This time of year, we are pretty active on Twitter publishing the scouts getting hired and fired by NFL teams. There is always plenty of misunderstanding of how this works and why it’s done, which we try to clear up along the way.

I thought I’d discuss a few archetypes in NFL scouting departments as well as some that are unique, for various reasons. I’ll be talking about this further with Matt Manocherian and Aaron Schatz on the Off the Charts Podcast this week.

Also, note that last summer we counted the members of each NFL team’s staff that had “scout” in the title, and we totaled it all up on our home site. We’ll draw on those numbers as we look at a few teams in the subsequent paragraphs.

Browns: The Browns are unusual in that they have more scouts and scouting assistants than anyone in the NFL (17 as of our count last summer). Most of this is a hangover from Sashi Brown’s days as GM, when the team was focused on a total changeover to analytics. That said, GM John Dorsey has been with the team for two offseasons now and he hasn’t reduced the size of the department, so apparently this is the Browns’ direction. By our count last year, only six teams had as many as 14 employees with “scout” in the title. Strengths: No one has cracked the analytics code, and with so many scouts on staff, Cleveland has as much chance to do that as any team. Weaknesses: Having so much redundancy makes for a fat payroll, and anyway, how many scouts is too many?

Patriots: New England is at the forefront of a model that’s gained serious traction in the last 10-15 years. Head coach/GM Bill Belichick and a couple selected confidantes sit at the top of a pyramid, and for the most part, the area scouts aren’t expected to come back with opinions. They’re expected to do the work that the combines, National Football Scouting and BLESTO, would normally do, i.e., bring back facts — injury histories, arrests and suspensions, heights and weights. Then Belichick & Co. do the rest. As we’ve seen teams (Lions, Falcons, Bucs and Titans among them) hire former Patriots officials as GMs, this philosophy has spread around the league. Strengths: The team has excellent continuity in its drafting philosophy between coaching staff and personnel department. Weaknesses: Though they have respected evaluators, Patriots have not always been as consistent on draft day as other teams, and must excel on the pro side.

Colts and Seahawks: Indianapolis and Seattle have gained a reputation of being the anti-Patriots, as they pride themselves on leaning on and trusting their evaluators, which is more of an old-school philosophy. Despite this, Chris Ballard (Colts) and John Schneider (Seahawks) both have excellent reputations and are seen as some of the best in the business. That’s why people like Ed Dodds, Dan Morgan, Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer, who all cut their teeth in Seattle, regularly get interviews when GM jobs come open. You’ll start to see the same happen in Indy as Ballard builds his team in Indy. Strengths: Talented people who have the trust of their GMs make for talented teams. Weaknesses: This structure keeps the pressure on the GM to constantly seek and hire talented executives as he inevitably loses some to other teams. Also, a couple bad hires can set the team back immensely.

Bengals: Cincinnati has always been known as a team that counts its pennies and checks them twice. This is why the team doesn’t employ a traditional scouting department, per se. Instead, the team tends to lean on its coaches to make the major personnel decisions, and though the team is slowly expanding its scouting presence, evaluators have to mold their opinions to coaches, instead of vice versa. Strengths: The Bengals may not be perennial Super Bowl contenders, but they have been remarkably consistent over the past 10-15 years. Weaknesses: The Bengals have been burned by character risks more than once; is that because they are more risk-tolerant, or because there are things they miss?

Others:

• The Broncos and Texans were historically teams that toyed with the Bengals model, giving their coaches more input than other teams, but subsequent GM changes have muddied the waters there.
• The Cowboys have had incredible continuity over the years with a rather lean department; given their turnover this year, it will be interesting to see if they adjust their philosophy at all.
• Green Bay has historically put a lot of value on hiring former players, especially those with Packers roots, but that seems to be changing under new GM Brian Gutekunst.

Check out Inside the League for more discussion of scouts totals, areas, hires, and team philosophies. You can also register for our Friday Wrap, which is a weekly wrap-up of what’s going on in the football industry. Also, listen in as Matt, Aaron and I discuss scouting departments in the Off the Charts Podcast this week.

Each week, Sports Tech with Ric Serritella, features innovative technology being used in the world of American football.

The pro football season is a little less than 100 days away. Still, if you’re a rabid fan of the NFL, there may be a way to get your fix before camps start.

