May is about new commencement exercises and big life changes, so when my friend Mark Gorscak texted me Thursday telling me, “I’m going to graduate tomorrow from the Steelers,” it was perfect for a man who has been so influential, even a teacher, for so many people.

If you’re a fan of the game, you know Mark as the guy sitting at the start of the 40 on timing day at the NFL Combine. He’s been doing that for as long as I remember, and definitely for as long as the NFL Network has broadcast the 40. At the same time, if you work for a school’s personnel department and you aspired to work in the league, you know him a different way. I can’t tell you how many budding evaluators I know on the college side who talk about how much time Mark was willing to give them, the tips he provided, or the doors he opened.

In February of 2022, I was lucky enough to present Mark with the C.O. Brocato Memorial Award for Lifetime Service to NFL Scouting. I have to admit that of all the awards we hand out at our annual ITL Combine Seminar, the Brocato Award is my favorite, mainly because it gives me a chance to give some good, humble men a little recognition. Mark certainly fits that description. I remember when he accepted the award a little over a year ago. It was touching to see the whole Steelers scouting department show up, mobbing him shortly before the seminar as they took pictures in the hallway. Even GM Kevin Colbert, in one of his last acts with the team, showed up for Mark. Once the ceremony was under way and I’d presented Mark with his plaque, his remarks were just perfect. He talked about how scouting, and so much of football, is not about the game itself but about people. I mean, chef’s kiss. If there’s anyone in this game who’s constantly selfless, it’s Mark. Of course, I could say that about all the Brocato Award winners so far (Chicago’s Jeff Shiver, Miami Hurricanes executive Alonzo Highsmith and the Giants’ Jeremiah Davis), but Mark has always been that kind of person.

I think the first time I met Mark was in January 2008, when I was running the Hula Bowl, but I didn’t really befriend him until maybe four or five years later, when I reached out, hoping to expand ITL’s work with scouts. I needed to know more about the job, the life, the goods and bads, so he suggested we had lunch at the combine. I mean, here’s an accomplished NFL evaluator offering to spend an hour with some idiot website guy. I felt like I had arrived — I would have been no more honored to have been invited to lunch by Roger Goodell himself. Mark was totally legit, established, loved and accepted by people across the game, but there we were at Weber Grill that day several years ago, discussing the game. He treated me like an equal, though I’m far from that.

Of course, Mark is more than just a good guy. In his 28 years evaluating for the Steelers, there have been few organizations more successful, and it all goes back to scouts like Mark. I mean, the Steelers enter the 2023 season having won at least as many as it lost for 19 straight years. That’s remarkable, and though Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin deserve a lot of credit for that (as well as hundreds of great players, of course), Pittsburgh doesn’t go to eight Super Bowls, winning six, without guys like Mark roaming the roads every fall.

There are probably hundreds of people who could write a blog like this, telling stories of what Mark has done for them. Those people, like myself, will miss Mark and the impact he has had on the game. Mark is not unique in being a good scout and a great man, but any time someone like that “graduates,” it creates a vacancy, a void. It’s a noticeable loss.

Mark has made it clear he’s not done with football, and my guess is that he’ll get a little more time to spend checking out blues and jazz acts around the Pittsburgh area and beyond. At least I hope he does. Music has always been a passion for him. At any rate, I hope I can, in some way, help people the way Mark has. 

As you know, serving the NFL scouting industry is something we take seriously at ITL. This time of year, there’s a lot of change, and though informing the Twitterverse of job changes gets us a lot of exposure, it’s not something we take any joy in. When a scout is dismissed, it’s hard on not just the scout, but his family, as well.

This year, we don’t see as many changes coming. Why is that? There are a few reasons.

