Category Archives: NIL

A Few Thoughts on How We Can Improve Our Combine Events

06 Friday Mar 2026

Posted by in Agents, College personnel, ITL, Media, NIL, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

Forgive me if this is a little self-indulgent for a couple of events that have already taken place. However, I’ve spent the last week thinking about how we could make our two Indianapolis events last week, the 2026 Ellison Kibler at Merrill Lynch ITL Combine Seminar and the 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium, even bigger in 2027. Here’s what I’ve come up so far.

More space: We were smart enough to increase our space for Friday’s symposium — and thank the Lord that we did, because we had a packed house — and increased our space for Wednesday. However, we probably need to expand our space even further for both events. Hopefully we can return to the first floor while meeting our needs, size-wise.

More imaging: We improved our social media game since last year, but let’s face it: we had nowhere to go but up. I’ve had a lot of the participants from Wednesday and Friday seeking photos of themselves from the events. I get it. When you work in the shadows, you have to find a way to let others learn who you are (or, at least, what you look like). We’ve done a good job with photos for the seminar, but not always got the pictures out. Friday, our photography was minimal. We’ll do better on both counts next year, and we’ll get shots out to people from Wednesday sooner this year.

Registration: I think we have to cut off signups earlier. We also have to level up our registration process. We’ll be giving this more thought before next year. Several people got into the symposium late despite registering days, even weeks before the event. That’s not fair to them.

Roundtables: Panelists (agents and GMs) had a really difficult job. We posed some difficult questions (they’re in this email in case you were wondering), and it’s not easy to respond when there are 400 people in the room. Some of the feedback I got was that they might be more comfortable sitting at tables with only a few people from the community. I’ve seen this done at previous symposiums, and it came together really well. However, they didn’t have as many people as we had, and it requires signups well in advance so you can kinda plot things out. We had a significant amount of walkup registration and that will probably continue next year with schedules in Indianapolis so volatile. I’m not sure if we can pull this off. But maybe we’ll try.

Promotion: I devoted three newsletters and 3-4 podcasts to promoting our symposium; I also put a ribbon on our website with all the details. Still, we had members of some of the top agencies who expressed disappointment that they didn’t know we were having it. I’ll admit I focused my personal texts, emails and DMs on college GMs and directors, hoping that agencies would participate if we had enough members of the college personnel community. Next year, I’ll be more aggressive about reaching out, personally, to people who have attended in the past.

If you were there, and you have ideas, I’d love to hear what you’ve got. I’m sure there are things I’m missing. I want to make both our events the place the football community comes to share best practices and meet key people. I won’t stop trying to improve both. DM me on Twitter at @insidetheleague.

More Thoughts on Friday’s Symposium and Where We Are

01 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in College personnel, NIL, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

I’ve been thinking about our event Friday, the 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium, which took place Friday morning in the Indiana Convention Center before about 400 members of the college personnel community. We had 48 FBS schools represented, including 37 P4 schools and 20 GMs. Anyway, our two panels (three GMs, three NIL agents each) weighed in on 20 questions posed by Dropback founder Luke Bogus and myself over almost two hours on the second floor of the convention center.

I already posted a few takeaways in our Friday Wrap, but I had a few more today. First let’s get the cliches out of the way.

  • No one wants to take NIL payments away from players, no one is saying players shouldn’t be compensated for their images, etc.
  • Everyone is willing to let things be decided on the field, and no one is asking for mercy.
  • Everyone accepts that life isn’t fair.