The event goes by the name 40 Yards of Gold, and the competitors intend to declare the “King of Speed” in the NFL by fusing entertainment and technology. They will do so utilizing what Quince Imaging calls, “projection mapping.” For the first time in history, fans will get to witness the new technology, which will create illusions on the field that make the participants appear to be running on futuristic platforms.

Projection mapping, also known as video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is an experience that needs to be seen to be fully understood. That’s why we dug up this video to help provide a visual. Professional sports are not a new arena for Quince, which is considered to be an industry leader in projection mapping and has also worked with Major League Baseball.

A couple of weeks ago, Saints wide out Ted Ginn declared that he’s “willing to race anyone for “$10,000 or better.” Now he’ll get a chance to put his money where his mouth is, with a twist. While no details of background images have been announced, projection mapping technology could make it appear that Ginn is running in outer space, on the moon, or on top of Mount Everest. It certainly will add to the entertainment value of the event, which will be held June 29 in Miami at a venue to be determined.

In addition to Ginn, the tournament will also feature NFL players Alvin Kamara (Saints), Kevin Byard (Titans), Corey Coleman (Giants), Robby Anderson (Jets), Mark Ingram (Ravens), Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Redskins), Trae Waynes (Vikings) and many more. Seeds will be determined by fan voting. Anyone interested in casting a ballot can do so here.

There will also be separate tournaments for youth, high school and college athletes. These respective races will be dubbed the ‘Gods of Speed’ competitions.

Additional website features will include highlights, interviews, articles, original content and much more, offering fans an inside look at the fastest players in the sport. For good measure, the event is also expected to have live music performances and fan features.

While many have clamored for the NFL to bring back the QB Challenge, this might be the next best thing. No word yet on if the 40 Yards of Gold event will be televised. Stay tuned! For more information on registration and tickets, click here.

Did you see which NFL players are investing in bitcoin? Check it out here. Plus, a list of sports tech events coming up this summer! Succeed in Football is part of the Inside The League network, which provides inside information to those who work in the football industry. Learn more here. And to register for the weekly Friday Wrap, a rundown on the football industry, click here.

Check back weekly for the latest ‘Sports Tech’ with Ric Serritella of NFL Draft Bible as we explore the impact of technology in sports and how it applies to the gridiron!

If the headline sounds intriguing, it is. Maybe it sounds preposterous. Could bitcoin really cross over into pro sports? According to one crypto insider, at least one NFL player has already attempted to be paid in bitcoin.

For those of you not familiar with the term, bitcoin is a form of crypto currency (electronic cash) free of government regulations and it operates independently of any banks. Bitcoin can be sent from peer to peer and is stored in a digital wallet. Transactions occur through blockchain technology, which makes it nearly impossible to hack. As of today, one bitcoin equals $7,659.71.

You can see why folks are “bullish” on the potential for bitcoin. Quarterback Matt Barkley was denied his request both in 2017 (49ers) and 2018 (Bengals). But what if a marquee free agent demanded to be paid in bitcoin? The extent that NFL teams are willing to go in order to land franchise players would certainly make for an intriguing story. Los Angeles Chargers offensive lineman Russell Okung apparently wants to be paid in bitcoin too and would like to see that headline scroll across the bottom of ESPN.

Bitcoin isn’t new; it’s been around since 2009, a decade in the making. So why hasn’t bitcoin caught on yet? The value of the currency is volatile, which does incur high risk, such as this fraudulent investment by former NFL running back Darren McFadden, which cost him $237 million. More recently, former Minnesota Vikings stakeholder Reginald Fowler, who was originally named as one of the Alliance of American Football league’s bigger investors,was tied to this $850M crypto mystery. Cases like these certainly highlight the volatility in bitcoin and make it easy to see why the currency has yet to reach mainstream status.

Still, crypto believers will be paying close attention to others who have gone ‘all in’ on bitcoin such as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, who began accepting bitcoin in exchange for merchandise on his website in 2014. Sherman contends that crypto currency is a hot topic in NFL locker rooms.

While there will be plenty of those on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how they view bitcoin, one must wonder how long is it until a mega superstar hits the open market and demands from his agent, “Show me the bitcoin!”

The summer is about to begin and we have the must-attend technology events that are sure to heat up, check out our list here. Remember, check out our premium site InsideTheLeague.com for the latest in NFL scout hiring and firing, agent insider news and industry-related updates.