• In the 2020 offseason of Covid, teams pretty much froze their hiring and firing. Scouts, who normally have two-year deals, were either extended for a year or allowed to play out their contracts if they had a year left. Some were even extended two more years. That means that the last two years, many teams were clearing their decks of evaluators they may have released sooner. Last year, we saw a record amount of hiring and firing, at least since we started tracking scout employment in 2012. We counted just under 300 moves, whereas a standard, pre-Covid offseason is around 135-140. That means a lot of evaluators are pretty much in the clear until next year.
• There’s a kind of ‘spoils system’ when it comes to scouting hires. A new GM wants to bring in people he’s worked with before so the new staff can hit the ground running. Truth be told, there’s a loyalty element to that, as well, but that’s to be expected. At any rate, when there’s a new sheriff in town, there tends to be a ripple effect on the scouting staff. However, this offseason, we didn’t see as many heads rolling in the front office, so there are fewer scouts expected to be displaced.
• What’s more, the teams that did make GM changes (Arizona and Tennessee) are known as two of the more cost-conscious teams in the league. They’re less likely to want to dismiss scouts who are still under contract. 
• We’re seeing expansion of scouting departments, but most of it is taking place at the executive level. Over the past two years, we’ve seen growth in the number of teams that have assistant GMs, senior personnel executives and national scouts. Much of this growth has taken place from outside scouting departments, i.e., a GM gets let go somewhere else and comes in as a team’s senior personnel executive. That doesn’t affect the number of road scouts. The only area where we’re seeing low-level scout numbers change is on teams that still have only one national scout (or, in some cases, just two). The Giants, for example, went to three national scouts, promoting Marcus Cooper. That’s just not happening frequently enough to have a big impact for scouts at the lower levels. For example, though the Southeast is vast and deep with talented schools, we’re not seeing co-Southeast scouts named for teams.

We’ll run down all the changes we’ve seen so far in Week 1 of Scout Hiring/Firing Season in this week’s Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET every week. If scouting interests you, make sure to register for it here.

With the first round wrapped up and Day 2 kicking off Friday, here are a few non-draft items for your reading pleasure.

• The two scouting departments where I expect the most change the soonest are in Nashville and Pittsburgh. I don’t expect top-to-bottom changes for the Titans, but I do expect new GM Ran Carthon to make some changes at the executive level; I’ve heard team ownership has even mandated it. It would make a lot of sense for him to bring in some future GMs from the Niners, though several sources tell me he’s close to Falcons Director of College Scouting Anthony Robinson and that Robinson could be headed north. As for Pittsburgh, the team is changing its scouting model to be more traditional, and is expected to continue moving in that direction, possibly through the retirements of one or more staffers.
• Others that could make changes, based on what I’ve heard this week, are the Raiders and the Vikings. Also, the Rams and the Browns have made changes at scouting assistant (though the Browns have already replaced the one they lost). Overall, I don’t expect this to be a very busy year. The 2021 and 2022 offseason were very, very busy, so I expect teams to slow down on releasing scouts who have time left on their contracts. We also saw a lot less turnover at GM this offseason than we have in previous years, so fewer front offices will be overhauled.
• Speaking of scouts, the week of the draft, we count the alma maters of active NFL evaluators. So which school has produced the most scouts and executives (based on undergrad degrees)? This will probably surprise you, but it’s Indiana. We counted 11 Hoosiers who are out scouring the nation for the best prospects. What’s more, it’s not even close. Three schools are tied for second place with eight grads in scouting each. They are Arizona State, Massachusetts and Temple.  
• We also count the alma maters of coaches across the league. When it comes to the ones calling the shots on the field, the schools make a lot more sense. Southern Cal comes in first with 12, while Alabama, North Carolina, UCLA and John Carroll University, a tiny school that punches way above its weight when it comes to landing scouts and coaches in the league, each have 10.

If the scouting profession interests you, consider joining us at Inside the League. The next three weeks will be filled with buzz on who’s hiring and who’s firing in NFL front offices. Our Rep Rumblings will be chock-full of good stuff.

If you’re not sure ITL is for you, at least register for our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, where you’ll get highlights from our weekly reports and an overview of the football business. It comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET each Friday.

If you’re like me, you love books that tell the stories of the people who work in the game and how they do their work. Books like Illegal Procedure; War Room; The Draft; The Dark Side of the Game; The League; Pros and Cons; Razzano: Secrets of an NFL Scout; Meat Market; Al Davis: Behind the Raiders Shield and many others are all part of my personal library. I even wrote such a book myself.

There’s a new one to add. This one is written by former Giants scout Steve Verderosa, who was part of the construction of two Super Bowl winners; helped build teams for Bill Parcells; and who was in on the selection of Lawrence Taylor, Eli Manning and many others. Any time you do something for 30 years, you’re going to have a few good stories, and though I haven’t had a chance to read the galley copy Steve sent me, I’m positive his new book will be chock full of them.