With that said, there were a few recurring themes:

  • The January portal was a win, simply because it was one window instead of one in December and one in the spring. The timing is still tricky, but I don’t think there was a lot of pushback. If there was any, it was that there’s no certainty that this is the policy going forward. No one in a position of authority has declared the January window “the way” going forward.
  • The feeling on the panel was that money should go to veteran players. I mentioned this in the Friday Wrap, but Iowa GM Tyler Barnes raised the point that there should be some kind of cap on pay for high school players. Unknown players don’t have a lot of name recognition anyway, to say nothing of the limited snaps they usually play. We’ve seen the NFL basically do the same thing in the 2011 CBA. Unfortunately, this is probably wish casting as it would take federal legislation.
  • There’s clearly a lot of mystery about who represents which players; it’s so bad that one GM said he relies on journalists to tell him who represents whom. The problem here is that there’s nothing comparable to a Standard Representation Agreement (SRA), the document that the NFLPA requires players to sign when they agree to representation. Again, short of some kind of federal intervention or an opt-in to some governing body, that’s impossible.
  • With no rules, college officials and agents are left to rely on their own senses of honor; the value of relationships was mentioned so many times I lost count. However, as we know, morality is subjective, and honest people sometimes disagree. I raised the idea of some kind of code of conduct that could be accepted across the industry, but no one seemed to think that would make a difference. Unfortunately, the panelists are probably right.
  • You can argue about the makeup and effectiveness of the College Sports Commission (CSC), which is supposed to call balls and strikes on NIL deals, but you can’t argue that they’ve communicated effectively with schools. No one on either panel said he’d heard a word from the CSC. No one seemed to know much about what the CSC was doing, and given the role the CSC is supposed to play, that’s a concern. I hope someone at the CSC reads this. People in NCAA personnel offices would love to hear from them.
  • Unfortunately, for the second straight year, there was little to no optimism that tampering could be curbed, much less stopped. It’s admirable that the NCAA is trying to do something about it, but the panelists just shrugged their shoulders, figuratively, at these efforts. Even in the agent world, which is governed by the NFLPA, there’s almost no way to stop this. The player who benefits from such activity is never going to turn in his benefactor.
  • I was happy with the candor and honesty shown, but let’s be honest — when you’re giving opinions on touchy issues before a room of 400 people, it’s natural to edit yourself. The feedback is that people would be more open to talk in a roundtable situation, maybe 12 people talking about the issues. I’d like to think there’s someone out there that could provide such a forum, but who knows? Maybe I’m the one who should.

Just more stuff to think about. I think the problems facing the game may not be as overwhelming as some claim, but it’s not perfect. I hope ITL can be part of any solutions.

Six Points: A Few More Tips and Ideas for Getting a Job This Time of Year

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

This time of year I get a lot of people reaching out to ask about tips on getting a job in scouting, college or pro. Here are a few more things to think about and/or ideas for you.

Update your LinkedIn: I used to dismiss people who serially updated their LinkedIn page, but I have to admit it’s nice to have someone’s complete employment history readily available. I know some people really overdo it, but if you use it judiciously it can be a really positive tool. I know it’s been easy to advise people when they ask for counsel on finding a job when I can review their LinkedIn pages first. By the way, if you really want to go the extra mile, set up a Linktree.

Go to the Combine: I know it’s intimidating, and can be costly, but you can figure it out. The Senior Bowl is no longer the best place to network. Indy isn’t easy — there are a few events you can attend, including ours — but mostly you’re going to need to be in the right place at the right time, eager to seize an opportunity. It’s a risk you have to take.

Seek out volunteer opportunities in Indy: It’s too late to land something with an NFL team or with combine organizers, but there are enough things going on that a helping hand might be needed. Think outside the box. There’s no better way to make a connection than to be a good worker. If you can’t find a football organization, maybe reach out to an agency that you know has players at workouts.

Renew all your key acquaintances: It’s not easy to stay in contact with everyone in your neighborhood 24-7, and if you’re not carefully, you can come across as inauthentic. Still, you should be able to think of a reason to reach out to everyone who could be pivotal, job-wise, over the next 60-90 days. For example, you could ask when they get in to Indianapolis. Or wish them a happy President’s Day, I guess. If they show up on a podcast, make sure you compliment them — genuinely — and make it clear with context that you actually listened. Obviously, a job change (especially a promotion) gives you an automatic opportunity, as well. The key is to remind them, subtly, that you’re around.

