March 11-17

In a week when first-wave free agency started, and a day when workouts at Georgia and UCLA grabbed the headlines, an announcement from the NFL and the Big 12 didn’t make big headlines. We think it should have, though. 

Thursday, the NFL and the Big 12 Conference announced they would partner on a conference-wide “reimagined Pro Day experience” that’s “designed to maximize the student-athlete prospect experience.” This workout will take place at The Star in Frisco, home of the Cowboys, and the NFL Network “will bring its talent and production capabilities” to coverage of “packaged into nightly coverage of the event.” Sound familiar? By the way, there will be as much going on off the field as on, as there will be a Fan Fest hosted by the Big 12 Conference outside as well as a “job fair” and “non-football career networking opportunities for Big 12 student-athletes.” But wait, there’s more. “Additionally, Big 12 football student-athletes will have the opportunity to network and meet with individuals from the Big 12 Business Advisory Board,” the announcement states.

We have thoughts, but first, we asked for comments from a few former team executives we trust. They have different takes on the new venture.

Greg Gabriel, former Bears and Giants executive: “The more I thought about it, the more I like it. . .  What this conference pro day does, at first, is cut out a number of (March) workouts. . . This mini-combine will include all or most of the draft-eligible athletes from the different conference schools. Players who participated in the (NFL Combine) will not have to go through the medical portion and can skip the measurable drills . . . and just take part in positional drills. The non-NFL Combine participants will of course get a thorough medical . . . (which) alone makes it worth the event. It also allows all these players to do combine drills and position drills in front of scouts and decision-makers from all the clubs. That’s a win for all involved. No club will draft a player without a medical, so by having this event, a club doesn’t have to spend the money to fly a non-combine prospect in for a medical as part of their 30 visits allowed. That gives each club an opportunity to actually find out about more players with these visits as the needed medical has been taken care of. The other important aspect is, each athlete can easily be compared to each other because the workout is on the same day, at the same place and on the same surface. The negatives -- with so many athletes involved, some of the personal interaction that scouts/coaches have with prospects won’t take place. If a club wants to spend ‘quality’ time with a player, it can set up a private workout at a later date. Also, at many pro days, the host school allows players from lower-level schools (FCS, D-II etc.) to take part in the workout. With an event this large, that won’t happen. What I can see happening is, if this is a success next spring, all or most of the major conferences will do the same thing in the future. That alone will save each club time and money as they won’t be school-hopping every day for five weeks.”

Trey Scott, former Raiders executive: “I am all in favor of efficiency. If done correctly, this can help simplify the process for scouts and hopefully improve the quality of medical information available on non-combine guys. On-field drills and testing will be a break-even. On the negative side, it will become much more difficult to get individual time with each player. I’d imagine an increase in private workouts and on-campus meetings since ‘pro day’ will now be more of a zoo. Overall, this is a net positive. It’s an antiquated system as a whole and I’m always a fan of simplifying.” 

Blake Beddingfield, former Titans executive: First, the area scouts for the individual NFL teams will be pushed out, and it will be taken over by the executives in the front office of each team.
Second, small-school players that used to attend the bigger schools’ pro days will no longer be seen by the 32 teams that attend a major university pro day. Third, background information will not be made available like it is when a scout arrives on an individual campus. Scouts spend half their time evaluating players, but the other half is using their contacts at each school to acquire background information. During pro days, scouts can be on the field with the players to see how they perform and react to certain testing and situations; this model will push those evaluators into the stands to watch, like the combine. Another drawback will be players that attended the combine in Indianapolis will not see the benefit of another combine-style showcase and will not perform. I can guarantee if a conference has one big pro day, only head coaches, some coordinators, and schools’ pro liaisons will be in attendance to give background. That will lessen the amount of information teams can gather on prospects. Coaches are much more relaxed in the spring and willing to share more information than they are in the fall, when they are under the pressure of coaching those players. This move by the conferences sounds good in theory, but it moves away from a model that has had success for organizations that value good, experienced scouts that have acquired contacts at each school from years of being on the road traveling. I see the Big 12 conference’s reasons for it, but the NFL teams should push back.”         

