Next week, we’ll start our team-by-team breakdowns of the front offices of all 32 teams. It’s our Know Your Scouts series, and it takes place each fall. The goal is to really drill into the scouting backgrounds of evaluators on all 32 teams with an eye toward providing tips that might help in getting a job.

Here are a few things people that reviewed last year’s Know Your Scouts series might have learned before “scout hiring season” (roughly March through July).

• Most aspiring scouts spend all their time poring over film and rating players on social media, but learning other skills might get you a leg up. Consider that 15 current members of NFL front offices have video production skills and worked on that side either in the NFL, the college level, or the media. They include Jay Mandolesi and Dan Zbojovsky (Jets); Robert Haines (Panthers); Greg Reuveni (Raiders); Brian Hill (Rams); Casey Weidl (Steelers); Blaise Taggart (Texans); Mike Sholiton (Vikings); Bryan Chesin (Broncos); Minh Luu (Dolphins); Jeremy Gray and Matt Holland (Eagles); Sal Conti and Ben Martinez (Falcons); and Justin Markus (Giants). 
• Being handy with the media doesn’t hurt, either. Alex Valles (Cardinals) once worked with broadcasters for the Red Sox. Marquis Pendleton (Giants) started out as a media services intern with the team. Same for Rob Hanrahan (Panthers), Ryan Monnens (Vikings) and Dave Bratten (Broncos). Ryan Doyal (Falcons) worked for NFL Films before making his way to Atlanta. Brad Obee (Eagles) worked for NFL Matchup on ESPN. Cassidy Kaminski (Chiefs) wrote for Ourlad’s from 2015-18.
• There’s also equipment. Sam DeLuca and Blaine Gramer (Vikings); Dan Zegers (Browns); Zach Smith (Bucs); Alfonza Knight (Cardinals); Ethan Brodsky and Chris Hobbs (Chargers); Todd Vasvari and Andrew Hoyle (Colts); Chase Leshin (Dolphins); Casey Belongia (Patriots); Chris Nolan (Jets); Patrick Mularkey and Dakota Duncan (Lions); Josh Graff (Seahawks); Bailee Brown (Texans); and Martinez (Falcons).
• Even a job in the marketing department can lead to a scouting career, as it did for Chris McGaha (Colts), John McKay (Rams), Justin Matthews (Saints) and Ryan Gold (Cardinals). 
• John Mancini (Cardinals) even started out in tickets. He’s believed to be the only scout with such a beginning.

There are other alternate paths. Richard Sanders (Falcons) spent 10 years in the Coast Guard before pursuing football. Kathleen Wood (Browns) spent a decade-plus as a private investigator. 

The point is, get inside the building, then figure out a way to the scouting department. How do you do that? You can start by being prepared for that time of year; usually, hiring and interviewing takes place in March and April, though it’s better to get an early start on sending out your resume than a late one. Join us at Inside the League as we start breaking down the various paths scouts pursued on their way to their pro dreams with our Know Your Scouts series. I also recommend signing up for our free newsletter, the Friday Wrap. You won’t be sorry. 

Ever since the draft, we’ve been focused on how NFL teams have built and shaped their respective front offices. It’s a critical part of May and June, especially for teams that have new GMs. 

Here are a few observations based on what we’ve seen this year, especially as it relates to how NFL teams are making hires these days.

• Four teams named new NFS scouts – the Bears, Bucs, Browns and Cardinals. The Bills and Steelers named new BLESTO scouts. The same number of combine scouts (six) were named last year. 
• The Bears and Browns were the best about promoting scouting assistants, associates or interns. Each team elevated four into various roles. The Jaguars elevated three scouting assistants to college scout.
• How does this offseason shape up as compared to the last few? Last season, despite a handful of GM changes, saw 200 front office moves. That’s a sharp drop from the previous two offseasons, when 280-290 moves were made. This offseason, we’re at 252 moves, which is more in line with the two years previous to last offseason. 
• This year, 14 new scouting hires were plucked directly from colleges. That’s less than last year, when 17 came up from the college ranks. 
• This year, the only school with multiple scouting hires was Nebraska; the Huskers produced three. Last year, Northwestern (4), South Carolina (2) and LSU (2) each sent multiple people into NFL front offices. 
• The only school to send people “up” to the NFL this year and last year was Wake Forest (one last year, one this year).