Don’t forget about business cards: I know they’re passe’ but the fact is, they’re cheap and they fit easily into someone’s wallet. You don’t have to walk around with a wad of cards in your hand. Just have them ready if the need arises.

Remember that information is key: You need to know something that potential employers don’t. I do not think you should carry around your latest mock draft. But I do think you need to be ready with information on the upcoming players on your current team, or inside information on what jobs might be available on your own team, or anything else. If you don’t have anything, don’t fake it. But there’s no better way to prove your future value to a potential employer than by having something you can offer now.

One more thing — make sure to know where recent scouting hires have come from, which teams you should be focusing on and, well, read this, too. Good luck.

Honoring the Best in College Football, My Dilemma, and My Thinking (So Far)

21 Friday Nov 2025

Posted by in Media, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

Today, permit me to think out loud on a topic that’s been tying me up in knots for the past several weeks. It’s the ITL All-22, my way of honoring the college executives and teams doing the best jobs, and I’m trying to figure out how to attack it. I’m planning on introducing it at our annual NIL symposium in February at the Combine. I’m also going to solicit your opinion on it, especially if you think I’m way off track.

The original idea: Recognize the top executives in a college football world that is becoming more NFL-like in its model, yet at the same time more independent of the league (few college GMs, scouting directors and DPPs aspire to work in the league anymore) and growing more professional all the time.

The bumps in the road: Honoring the top executives and scouts in the league is much easier than doing the same on the college level. We’re talking 32 teams with, on average, about 20 members of the scouting department. Though NFL front offices are far from homogeneous, you still have three basic strata on the college side: scouting assistants and coordinators; area and national scouts; and director-level scouts who are managing things and making the big decisions. On the pro side, it’s usually two evaluators and a director. However, when it comes to college, it’s almost like no two GMs have the same job description, and while some teams (like Oklahoma) are building almost an exact replica of an NFL team, others are much more traditional, letting the coaches do much or most of the scouting. That’s to say nothing of the fact there are:

  • 136 college football teams on the FBS level
  • Four “power conferences” and five more who have far fewer resources
  • Despite the acceptance of revenue-sharing, there’s a wide variety of funding among schools (even within the P4)

The thinking on how to arrive at the winners: After two weeks of presenting my thoughts to GMs and scouting directors across college football (P4 and G5), via text and in-person visits, it seems there are three groups that could offer help. They are:

  • The agents who do business in the transfer portal and get an up-close (if adversarial) look at schools, big and small, on an annual basis
  • The GMs themselves, who at least have a handle on the job and what it takes to have success
  • The media that follow the transfer portal and the business of college football the closest.

Of course, all three come with drawbacks.

  • Who even are the agents doing the most business in the portal? There isn’t a list anywhere. Talk to members of college personnel departments and they tell you the number of people texting them a list of “their guys for the portal” seems to double every day.
  • In speaking to college GMs — and make no mistake, they are just a small part of the people making the portal work at their respective schools — and they say they don’t have enough of a handle on college football at large. Most are familiar with schools in their area, or schools in their respective conferences, but not the whole country.
  • We’re still at a point, media-wise, where there is a very, very small number of people covering the business of college football as it relates, specifically, to the portal and roster management. What’s more, the temptation would be there to give preference to the GMs who gave them the most access.

Here’s where I am: I need to come to some kind of decision, really, by Dec. 1, so this is what I’m thinking.