Here at Succeed In Football, our focus is on helping you advance in the sports industry by keeping you up to date with the latest tech trends and news. Today, we highlight a few upcoming sports tech events around the country that offer up a tremendous amount of cutting-edge value.

49ers/SportTechie NEXT at Levi Stadium — Bay Area, CA  (June 6-7): The San Francisco 49ers and SportTechie are teaming up to present an excellent sports business, technology and analytics conference. The conference brings together executives and thought leaders to discuss and present the most important trends and events shaping the industry. The Horizon Summit provides a platform for leagues, teams, corporate partners, vendors, innovators and investors to come together to share ideas, experiences and outlooks. By encouraging learning across key themes and trends, they ensure you will remain at the forefront of your industry and be prepared for what is approaching on the horizon. Tickets are expected to sell out, but you can reserve a spot here.

LiveWorx19 in Boston (June 10-13): This four-day event features keynote speakers from various industries but football tech junkies will be interested to know that Michelle McKenna, the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of the NFL, will be speaking June 12. McKenna, who oversees the organization’s technology strategy and shared service delivery, will discuss how she is “quarterbacking” a digital revolution for the NFL with an “augmented workforce.” McKenna will also introduce a new set of technological capabilities that integrate with human skills and expertise on how to enable workers to become “human+” in order to help organizations thrive. Over 2,000 companies, 9,500-plus attendees and 500-plus speakers are scheduled to appear at LiveWorx. For more information on this event, visit here.

Sports Techie & NFLPA – Accelerating Change: Sports Tech & Innovation in Washington, D.C. (July 16): During MLB All-Star Week in Washington, D.C., the NFL Players Association and SportTechie present an exclusive, invitation-only event that brings together sports industry executives and thought leaders for an evening of discussion on sports technology and innovation. Spots are limited to this invite-only event. For more information on how to register, visit the website.

Sports Video Group (SVG) OTT Forum in New York City (July 25): Over-the-top distribution and direct-to-consumer live-streaming packages are poised to dramatically change the world of live sports video. While the entire media ecosystem is approaching this new era of consumer behavior, the sports media industry faces its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. SVG will have its second-annual SVG Sports OTT Forum to be held July 25 at NYIT in New York City. To register for this event, click here.

Remember, there are numerous ways to advance your career in the sports industry, which include adapting to new technology, learning innovative strategies and expanding your network. The aforementioned events will help you achieve all of those.

And don’t forget! If you aspire to work in football and are looking for an edge, subscribe to our premium insider content at Inside the League at $30/mo, or sign up for our free weekly look at what’s happening in the college and pro football industry, the Friday Wrap, here. You can read last week’s edition here.

Each week Ric Serritella provides a glimpse into the latest trends and topics in sports technology, with a look at how they are impacting the football industry. 

Want to work in football, but you’re having trouble breaking into the biz? Maybe you’re a video game aficionado? Well, the E-sports Generation has arrived and may have a place for you.

The eSports business is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, and it has now officially penetrated the NFL market due to the popularity of Madden Football.

In a recent press release, EA Sports announced that Madden NFL 19 Bowl smashed all previous viewing records, generating 2.5 million views (an 850% increase from last year) on its video stream, hosted by Twitch. In addition, 805,000 people tuned in to watch the one-hour special championship game broadcast on ESPN2. Combined, the two broadcasts averaged 208,000 viewers per minute during the final hour. These are staggering numbers.

The Madden NFL 19 Bowl winner, Drini Gjoka, has now earned nearly $200,000 in career winnings from playing Madden. Not bad for a day job. With the recent boom in interest, you can be sure that new content, sponsors and jobs are on the way. However, this is just the beginning for the eSports platform, which is still in its infancy and has yet to even begin to scratch the surface of its revenue potential.

In other Madden-related news, EA wasted little time capitalizing on the mania by announcing its weekly Madden 20 live-stream and blog. Career mode now features the “Face of the Franchise: QB1 Career Campaign.”

It sounds like a Madden lifer’s dream come true as users create themselves as a quarterback (including face editing) and begin their career at the college ranks. They then go on to choose a school and try to lead a team to a national championship. Once college wraps up, it’s time for the draft process as the user-generated quarterbacks then compete in the combine. How well a player performs dictates draft status.

It’s a long way from our recollection of the original Madden Football, as the brand has become much larger than anyone could’ve possibly imagined.

