Jan. 31-Feb. 6

It’s finally here: the formal announcement of our two big events at the 2026 NFL Combine as well as the official registration launch for one of them, the Dropback ITL Symposium. We’re incredibly excited to bring together the football business community for our 17^th straight year. Though there are still a few things to be determined, today’s Wrap will serve as a detailed overview of what we’re planning for the last week of February.

Let’s start with a look at the dates and details for both events.

The 2026 Ellison Kibler at Merrill Lynch ITL Seminar will be Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m. EST in Room 205 of the Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Avenue. Here’s a look at things.

• Our program will start at 5:30 sharp and last about an hour. 
• Co-hosts will be ITL’s Neil Stratton and Gordon Whittaker of Columbia, SC-based investment firm Ellison Kilber at Merrill Lynch. Stratton and Whittaker will present all the awards with in-person and video assistance from other selected guests.
• As always, the event is free – it’s our time to celebrate the industry, and if you read the Friday Wrap, you’re probably one of us -- so please join us. Registration is not required.
• We’ve expanded our seating from around 200 to around 400, so be there on time, but it’s not necessary to be a half-hour early to guarantee a seat. 
• As far as what’s on the agenda, we’ll have 15 awards distributed to almost 40 winners, headlined by the presentation of the Best Draft Award for 2025 and the C.O. Brocato Memorial Award for Lifetime Service to NFL Scouting. 
• In addition to recognizing the BART List Award winners in three categories (Executive, Road and Next Wave), we’ll also honor the members of the college personnel body who do the most to serve scouts as they do their jobs. 
• Finally, we’ll also recognize the top three pro departments and, for the first time ever, the top three analytics departments. As you know, all of our awards are determined by the vote of active NFL scouts. 
• We expect 150-200 active NFL evaluators for our seminar, which has become a highlight of the offseason as we celebrate an unsung segment of the industry. We’ll also have a reception afterwards. Details will be available after the seminar.
• To get the space we needed this year, we had to move to the second floor of the Indiana Convention Center. That means there won’t be a mob of attendees mingling on the main floor of the convention center. If you forget about it, you probably won’t just “walk up,” see a big crowd, and join in. Make sure to put the seminar on your calendar right now.

The celebration doesn’t end there. The 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium will be Friday, Feb. 27, at 8:30 a.m., also in Room 205 of the convention center. The format, programming, attendance policy and even tone are different on Friday as compared to Wednesday. To wit: 

• As we did last year, we’ll have a very simple format – an hour of panel discussion, with a half-hour break before a second hour of panel discussion. Two separate panels made up of three GMs/directors and three top NIL agents each.
• We won’t stream it and there will be no recording devices allowed. We want to encourage candor and insight without fear of someone posting something out of context on social media. 
• As mentioned earlier, unlike last year, we’ll welcome some of the top NIL agents as panelists to make the discussion more comprehensive. As we did last year, we expect hundreds of the top NIL player representatives to join us.
• Co-hosts will be ITL’s Stratton and Luke Bogus of Dropback, the leading provider of ‘front office’ analytics & cap software for elite college teams. Stratton and Bogus will present questions related to the January transfer portal, best practices in college football administration, excesses and abuses in today’s game, roster management and other related topics. We’ll have the complete list of questions for panelists in next week’s edition of the Wrap.
• Unlike Wednesday, admission is not free – unless you’re part of an FBS personnel staff. All college administrators and staffers at the 136 FBS schools are admitted at no cost and with our compliments. On the other hand, if you’re part of the agent, wealth management, marketing or general NIL community, cost is $100 per person or $400 for agencies (admit six) with no processing fee or tax. Once registration is completed, we’ll reach out to handle billing separately. Make sure to sign up in advance, as cost at the door is $125 plus a processing fee. We will only charge individual rates (no agency offer) on day of event.
• We’ve reached out to dozens of people across the industry for their input on the questions we’ll pose, but we’re not done yet, and we’d love all the feedback we can get. Got ideas on our discussion? Just respond to this email. We’ll consider everything.
• The message from last year’s participants, loud and clear, was that while the program was important, getting a chance to create new relationships or reinforce established ones was critical. For that reason, we’ll hold to our 8:30 a.m. kickoff and complete everything promptly by 11 a.m. Last year, participants stuck around for more than an hour after our symposium ended. Hey, we’ve got the room till midnight. We encourage everyone to stay until the last hand is shaken or cell number traded. We want this to be a vigorous morning of network-building and communication. We will do everything possible to encourage this.

