we found.

Do teams want former NFL players?: Not necessarily, or at least, it’s not a deal-breaker if a candidate hasn’t been a pro player. We counted four of the nine that had played NFL football, and most of them were strictly camp invitees. Based on our research, NFL playing experience was strictly a bonus.

Do teams want former college players?: The answer sure does appear to be ‘yes.’ Eight out of nine scouting assistants hired this term played in college, though it’s certainly not mandatory that it be at the Power 5 level. I’d estimate that at least half of those who played came out of FCS football or lower.

Do teams want people with college personnel experience?: Surprisingly, the answer is no. Though the growing college personnel departments seem like the perfect “farm team” for hires, two-thirds of this year’s hires had never worked in personnel at either the college or pro level. Maybe that’s just a one-year blip, maybe it’s a trend.

Do teams want people with NFL personnel experience?: Again, the answer is no. Six of the nine hires has never worked for an NFL team before.

Based on what we found out, it seems like who a candidate knows is more valuable than what he’s done in his career. Though that might not make much sense to the casual observer, it jibes with what we’ve always believed, and it’s one reason that we’ll talk about networking, relationship-building, and turning an acquaintance into a contact Monday night in Nashville.

I hope you can join us and hear our speakers. You can register here. However, if you can’t, maybe you can join us afterward for a drink. More details on that Thursday.