  • There are just too many key people making decisions to recognize just GMs. So I think I’m going to make it a team award and ask GMs to accept on their respective teams’ behalf at our symposium at the NFL Combine in February.
  • I have to cut the numbers some, so I am thinking the only teams eligible would be those that are bowl-eligible. It’s not a perfect metric, but hopefully, the teams doing the best job will rise to the top next year or soon after.
  • I think I have to break it down 14:8, P4 to G5. It’s only fair. Otherwise, it’s going to be 22 big schools.
  • Again, maybe not the best way of doing things, but I think I’m going to survey the GMs (or the GM-equivalent) on each draft-eligible team and see what we come up with. Hopefully it won’t be mission impossible finding their emails. Schools tend to publish a general football email on the team website, but hopefully I can get past that.
  • My guess is that I’d provide ballots to them via email and solicit their votes most of December, then count the ballots, determine the winners (and notify them), and hope the lion’s share of them can make it to Indy in a few months.

Anyway, that’s where I am right now. Am I off base? DM me (@insidetheleague) or email me (nstratton at insidetheleague dot com) and let me know. Thanks for your help, and thanks for reading.

Rumblings and Buzz from a Busy Football Week

14 Friday Nov 2025

Posted by in Agents, All Star Games, NIL, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

Man, it’s been a busy week, and there was a lot we didn’t have time to get into our Rep Rumblings (or give proper attention to). Here’s a look at some of this week’s developments in the business of college and pro football.

  • You don’t often see agents change firms after Halloween, but Evan Brennan has, moving from UA Sports to JL Sports. His arrival gives JL 10 NFLPA-certified contract advisors. Agency owner Joe Linta, who was 18th among all agents with 31 active NFL clients on our last count, gets a hard-working presence in the Northwest who continually turns up Day 3/UDFA types that beat the odds. Per NFLPA rolls, Brennan, who was certified in 2013, had 11 active clients as of this month.
  • Also getting a new address is Arlington, Va.-based Chitta Mallik, who’s taking his 16 years of experience to Jordan Sports Group, headed by newly certified contract advisor Miles Jordan. Jordan has already built a thriving NIL presence, and Mallik arrives to give his firm a veteran league presence. We’re told Mallik isn’t the only agent arriving from Dreampoint Sports; also advising Jordan Sports Group will be Tony Paige, who co-founded Dreampoint. Paige, a nine-year NFL playing veteran, has been in NFL player representation since 1994. Mallik and Paige were also previously with Vanguard Sports Group.
  • In an era where the costs of player representation are going up and up, it’s become commonplace for smaller agencies to develop affiliations. Some of them are highly informal, but others involve LLCs, contracts and specialized language. It’s a little more trouble, but sometimes it pays off, as it did for Premier Athlete Advisors LLC, which recently won a legal victory over its previous partner firm, Enter-Sports MGT LLC. Though the NFLPA continually pushes licensed contract advisors to settle their difference through its grievance process, time and again, agents complain that their rulings don’t resolve things. The people at Premier set up their venture with Enter-Sports as an agreement between LLCs, taking things outside the bounds of the Players Association. Enter-Sports is now on the hook for almost $38,000, per the story.
  • We try to interview a former NFL scout each week as part of our Catching Up feature in the Friday Wrap, and this week, it’s former Broncos, Chiefs and Vikings scout Roger Jackson (he also had a five-year playing career). Most scouts who retire from the job ride off into the sunset, playing golf and chasing grandkids. Not Roger, who instead saw a need for helping underprivileged kids in his hometown of Macon, Ga. He founded the Motivating Youth Foundation 18 years ago, and it’s made a difference in countless lives. To keep it going, instead of enjoying retirement, he knocks on doors. “I can raise money,” he said with a laugh this week. “I beg. And I’ll come back next week. ‘Thought you might have changed your mind.’ Until they say, ‘we gotta give this joker something, or he’s gonna come back next week,’ and I sure am.” Make sure to check out our interview with Roger in tomorrow’s Friday Wrap.
  • Our November Zoom session for ITL clients was Wednesday, and in it, we highlighted the density of all-star competition from Jan. 4-11. In the first week-and-a-half of the year, NFL teams will be tasked with covering the FCS Showcase in Nashville (Jan. 4-5); the Hula Bowl in Central Florida (Jan. 5-10); the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8) and Peach Bowl (Jan. 9) as part of the College Football Playoffs; and the College Gridiron Showcase and Dream Bowl, both in the Metroplex Jan. 9-11. It’s a dilemma for scouting staffs, and we discussed how teams are planning on covering things (or not covering them) in Tuesday’s post.