So who’s going to be there on Friday? We spent the week reaching out directly to top staff members at all 136 FBS schools. Here’s the response we’ve gotten so far.

• Just three days after sharing the link to register for our program, and with no pressure to sign up, we’ve already got GMs from 10 schools committed and in our database. Among those 10, eight are from P4 schools and six are from schools that didn’t attend last year. 
• Another 11 have indicated that they’ll be there, but haven’t registered yet. Of the 11, nine are with P4 schools and eight are with schools that didn’t have representation last year. In other words, we’ve already almost reached the number of schools that made it to our event last year and we haven’t even “officially” begun registration yet.
• Staffers (mostly GMs but also chiefs of staff) from seventeen schools responded that they’re still on the fence about attending the combine this year. If they do, we expect most of them to be at our symposium. 
• We’ve contacted another 70 schools but gotten no response yet. With three weeks until our symposium, there’s a great chance representatives at these schools are still juggling spring practice schedules, dead period vacations and other commitments. We’ll stay in contact with them, and believe staffers from several of them will wind up in the room on the 27^th. 
• We haven’t made contact yet with another 26 FBS schools. But we will, and we expect several of them to wind up in Indy at our big event. 
• As for the NIL agencies on hand, we had nearly a hundred player representatives last year, and we only expect that number to rise. With space for 600, we hope we don’t have to turn anyone away, and we don’t anticipate having to. On the other hand, we want every seat to be filled, and we’re working hard to make that happen, so don’t delay in registering. 

Ready to register to attend Wednesday? Ha ha – trick question. No registration is required and there’s no cost. Here’s the rundown:

• Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m sharp
• Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Avenue
• Rooms 205-206
• Seats are limited 
• Free to attend 

Ready to register to attend Friday? Sign up here. We’ll confirm your registration and handle billing, if applicable, later. 

• Friday, Feb. 27, 8:30 a.m. sharp
• Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Avenue
• Room 205-207
• Free to members of all 136 FBS personnel staffs
• For others, $100 for individuals/$400 for agencies (admit six)
• Register here; we’ll bill you (if applicable) later

Once again, we’ll have questions for the symposium and panelists in the coming issues of the Friday Wrap. 

One more thing – there are still limited table sponsorship opportunities for our VIP dinner downtown Thursday night. Interested in rubbing elbows with the people making the game go? Hit us up. We’re pretty full, but may have room for a few more seats. 

In the meantime, if you’re focused on networking and getting your foot in the door, we want to help. Start by reading this week’s edition of the Succeed in Football blog, our latest with tips on how to put yourself in the best position to be found. You’ll also find links to our previous posts related to football job-seeking. Don’t miss it.

Now let’s take a look at the biggest stories in college and pro football this week, courtesy of Ric Serritella of All Access Football.

Under construction: Super Bowl LX is Sunday, featuring two teams that very few had in the championship in August. So how did they get here? Start with New England. Before Eliot Wolf came aboard, the Patriots struggled mightily in the draft. In fact, just five of the 51 players drafted between 2017-2022 were part of the AFC Championship game. Since then, Wolf and Co. have made strong first-round selections such as DC Christian Gonzalez, QB Drake Maye and OT Will Campbell. The team also uncovered late-round gems such as wideouts Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas, both chosen in the sixth round. It’s worth noting (and not coincidence) that the Patriots are one of six finalists for the 2025 Best Draft Award; the winner will be announced in Indianapolis. Also worth noting: two team executives, Alonzo Highsmith and Wolf, have won BART List awards for scouting excellence (both in 2022). When it comes to free agency, the team’s pro department identified key figures who fit the culture Mike Vrabel was building. Adding veteran players such as wideouts Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, along with DT Milton Williams and DE Harold Landry provided tremendous leadership. Meanwhile, in Seattle, a big part of Seahawks GM John Schneider’s success has been his ability to hit home runs in Round 1. In fact, Seattle’s last five first-round picks are starters (the Seahawks won the Best Draft Award for their picks in 2022 and were a finalist the following year). And while he’s done well identifying rookies, an underrated aspect of Schneider’s team construction has been his ability to work the phones. He’s not only dealt popular stars such as QB Russell Wilson and WO DK Metcalf, but has also landed Pro Bowl players via trade in WO Rashid Shaheed, DT Leonard Williams and IB Ernest Jones IV. There’s also the one decision that has led most directly to this weekend’s game: trading QB Geno Smith to the Raiders and signing QB Sam Darnold. Schneider has also taken risks that have paid off, like investing in declining-but-still-effective veterans such as WO Cooper Kupp and OB Demarcus Lawrence. The cherry on top was the addition of Mike Macdonald as the successor to Pete Carroll. While Vrabel was more of a known commodity, Macdonald came with risk. No matter the method, both Wolf and Schneider have found the formula for getting to the championship game.