The book is called So You Wanna Be An NFL Scout, and it’s Steve’s first book about his experiences crossing the country, looking for draft prospects. I asked Steve a few questions about his decision to write it, what it took, what to expect in the pages of the book, and more. Here are my questions and Steve’s answers:

• Lots of scouts say they’re going to write a book someday, but few do. What made you decide to write this? Is it something you always planned to do? “I never set out to write a book but I was encouraged by 2 published authors as I stated on the back cover I sent you. One was Sal Paolantonio of ESPN.”
• Did you write down stories and try to take notes along the way in preparation for this? “I didn’t take notes but some of the stories of my travels were so vivid they were easy to recall.”
• From the start of your career to your retirement, what’s the biggest change you saw in scouting? “For me, the biggest changes in scouting would be, first, the software. When I started, we carried around a 16 mm projector. Now the tape is high definition. Scouts carry around their iPads and the football facilities are posh and plentiful. Sometimes, we would have to watch film in a shower or locker room.
  Free agency is another huge change. 1989 was the advent of free agency; it was Plan B (free agency). Now you have salary cap (and) free agency. Teams change sometimes more than 50 percent from year to year.”
• What’s the hardest part of scouting? “The hardest part of scouting, for me, was the time away from your family. My kids are all grown now 30, 28 and 25, but they were babies then. Growing up, you miss a lot. You can never get that back. That being said, my boys enjoyed training camps as kids, and they went to three Super Bowls. 
• What did you enjoy least? “I probably liked the combine and the travel the least.”
• What is the most surprising thing an aspiring NFL scout will learn from this book? “I hope an aspiring young scout can learn to ‘trust his eyes,’ do the work and have a conviction. Also, you will be wrong and will miss on a player, because we all did. Stay humble. Listen and learn from people that have been there and done that.”
• What players appear in the pages of the book? “I talk about a lot of players but highlight (former Giants) LT (Lawrence Taylor), Tiki Barber, David Patten, Eli Manning, etc.”
• Obviously, this will be of tremendous interest to Giants fans. What appeal is there for fans of other teams? “The book is not just about the Giants. I did spend 32 years there, but my first year in the league was with Tampa Bay. I talk about scouting systems, drafts, coaches.”

Steve’s new book is available on Amazon in hardcover and paperback as well as Kindle. Order it here.

For decades, the Senior Bowl has launched countless top college players it to the highest level of football, the NFL. This year, the game upped the ante by providing a platform for NFL coaches to elevate their respective games, as well. Six coaches who helped out at this year’s game are already climbing the ladder, no doubt in part due to their work in Mobile. However, those aren’t the only people benefiting from the game.

Along with The Scouting Academy’s Dan Hatman, Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy will host Scout School June 4-7 in Mobile. This year, registration is open solely to former NFL players with at least two years of playing experience in the league. In addition to an effort to give ex-players a chance to stay in the game, Jim and Dan are also helping bring more “football guys” into front offices with this endeavor.

“Jobs in scouting aren’t always easy to come by,” Nagy said. “Our hope is that we can prepare scouting prospects for the game the same way we do with players, and this year, even coaches. An ex-NFL player who’s got a good handle on what it takes to be a scout is someone who’s a great candidate to be hired.”

Jim and Dan take preparation for working in the business seriously. Among the topics they’ll cover are how a modern scouting department is built, what a scout’s lifestyle looks like, how to write a report, how to watch and grade film, even how to make a school visit (Dan and Jim lead a mock visit at nearby South Alabama). Participants also get to hear from speakers who’ve been in their shoes as ex-players seeking to get into player evaluation. Among previous guest speakers have been Lenny McGill, Raiders; Lake Dawson, Bills; Tim Terry, Chiefs; and Jeff King, Bears.

Though Scout School was launched in 2013 under Nagy’s predecessor, Phil Savage, according to this story, this year might be the best time ever to attend. The cost of registration (a $500 value) is covered this year by NFL Football Operations. Costs include coverage of the two-and-a-half-day course, plus meals, but there’s more. Participants will get the chance to be Group Leaders for the 2024 game. Group Leaders walk with the players during the week, making sure they get where they need to be and helping out as necessary. In addition, a few participants will be given a chance to spend the fall shadowing Reese’s Senior Bowl area scouts as they canvas the country. This allows participants to see, up close, what it takes to be a professional NFL evaluator. Both of these opportunities also give participants an invaluable opportunity to build their respective networks and perhaps create relationships that will lead to interviews.

“You can’t be a great player without great training,” Nagy said. “We think Scout School offers a chance to prepare for a career in scouting unlike any ever offered before. We’re excited about what’s ahead in June.”

Slots are filled on a first come, first-served basis. For more information, email srbowl@seniorbowl.com and include “Scout School 2023” in the subject line.