We’re just getting started. If you love the college and pro game, make sure to check out our newsletter, which goes out at 7:30 p.m. EST tomorrow. Register for it here.

Points of Interest Following Conversations with Multiple College Personnel Staffers

31 Friday Oct 2025

Posted by in Getting started, NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

There was a time when pretty much everyone working in a college football personnel office aspired to work in the League. That’s not the case anymore, and that was underlined this weekend as I spent a few days talking to personnel staffers at local schools or who were in town for games this weekend.

The people working in higher-level positions on college personnel staffs are highly knowledgeable of the life and work of today’s area scout, and they are none too excited about taking such a position. Too much volatility, not enough power, not enough pay. The people I spoke to would instead want some kind of administrative position that also gave them say in personnel decisions and the ability to make their own evaluations. That’s just not how the NFL is set up, which is why the enthusiasm for going to the pros is waning, at least based on the conversations I’ve had and am having. Ironically, more area scouts than ever are asking me if I’ve heard of any college jobs they might be able to fill.

Also interesting:

  • Schools are sending more members of their evaluation team out on the road to see players in person, closer to a simulation of the NFL model. The problem they’re running into is that they are limited in the number they can send out, and those people must be designated in advance with the compliance office. If there’s one change that seems unanimous, schools would like to see the rules eased so they can do more in-person scouting. 
  • One thing I learned that was surprising: we’re starting to see college grads who didn’t work in a personnel office during their pre-degree days begin to volunteer in a different school’s personnel office (for free, remember) in an effort to get hired somewhere. Often, they move in with a relative within driving distance of a school, grind tape and do whatever they have to do, and work until an opportunity arrives. Very interesting. Schools are seeking out potential volunteers by sifting through LinkedIn and social media.
  • The CAC is still a thing, though in these days when players are staying in college longer than ever, it doesn’t seem to play such a crucial role. 
  • Executives I spoke to said he’s happy to work with NIL agents, and even encourages these relationships. He only wishes there was some kind of regulating body that maintained standards. 
  • We in Texas think of the Metroplex (Fort Worth and Dallas) as one big city, almost, but it’s not. In fact, some schools only recruit from different regions of the Fort Worth/Dallas megalopolis, and don’t like the makeup of players from other sections. One Metroplex school recruits Houston more heavily than it does Dallas. 
  • With the new portal window in early January, December looks like it will be similar to the NFL’s “legal tampering” period, only it will be a month instead of a week. That’s unlucky for the teams in bowl play but a big benefit for the CFP teams that will still be playing in January. It’s going to be especially warmly received by G5 schools who’ve grown accustomed to P4 schools picking off starters in late May. Try finding a key corner, left tackle or outside receiver a week before summer training starts. Especially one you can’t pay. 
  • One downside of the new January portal window, at least in Texas, is that state schools begin the new semester two days (I think) before the portal closes. No enrollment equals no eligibility, so Lone Star State colleges are really going to have to move quickly to close deals, then get players registered for classes, in the space of just a few days.
  • One way bigger schools are getting away with staying under the rev-share cap, but getting talented high school players in, is by paying them their Year 1 NIL share before they get to campus. Some high schoolers are getting $800,000 lump sum payments that don’t count against the $20.5 million as long as they are done post-graduation and pre-enrollment.
  • There is still a small number of NFL agents working in the portal, relatively speaking. I spoke to one official who had only dealt with two NFLPA-certified contract advisors over the past year. Here’s another phenomenon: we’re starting to see college staffers quit, then immediately turn into portal agents representing the players at the school where they formerly worked. Unethical, maybe, but totally legal.
  • While some players have a big week on the field and then try immediately to turn that into NIL dollars, the G5 GM I spoke to this weekend basically said he’d like to see one of his school’s players try that. Hopefully, as the market of players grows, the number of outlandish asks will be reduced.
  • There will not be a Big 12 Combine this year, we’re told. That’s a big story, as the conference had tried for two years (despite scouts’ protests) to aggregate its schools’ March workouts into one made-for-TV event. It was never as efficient as hoped, and didn’t score ratings. Now, apparently, it’s officially gone. 
  • There seems to be a dissatisfaction with Hudl, both from a cost standpoint (the company recently raised its prices) and a services standpoint (limited expansion of new services). That’s not stopping anyone from subscribing, though. It’s a must-have if you want to be part of college football, one official insisted, and it’s true. It has no competition and a tremendous head start on anyone else trying to get into the space.