Foreign focus: NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell continues to expand the league’s global footprint with nine international games in 2026. First-time cities include Paris, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro. It all starts Week 1 in Australia as the 49ers and Rams travel further than any NFL team before (a typical flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne is about 16 hours each way). Goodell has ambitions of playing in Asia next; per his comments at the Super Bowl this past week, Asia’s on the agenda “shortly.” A total of 62 regular-season NFL games have been played outside the United States, and future plans call for international play every week of the season. Currently, the CBA, which isn’t set to expire until 2031, only allows for up to 10 international games per year. Any changes would be attached to an 18-game regular-season that would include an additional bye week for all teams. While the NFLPA has already stated that players have no appetite for an 18-game schedule, NFL owners remain bullish on the additional revenue that international games have generated. It’s even possible that a new negotiation could come well before the CBA expires.

NCAA toes the legal line: As the saga surrounding Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss continues, the most recent development includes the NCAA denying his appeal for a sixth year of eligibility. The case now moves to a state court in Mississippi, according to ESPN. Meanwhile, Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has been granted a temporary restraining order in his lawsuit against the NCAA as he seeks an extra year of eligibility. Aguilar claims that he should be granted an additional year, contending that his seasons of juco play should not count, again per ESPN. Aguilar began his first of seven collegiate seasons at City College of San Francisco in 2019. In other news regarding potential draft prospects who seek additional NCAA eligibility, Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke has been denied a sixth year due to his three-game stint on the Ohio State lacrosse team in 2021. Sooners GM Jim Nagy took to ‘X’ with his dismay at the decision and insisted that an appeal is coming. However, the most interesting NCAA lawsuit the NFL is said to be monitoringconcerns the hardwood. Former UCLA basketball player Amari Bailey, a second-round pick of the Charlotte Hornets in 2023 (he appeared in 10 games as a rookie), has hired a lawyer and been granted a temporary restraining order to pursue an additional year of eligibility. Should Bailey be successful, it could further complicate NFL Draft eligibility. Stay tuned.

With the first pick . . .: Speaking of the draft, as of today, the 2026 NFL Draft is 76 days away and downtown Pittsburgh is starting to take shape. Designs include a two-site ‘draft campus’ designed to showcase famous landmarks as well as a draft theater, which will feature a backdrop highlighting Pittsburgh’s skyline, rivers and bridges. The site will also include the NFL Draft Experience, a fan festival filled with exhibits and interactive activities. "The layout of the 2026 NFL Draft campus is intentionally designed to celebrate Pittsburgh's sense of place," said Jerad Bachar, President and CEO of Visit Pittsburgh. "From the North Shore to Point State Park, across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and along the rivers, this draft will showcase our city's character, connectivity and hospitality in a way only Pittsburgh can." Over 500,000 visitors are expected for the 2026 NFL Draft. For a look at renderings of downtown Pittsburgh during draft weekend, click here.