Kyler Has New Teammate in LeBron: In other video news to emerge from draft week, it was announced that No.1 overall selection Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals has inked a two-year partnership with Uninterrupted, the media production owned by LeBron James. The deal includes Murray providing access for videos to be posted on social media and a feature-length documentary.

“As thrilling as it is to be beginning my career as a NFL player, I also want to be an example early on for all athletes and show that our value extends beyond the field of play,” Murray said in a statement. “Uninterrupted is changing the culture for athletes in our society by empowering them to be more than an athlete.” You can learn more about the project here.

*Do you work in football and want to be in the know? Visit our premium site at InsideTheLeague.comand get an edge on the competition with our insider news and analysis!

From high-fives to excited chatter to intense silence, the atmosphere inside war rooms around the league varies from team-to-team over NFL Draft weekend. As fans satisfy their passion with fantasy football, interactive leagues and innovative stadiums, there’s one fence left to scale: access to the decision-makers as they make the decisions.

Slowly, even that wall is coming down. Due to the evolution of video cameras, smart phones and live-stream technology, television broadcasts are able to capture unique sports moments like we’ve never seen before, and the curious fan can now relive some of the draft’s biggest moments. Here are some of the cooler portals to insider-level draft coverage floating around the internet.

• With The Next Pick: This five-part docu-series takes you on the road with the Indianapolis Colts leading up to the draft. However, the most riveting part is Episode 5, which features the team’s braintrust making its three second-round selections. Fans watch as the team’s staff members realize Stanford linebacker Bobby Okereke is still on the board, and their excitement as they prepare to select him. Getting a chance to see NFL executives react this way is rare and refreshing. You can watch it here. Also, in case you missed it, the Colts were recently presented the 2018 Inside The League Best Draft Award.
• Different team, different view: On the opposite end of the spectrum are the New England Patriots, who were clearly all business inside their war room. This clip posted by the team on YouTube provides a glimpse into how the Patriots operate. There was little excitement amongst the staff as head coach Bill Belichick placed the call to Michigan edge rusher Chase Winovich letting him know that the team would take him in the third round. You can almost envision Belichick after the call as he icily moved on to the next pick. It’s an interesting contrast with the Colts.
• A View of the Big Blue: The Giants once again provided fans with an inside look at the draft process as they provided on-camera access to key decision-makers at the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine and inside team headquarters for the draft. You can now re-live the moments that may ring in a new era at the Meadowlands here.

For more insight on the business of football, including key trends in the agent and scouting industry as well as ways to break into the football business, visit Inside the League.

Kinda limited on your budget? No problem. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap, where we hit the highlights and take a unique look at the 2019 NFL Draft. You can register here. You can check out last week’s edition of the Friday Wrap here.

Though it’s draft weekend, there’s plenty of football business being conducted in places other than Nashville. Here’s a look at what’s going on in the modern game, courtesy of the Football Tech guy, Ric Serritella of NFL Draft Bible.

Bills buff up their facility: Buffalo signed nearly 20 free agents during the offseason, including one of the top centers in the league in Mitch Morse, one of the top deep threats on the market in WO John Brown, and a possible future Hall of Famer in running back Frank Gore. Why such an uptick?

One reason the team believes it has been able to attract top free agents is its sparkling new, state-of-the-art, training facility, which spans 41,000 square feet. It’s more than double the size of their old practice facility (18,000 square feet).

“Buffalo (expletives) on Dallas,” tweeted newly signed free agent WO Cole Beasley on his Twitter account, which has since been deleted. “Facilities for recovery and training are top notch!”

If you’re wondering what makes the facility so special, you probably guessed it: technology. Individualized player care is viewed as an important factor by many players when signing with a new team. After conducting expanded research on the best methods, Buffalo has enhanced its sports science and medical department, which team officials believe is tops in the league.

Designed by Populous, a worldwide architectural design company, the building includes luxurious features such as sleep pods, float tanks, a yoga studio, and massage rooms, according to bdcnetwork.com.

“I think it’s a game-changer for us,” General Manager Brandon Beane told The Buffalo News. “This is the one thing that we didn’t have that was top-level, and we went from probably below-average to the best — I think clearly the best.”

As more teams look to recruit big-name free agents who hit the market, look for many to follow suit by upgrading their training facilities.