The dialogue isn’t over. Want to continue the conversation? Register for the Friday Wrap, which is free and comes out this evening.

What To Do If You Failed the Agent Exam Twice

09 Tuesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Agent Exam, Agents, Getting started, NIL

≈ Leave a comment

The day that the NFL Agent Exam results come out — in this case, last Thursday — is a very exciting one. It’s an awesome feeling to see some of the hundreds of people we work with during the pre-exam phase realize they are going to get to live their dreams, and I get to share that celebration with them.

On the other hand, for those who get bad news, there’s pretty much nothing to say to minimize the pain. That’s especially true of those who fail for a second time and who are staring at a five-year wait (and another $2500) just to try again.

Today, I’ve given a lot of thought to what to tell those people. Here’s what I came up with.

Don’t let this defeat you. Let’s start here. If you are even qualified to take the exam, you have a secondary degree and a clean record financially and criminally. This means there are a lot of things you can do in life. We estimate that about a quarter of test-takers pass on the first try and about half pass on the second try. This is easily the toughest agent exam of the four majors. If you come up short, you are far from alone, and you shouldn’t let this define you.

Consider an appeal. The testing service the NFLPA uses is far from perfect, and I’ve heard of at least one new agent who passed despite long delays (including two complete computer shutdowns in the last hour of taking the exam). I also heard about odd experiences at the testing center in July (like site officials disallowing materials the NFLPA clearly allows). If this was you, don’t be a martyr. I think you have 30 days to appeal the results. Don’t mess around. Hire an attorney if needed.

Really decide if you want to stay on this journey. There is no shame in turning around. This business eats people alive. You have talent. Decide if you want to use it on people who, in many cases, will not appreciate you. I’m just trying to be honest.

Take a sales job somewhere. For new agents, the job is not really about negotiation (popular misconception). It’s about sales. You’re selling yourself. If there’s one reason why most agents fail, it’s because they are not comfortable with the vagaries of talking to others, listening to them, figuring out their hopes and fears, and addressing them . . . which is pretty much what sales is. You won’t be able to succeed in this industry without sales talent. Oh, and one other thing.

Save your money. The other main reason people fail in this industry is lack of resources. You’re looking at $10,000, minimum, to get one player ready for the draft these days (or at least one who’s worth representing). Believe me, people try to do it without money, but the overwhelming majority fail. Go out and try to save $20,000-$30,000 in the next five years, and then come back ready for war.

Embrace life as an NIL agent. If you want to really see what this business looks like, go out and try to represent high school and college players seeking to make money in the portal or otherwise. We are in a truly unique time when there’s a chance to make lots of money representing players in a largely unregulated environment with almost no start-up costs. Success is about seizing opportunities, and there’s lots of opportunity on the NIL front. You might even realize you’re good at it and decide you don’t need to work on the NFL side. Really. That might happen.