Predicting the picks: The all-star games are in the books, and while we still have two big metrics – the Combine and pro days – ahead, the 2026 draft picture is coming into focus. Like anyone else, Scouting the League co-hosts Rodrik David and Neil Stratton love to discuss the prospects as they rise and fall, based on the perspective of some of the closest watchers of the draft process. One of them is NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, who joined the podcast this week to chop it up about his first mock draft of 2026. Here are a few highlights:

• On changing attitudes regarding scouting the Senior Bowl (4:26): “I remember having a conversation with Brad Holmes before he got the Lions GM job. He was in L.A., and I said, ‘are you headed down to Mobile?’ And he’s like, ‘no, actually, we’re not sending anybody this year.’ And I was like, ‘oh, you mean not the top guys?’ And he said, ‘no – anyone.’ And I went, ‘Oh! OK.’ It was like the first time I had heard that, and now you have Brad in Detroit and obviously other members of (Rams GM Les Snead’s) front office spread out around the league.”

• On the performance of LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier in Mobile (9:09): “I found it a little strange that he was still so, kinda, cagey, about the injury and, like, they made a big deal of not really mentioning what the injury was. I think it was a core muscle if I remember correctly, but . . . throughout the course of the week, if I had to single out some guys who I thought, you know, probably helped themselves at that position, I would say it was him and Cole Payton, the North Dakota State kid who is still a project . . . Nussmeier, I would say, from start to finish, looked the steadiest of the group.”

• On Ohio State OB Arvell Reese, who Edholm has mocked to the Jets at No. 2, and the lack of blue-chip talent this year (23:39): “If he doesn’t test through the roof, can you really justify taking him at No. 2? I had a hard time filling out the top (of the draft). I think it’s because the lack of blue-chip, sort-of clear-cut players . . . we’ve seen this trickle in recent years where guys are staying in school and I think that’s great, but you have a . . . every third year it’s kind of a glut at the top, and then it seems like it’s a little thinner.”

• On arm length questions surrounding Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr., who Edholm has mocked at No. 9 to the Chiefs (31:18): “Absolute dog . . . I think some of the length questions are a bit overblown. . . he is (an) absolute bull on the edge and somebody who carries that edge on the field. He seems like the kind of guy you stone him the first time you played him, he’s gonna come back with a vengeance. You’re going to be on his hit list the next time.”

• On Texas A&M WO KC Concepcion, who Edholm has mocked at No. 21 to the Steelers (45:50): “Does he have the traits to be a first-round pick? Yeah. Is he guaranteed to go there? No. But once you get into that second-round range, he’s gonna be a hot commodity kind of player . . . anywhere from 20 to 50 I could see him going.”

Love draft talk? Of course you do. Get into the conversation with Eric in this week’s episode of the podcast, whether you’re listening (on any podcast platform) or viewing (here).

Thank you for voting: Polling for the 2025 Best Draft Award closes this weekend. Though we won’t send out the link again, if it’s still sitting in your inbox while you consider whether the Bears, Browns, Giants, Panthers, Patriots or Saints is worthy of your vote, you’ve got till Sunday night at 11:59 pm CST to cast your vote. Still don’t have a ballot? If you’re an active NFL scout or executive (analytics professionals included), we’ll ship you a voting link . . . with the caveat that your vote has to be cast by midnight Sunday. Let us know how we can help. The winner of this year’s Best Draft Award will be announced in less than three weeks at our seminar. 

School is in: We’ve gotten dozens of questions about when our exam prep program will “begin.” About that program – we don’t really have a one-size-fits-all, big-money “program.” We know money matters, and we take pride in having the most pay-as-you-go exam prep regimen on the market. Oh, by the way, we’ve also been offering exam prep services and materials longer than anyone else (by a long shot) and have more success stories still in the agent ranks (by a really long shot) than anyone else. Anyway, the first session with our “guru,” Chicago-based contract advisor Ian Greengross, is Thursday at 9 pm EST. Cost is $50 plus tax. It’s the first of our monthly sessions which will continue through July. All participants will also get a copy of the video after the session concludes (must have a YouTube account to receive the video). Once you pay for registration, we’ll reach out with a Zoom link. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Given a signing bonus and Year 4 cap number, calculate rookie salary 
• Calculation of problems re: June 1 rule 
• Calculation of agent fees, including split between two agents after one has been terminated. 
• Accrued seasons, accrued seasons for benefits, and accrued seasons for salary (if there’s time)

If we’re being honest, the exam has focused less on math and more on other topics the last 2-3 years, but all content is fair game, and we feel it’s important to give our students a look at every potentially tricky part of the test. Today is the final day to register for this summer’s assessment. Thursday is the first day we begin getting with our 15^th class of prospective agents. We’re ready to go. We hope you join us. 