Seahawks simplify CenturyLink sales: From training facilities to in-game stadium experiences, the Seattle Seahawks have been at the forefront of biometric technology. When NFL attendance dipped from 17.8 million in 2016 to 17.2 million in 2017, Seattle wanted to create ways to enhance the game-day experience for fans and make attending a game a much smoother process.

With the emergence of bigger and better flat-screen TVs, the popularity of social media and the increase of access to games streamed online, it has become increasingly challenging to give fans reason to come out to the stadium. Last season, the Seahawks became the first NFL franchise to employ biometric solutions.

The technology allows for an easier, faster check-in process getting through the gates when arriving to the stadium due to their ability to authenticate tickets. Lines at the beer concessions have sped up, as they can quickly verify a person’s age and get fans back to their seat faster so they don’t miss much of the game action. While CenturyLink Field was the first venue to adopt such technology, other stadiums have already followed suit, and in a few years, this will likely be standard procedure in venues across America.

For more news and current events across the football landscape, be sure to join Inside The League, the premier online destination for NFL agent and football insider information!

As NFL evaluation progresses and all 32 teams leave no stone unturned, one team that has seen an increased reliance on technology and analytics is the Redskins, who have incorporated new technology that provides info for the overall scouting process.

At one time, ESPN rated the Redskins as dead last in the NFL in effectiveness and buy-in regarding the team’s use of statistical analysis. “The Redskins were named by source after source as the NFL team with the least interest in using analytics in football operations,” wrote ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. Slowly, however, Washington is ramping up its use of modern techniques.

Redskins Director of Football Strategy Jeff Scott told the team’s website that the scouting staff isn’t “picking anything based on numbers.” Instead, the ‘Skins remain dedicated to trusting their scouts’ eyes rather than a mathematician’s electronic rubric.

“I would never want to make a decision based on numbers,” Scott said. “But to have another tool in your toolbox is always beneficial, and the earlier we can get that going, the better off we are.”

Two companies at the forefront of this movement are XOS Digital and Pro Football Focus (PFF). Both enable teams to sort video cutups on players based on down and distance or certain situations such as third-down pass plays for a quarterback. Less than a decade ago, scouts had to watch entire games to find these exact situations. Today, PFF charts every play for every player. The modern NFL team saves countless hours using these services.

“The numbers just give you some basis,” Scott said in the team’s report. “If I can get certain things or tendencies or pick up on certain things, we can even get that to the coaches and they can incorporate that into their game plans.”

Mike Stoeber is Jacksonville’s Director of Football Systems. Prior to working for the Jags, Stoeber was the Senior Field Support Representative at XOS DigitalOne. He’s very familiar with the NFL’s efforts to catalog every movement of every player on every snap. This past season, the NFL tracked more than 54,000 plays and recorded every tenth of a second for every player movement thanks to RF chips that feature GPS tracking technology.

These RF chips allow teams to track how often a linebacker blitzes on certain down and distance situations, or which wide receiver is likely to be targeted based on specific formations. This data is only shared by the 32 NFL teams, and players do not have access to the information being recorded and stored. Meanwhile, these innovative methods in college and pro scouting are slowly trickling down to college personnel departments.

As the NFL begins to scratch the surface of new technology, data-driven analytics will continue to take up more space in scouting binders around the league. This is good news if you aspire to work in football. Though old-school methods and analytics go hand and hand, you can be sure that more and more teams will be hiring in their analytics department.

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Among topics we regularly discuss in this space are technology issues as they interface with the changing NFL as well as labor issues as they relate to the next collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiation. However, today’s edition of Sports Tech is the first time we’ve addressed the intersection of the two subjects.

Last week, we discussed the value of wearable tracking technology that emerged from the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. We have since learned that the technology was owned by Legendary Field Exhibitions, which is operated by AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol.

However, when MGM Resorts International became a major investor, the firm included a provision that would give MGM full ownership rights to the technology, as per this Action Network report. In addition to the technology, MGM also owns rights to the technology’s intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, patents, software and firmware.

This is a pretty big deal for a number of reasons. MGM is currently paying tens of millions of dollars to partner with the NBA, NHL and MLB. These deals also include access to data streams. According to Bloomberg, MGM customers will be able to bet on data-driven prop bets such as which NHL player skates the fastest during a game or rip the hardest slap shot as soon as next year. The technology acquired from the AAF deal could open a whole new world of in-game sports betting, including prop bets with odds based on data and analytics.