If you’re in this difficult but select group, I hope you found this helpful and maybe even a little encouraging. I have some idea of what you went through to get here, and can only imagine the frustration. But you can still make something great happen. Just give yourself a chance.

Interested in How to Enhance Your Chances in the Portal (and beyond)? Check This Out

11 Friday Jul 2025

Posted by in NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

Wednesday, I was honored to speak to a little less than 100 high school and college players, parents, coaches, NIL agents and NIL agent hopefuls as part of the NIL Explained Zoom session sponsored by Tim Lowney of Lowney Sports. It was a lot of fun, and though I only was given 10 minutes, I took 16. Even at that, I was talking pretty quickly, as you can see in the video segment I published Thursday.

My discussion centered mainly on player evaluation (on both the college and pro levels) and the changing college and pro football landscape, at least as I see it. In case you missed it, the following are the notes I prepared for my presentation.

No one knows what the future holds (and beware of anyone who says they do).

    1. The new reality is that it’s going to take a monumental sum of money to play football
    2. The P4 college GMs I talk to seem confident that they will find the moneyThe G5 schools . . . are hopeful (but that’s all)
    3. There is surely more litigation on the way

    Football is a relationship business. Make sure to align yourself with those who know more people than you do.

    1. Don’t want to hire an agent? OK, but the right one can be very helpful
    2. Know who you hired and understand that there is no certification process for NIL agents
    3. Just because an agent is NFLPA-certified doesn’t mean he’s an expert (on anything)

    Player evaluation is going through drastic changes that are reshaping how teams choose talent (college and pro).

    1. NFL scouting staffs are getting younger while owners are forcing more analytics
    2. College staffs are weighing incorporation of an NFL scouting model (maybe)Beware of non-NFL/college affiliated “scouts”
    3. College GMs are part financial experts, part scouts, part other stuff

    The best way to be a marketable player is to be a good player.

    1. Sometimes, you can spark interest w/colleges via social media
    2. The NFL doesn’t normally respond to social media performance
    3. Your HS pedigree (5-star, etc.) means far more on college side than pro side

    The key to good decisions is knowing your market value. Be honest with yourself.

    1. Don’t trust recruiting services
    2. You get what you pay for
    3. Your NFL value may be different from your NIL/portal value (and probably does)

    What do you think? Was I off-base? Was I pretty accurate? Let me know at @insidetheleague on Twitter. For more analysis of the game, make sure to check out our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, which you can register for here.

    Thinking and Talking about the $20.5M Schools Need in the Revenue-Sharing Era

    13 Friday Jun 2025

    Posted by in NIL, Scouts

    ≈ Leave a comment

    Last week, the news broke that revenue-sharing is here. It’s a big story and represents major change in college football, but I think there’s something that’s being ignored: $20.5 million is a lot of money, and raising it is not going to be easy for anybody.

    I should start by saying most scouts I’ve known are not especially business-minded. They just expect that the money to do things will be there, so I’m not picking on anyone in the industry for whistling past the graveyard when it comes to money. Still, it doesn’t make it any less true that coming up with the dollars is going to mean great pressures, and they may eventually fall on people in the industry.

    At any rate, I texted with several friends at the GM/DPP level at P4 schools. Their response to how their athletic departments would raise the money varied.

    • One referred to a donor drive at his previous school. He didn’t mention what the results were, and I didn’t ask. I just don’t see an annual donor drive not succumbing to fatigue from the alumni.
    • One pointed out that Michigan — the mighty Wolverines — have already announced a 10 percent staff cut due to a revenue decline associated with fewer football home games this season.
    • One said he expects schools to raise money the old-fashioned way — ticket prices and student fees. OK, but I don’t think the old ways are going to be enough. Maybe I’m wrong. He also said he expects cuts to football departments: “Hard to have 50 recruiting, creative or even analysts positions when you have to pay the players.”
    • Only two admitted concern about financial pressures. One said that some schools will get half the sum from athletic department revenues (others will get all of it from there). His will not. I suspect his school is not in the minority. The other one, though feeling far more secure about his own school’s prospects, admitted that “there’s very likely to be teams that don’t have that lying around.”
    • One expressed optimism that schools would come up with the cash because they always have. I’d say that’s accurate, but I still am not confident the money will come without strings attached.