Tracking travel: With the portal in the rear-view mirror, several schools have made moves to fortify or retool their respective front offices. Here’s what we found out this week:

• Per Football Scoop, Nick Louvier is the new Director of Scouting at Old Dominion.
• Cody Collins is reportedly headed to Florida as the new Director of Scouting for the Gators. We also learned that the official title for Drew Hughes in Gainesville is Director of High School Personnel.
• Per this tweet, JR Belton is the new Assistant GM at LSU
• Donovan Lahmann is the new Assistant DPP at NC State, per this tweet.
• Per his LinkedIn account, Mason Yellico is the new Director of Player Personnel at Utah.
• We missed this initially, but Matt Transue switched coasts, joining UCLA (as Chief of Staff) from JMU.
• Also, ICYMI: Derek Cronenwett is the new GM at Louisiana-Monroe.

We’ve added all these moves to our College Scouting Changes grid. More to come.

Catching Up: Sean Jones, 62, spent four years as a pro scout with the Raiders after a distinguished NFL playing career. We caught up with him this week.

• Where are you living and what are you doing now?: “I live in Houston and I’m a lawyer.” 

• Do you miss the job? What do you miss most?: “The most important thing is, it’s about the only job you have where you can really see the results of your work. You’re always in a building process . . . and see the results, and it’s quantifiable. Whether a player you liked was drafted by your team or not, you still have that work, whether you thought he was a certain grade or not. It’s gratifying in that regard. It’s interesting. You’re always building.”

• Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues?: “Yeah, I still network with guys. I’m still close with (Packers National Scout) Sammy Seale and, of course, (Patriots Senior Personnel Executive) Alonzo Highsmith and those guys, and some of the young guys who were coming up, where (I) had a hand in helping them get into the business. Those guys I still stay in touch with.”

• Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)?: “More high school than anything else. I go to a couple of pro games a year, and I’m a big college football fan, but more on TV.”

• Do you find yourself rooting for the NFL team in your region, the one you grew up rooting for, or the one with the most people you’ve worked with?: “Definitely the one with the most relationships. . . . I was lucky. I played for three great franchises (Raiders, Oilers and Packers). But when you win a Super Bowl with a team, you’re a part of that forever, whether, you’re a scout, coach, player or owner. You’re always gonna have more of an affinity for that team. That’s the team that gave me a chance as a 20-year-old kid out of Northeastern. I’m always gonna be a Raider.” 

Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.

Next week: We’re excited about the progress of things as we count down the days till we land in Indy. We’ve got a lot of work to do yet, but that’s not all. Here’s a look at what else is ahead this week.

• We expect to get the full NFL Combine list this week. If we do, we’ll break out the lucky 350-odd players and set up the 2026 Combine Grid, hoping to nail down the training locations and agencies for everyone getting ready to work out in the Hoosier state. 
• There’s still plenty of work to do on our Signings Grid, as well. We’ll admit we have a lot of work to do there. We’ll get it done.
• We’ll have a major voice in the NFL or college personnel space as our guest on the Scouting the League Podcast. Stay tuned.
• Same goes for the Succeed in Football blog. We’ll continue to cultivate tips on how to break into the football business world. 
• We still owe you the Agent Changes for the December-to-January period. We’ll try to get to that this week.
• Jackie Slater earned a Hall of Fame bust for two decades of excellence on the field, but did you know he was also a voice in the college personnel office for the Raiders in 2006? We get his perspectives on player evaluation in the Catching Up feature next week.
• Like the rest of the football world, we’re expecting to see Klint Kubiak take the helm in Las Vegas next week, regardless of what happens Sunday. If that happens, we’ll be making our final update to the NFL Head Coaches and Agents Grid and kicking off the same for 2026.
• These days, our College Scouting Changes and NFL Scouting Changes boards require constant maintenance. We’ll try to keep up with all the moves in our Rep Rumblings and make all the changes in the appropriate grids. 

Are we forgetting anything? Maybe. Probably. But that’s only because there’s so much going on. We’re doing our best to keep up with it all. Join us.