The rise of wearable technology and data applies to the NFL, as well, but there’s a twist. There is currently no agreement in place between the owners and players related to how this information is allowed to be recorded, stored, shared and used. When the last CBA deal was negotiated in 2011, this type of technology was still in its infancy, and hence, there were no rules or regulations in place. However, in 2018, all 32 NFL teams had access to in-game chip data technology, which provided a snapshot of every player’s location 12 times per second. NFL teams are allowed access to this chip data for use during contract negotiations. However, players do not, unless specifically granted by individual teams.

More importantly, players want to know where this data is being stored, who has access to it, how it may be used and what kind of safeguards are in place to protect this information. Does the NFL truly own this data? The league currently has business partnerships with data-driven technology companies such as Amazon, Sportradar AG and Zebra Technologies.

With access to such data, the NFL could also be in violation of privacy laws, not to mention data protection laws which vary from state to state. Wearable and chip data technology has created a booming new business, but where the legal line will be drawn remains to be seen.

Presumably, the NFLPA will want assurance that legal ramifications are covered, and will ask for ownership of the respective players’ results from new technology, or at least a fee for licensing the data. This could be a major focal point — perhaps even the major focal point — during the upcoming CBA negotiations. Will the Players Association be ready for such “techy” topics? Time will tell.

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After just 52 days in existence and more than $100 million spent, the Alliance of American Football (AAF) announced it would cease operations on Tuesday.

The decision was made by chairman Tom Dundon, who stepped in to rescue the league after Week 1, feverishly spending about $10 million per week to keep the AAF afloat but soon realizing that his pockets weren’t deep enough to save the startup. Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, was unable to sustain the minor league along with co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian. While the AAF is not yet technically “dead,” a plot has been reserved for the league right next to the USFL, XFL 1.0 and UFL.

However, the league still has a chance to have a legacy. Much has been made of the AAF application (“app”), which Ebersol dubbed as “Stats 2.0.” With legalized sports gambling on the horizon and “in-play” wagering seen as the next big coup, MGM was quick to invest in the app. To make it work, the AAF outfitted its players with wearables that could transmit data in real-time. The league’s proprietary software helped create instant odds on whether the next play would be run or pass, the direction of the play, and whether the play would result in a first down or touchdown. At full capacity, users would be awarded points and could advance levels, based on their predictions.

Unfortunately, time ran out on the league and the application. However, it seems inevitable that the collision of football and interactive online participation is a matter of when, not if. Here are a few questions regarding the direction of such technology and the answers, as best we can ascertain.

So what of the app?: Ebersol has previously stated that various investors had bought into the technology, so who actually owns the innovative app still remains somewhat of a mystery publicly. However, the technology behind it is sure to live on and could lead to some very lucrative licensing rights. “You’re talking about tens of millions in points of data that we’ve figured out how to compress and deliver it in real time,” Ebersol said in an interview with USA TODAY earlier this year. “So any industry that needs to take that level of data and then compress it and deliver it instantly can use that application. Obviously, the application out of the gate is the gambling platform, but we’re doing it for a variety of other partners.”

How long until a viable league offers similar technology?: Other startup leagues, from Your Call Football to the Fan Controlled Football League, have tried similar ventures to minimal success. However, the amount of money the NFL could pour into such a venture dwarfs anything an alternative league could do. As the hunger for new ways to enjoy football grows, it’s just a matter of time until the big boy on the football block gives it a shot.

Will the XFL attempt to pick up the tech baton?: Vince McMahon’s league has gone so far as to set up a Reimagination Committee designed to bring innovations to the game,  and it’s got some pretty high-powered members (with Doug Flutie, John Fox and Jim Caldwell among them), but they’re more geared toward speeding up the game and making it more efficient. One source told us the XFL won’t put the cart before the horse when it comes to introducing technological advances. “At some point we will (have an app),” we were told, “but we will only launch it  when it is right.”

Still interested in the end of the AAF and what it means, especially to people who work in the game? Check out today’s Friday Wrap, in which we talk to several scouts and administrators who got pink slips this week. What did they think about the league, their co-workers, and management? Would they do it all again?

As always, the Friday Wrap is free, and you can register for it here. Join the thousands of members of the football business community who read it regularly. Check out last week’s edition here.