    Not many of them thought private equity would be necessary, though I don’t share that opinion. Just this week, we started seeing stories about schools like Alabama, Purdue, Penn State and UCLA and how they are weighing capital infusions. That’s a really big deal. Private equity doesn’t care about tailgating, character development, a band’s performance at halftime, percentage of players who earned their degrees, or anything else. They care about making money. Even as cynical and money-focused as college football has become, that’s a new frontier.

    I spoke to a friend who’s knowledgeable about this things, and he said he sees a plus to the new demands because (a) it might force schools to cut back on their excessive staffing and (b) might even curb coaches salaries (though he admitted that’s a long shot). OK, maybe, but I don’t know if a few cuts here and there will be enough to make a difference.

    I don’t know if I got any real answers, but I did get confirmation that not all schools will come up with the money the same way, and obviously, this is not going to be a level playing field financially. Like everyone else, I guess I’ll be watching closely to see which schools do this successfully, and which ones figure things out that others can’t. But I have this gnawing suspicion that many will be hurt by these new changes. We’ll see.

    Here’s My Advice to NFL Scouts Seeking College GM Jobs

    21 Friday Mar 2025

    Posted by in Getting started, NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

    ≈ Leave a comment

    It started during all-star season, when a few scouting friends told me to keep them in mind if I heard of any college GM openings. It’s gotten busier lately as friends at two P4 schools asked for recommendations on filling a few openings. The pro-to-college pipeline is roaring, and it’s definitely got people on both sides of the divide talking.

    It got me thinking about what kind of advice I’d give an NFL scout seeking to make the transition to college. Here are a few things to think about.

    G5 schools are looking to hire people with high school contacts; P4 schools are seeking candidates with NFL ties: This should be fairly obvious. Though the bigger schools want to tout their NFL bona fides in the race to attract portal talent, mid-majors are still trying to develop high school talent. For that reason, it’s going to be harder to land jobs in the smaller conferences. Plan accordingly.

    You better be relational: It’s not that scouts don’t want to talk to agents, or that they think they’re better than them or whatever. At the end of the day, however, being a good scout lends itself to independence and self-motivation. However, you’ve got to step outside your comfort zone, regularly, if you want to work in the college space, especially if most of your experience is in pro football.

    Connections with agents are a plus: We filled the room with schools at our symposium on the Friday of the NFL Combine. I felt like we put together a good program, but there’s one reason why so many schools were represented. It’s because we had almost every major NIL agency represented there.

    Have a decent understanding of the bigger financial picture: I get it. That’s not your problem. But you better understand that big-money hedge funds and deep-pocketed investors are moving into college football as they hope to get a piece of a school’s athletic department before the school makes a move to a major conference or lands a fat broadcast deal. Everything is changing so quickly that you risk professional suicide if you don’t see where things are going.

    Don’t try to break the bank: Scout salaries are rising (slightly), but nowhere near the way they’re rising on the college side. I know the headlines promise lucrative salaries instantly, but if I’m an NFL scout who doesn’t have a clear path to GM in the NFL, I’d be willing to take one step back financially to take two forward, given the trends.

    Get representation: The trend among scouts is to not seek an agent until you get to the director level. I think it’s wise to get an earlier start these days. It just gives you one more set of ears, and more often than not, these jobs get filled before they are even widely known as being available.

    Don’t run away from a background in coaching: We are seeing fewer scouts who’ve been coaches over the past decade-plus. However, if you’re a scout who’s spent time on the field, I think the transition will be easier to the college game, where scouts do a lot more than just evaluating.