We’ll talk a great deal more about how evaluation hires are being made this offseason and last in today’s Friday Wrap; register for it here. We’ve also discussed the topic in each of our Wraps since the end of April. Access them here: May 3, May 10, May 17, May 24 and May 31. For this month, June 7, June 14 and June 21.

Want even more? Track all every move that’s been made in NFL front offices this offseason here (sorry, pay link). 

If you follow us on Twitter, read our Friday Wrap or keep up with our Rep Rumblings, you know that most NFL teams have pretty much filled their vacancies at scouting assistant. Meanwhile, the ones that haven’t are pretty far down the road with the candidates they like.

Bottom line, there are a lot of people in the college personnel community who are taking stock and trying to decide if they’ll continue to fight to achieve their dreams. If this is you, I have advice on what to do between now and this time next year.

• Go to the Personnel Symposium in Nashville in August. You can register here. However — and this is important — if you go, aggressively build your network. Meet people. I would even go so far as to avoid the people from your own school. If you want to grow and improve your chances of advancing, you must grow your figurative rolodex.
• IF you work for a school’s personnel department, think of something you can provide, information-wise, to a scout that gives him an edge that no one else has. For example, I once heard of a recruiting/personnel specialist who sent a weekly email to the scouts he knows updating them on injury issues with draftable prospects. Or, maybe, you could give tips on which players are entering the draft, or might enter the portal, etc. Of course, you have to decide how much info you want to give out (some teams may not look on this favorably), and you don’t want to look like a butt-kisser, but you have to do something to make yourself stand out. Don’t like that idea? No problem, but remember that information is your currency.
• If you DO NOT work for a school’s personnel department, you need to contact one of the top five all-star games (Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, Hula Bowl, CGS and Tropical Bowl) and strongly make your case for volunteering. Do it ASAP. BTW, if you want to be part of the CGS Scout School, which I assist in running, reach out to CGS co-founder Jose Jefferson (here’s his Twitter). His DMs are open. You MUST get face time with NFL scouts to get a job in the NFL. For now, at least, scouts still attend all-star games.
• IF you have scouting contacts, think of ways to stay front of mind without being too aggressive. The scout’s team just beat its big rival? Send him a text. His alma mater just got a big win? Send a text. It’s Christmas? Great time to offer season’s greetings. Just something quick. Don’t belabor it, but be regular with it.
• When it comes to applying for jobs in 2025, early beats late. Every year, people reach out to me in April to ask if it’s too early to start reaching out to teams. Actually, it’s too late. You have to get the ball rolling before the season is over. If it’s too early, a scouting staffer will tell you. If it’s not, maybe you get in before others do. You don’t want to get left behind. Be tactful but aggressive.
• Do your best to go to the NFL Combine. If you do, try to go mid-week. You will be there (a) before scouts are spending all their days in the stadium or in meetings, and (b) before everyone else trying to get a job in scouting is there (most arrive on the weekend). Also, be aware that NFL scouts mainly stay at the JW Marriott.
• Work hard and continue to develop your work ethic. If you do get your shot, you don’t want to squander it. Really, the only thing a team looks for in its interns or scouting assistant hires is a bulletproof work ethic. You must be tireless and intense about it. Once you’ve shown you have that, they’ll teach you what you need to know about scouting.

I hope this helps, and I hope it’s inspirational. Just because you didn’t get the job this year doesn’t mean you won’t get it next year. Keep fighting and keep up with what we are doing at ITL. We’re here to help.

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

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

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

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

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