Our thoughts:

  • It’s probably a dry run for a move to Dallas for the NFL Combine. As you know, the NFL has only committed to one more year in Indianapolis.
  • Where does this leave the small-schoolers in states like Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states who rely on working out in March with their big-school brethren?
  • If the other major conferences adopt this – and we expect them to, if the Big 12 workout is a success – and everything goes online and on camera, will scouting departments become even more top-heavy? 
  • How do the MEAC, SWAC, Gateway, Big Sky and other solid small-school conferences compete in 10 years when every FBS conference has joined the “conference-wide pro day” arms race?
  • Balancing the desire to make money with the desire to do the best job is always tricky. In a time when players are leaving earlier and are more mobile than ever, moves like this one could make the evaluation process ever the more difficult. Scouting is not always something that can be done en masse.

Only time will tell if this idea proliferates and, if it does, how it will impact players, scouts, teams and, ultimately, the game. In the meantime, here’s a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said about the business of college and pro football this week.

Catching Up: James Kirkland, 49, was a scout for 14 NFL seasons with the Falcons, Browns, Bears and Titans plus seven college years with Illinois and Michigan State. We caught up with him last week.

  • Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m living in Indianapolis, Ind., and going through a career change, doing something a little different, but I can’t lie, the scouting part still tugs at me, so I still enjoy watching and evaluating players. Whether it be pro, college or high school, it doesn’t matter. I watch as many players as I can, when I can.”

  • Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I do miss the job. What I miss the most is, really, it’s twofold. No. 1, obviously, I miss the process of actually evaluating a player and building a roster, whether that be college or pro, and then the other part is the relationships you build with the people inside the building and the people you encounter and travel with on the road. It’s almost like, it’s similar to when you played. Obviously, the stuff on the field, you gain a love and passion for that, but the big thing is, the locker room, fellowshipping with your guys, watching those relationships build and grow together, so it’s good on and off the field.”

  • Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “Of course. I try to keep up with them. Obviously, (Rams executive) Ray Farmer and I talk a lot, and (former Panthers scout) Khari Darlington and I talk a lot. I saw (Packers scout) Sam Seale last week, and I’ve been friends with Dave Petett from the Steelers for a long time, so I keep up with a lot of guys. (Colts executive) Morocco Brown, too. I keep up with a lot of guys still in the league and guys that aren’t in the league, too. (USFL Pittsburgh Maulers GM) Lonnie Young, too. One of the most underrated parts of being a scout is you’re constantly learning new things. One thing I wasn’t as strong at was really digging and getting the character right, and Khari really taught me how to do that in a way that was consistent, and kinda taught me, if you put these two things (on-field and off-field) together, they matter. You can’t separate the player from the person. To see him really do it and be able to put the puzzle together, he really helped me.”

  • Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “More college at this point than anything else. Obviously, in college, you can’t go out to high school games, so you have to scout in-house and work the film as much as possible. I haven’t had a chance to get out to pro games as much since I moved over to the college side, so I still have to do that on film.”

  • Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “Sure. I mean, obviously, the bulk of my time in college was at Illinois, so it’s been cool to watch over the last couple seasons, seeing those young guys we brought in there, seeing them grow and develop and be real, live prospects. (NFL) players like (Detroit’s) Kerby Joseph, (Las Vegas’) Nate Hobbs, (Pittsburgh’s) Kendrick Green, (New York Jets’) Tony Adams, (Washington’s) Milo Eifler, those guys have really shown up and grown their physical gifts, and they’re good people, too. Even though I worked for the Browns, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Steelers and how they do things. It’s such a strong organization in my eyes, so I’ve always had a little bit of a bias toward the Steelers. The Rams are also a team I have a little bit of a soft spot for. They have a great staff over there. I started with (Rams scouts and executives) Les Snead, Ted Monago, Ray Farmer, Marty Barrett, that’s why I pull for them.”

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.

Back to the books: Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET, we’ll have our second monthly CBA session for this summer’s test-takers. As usual, Chicago-based Ian Greengross will lead the session, which is $50. We’ll go about an hour, and we’ll cover the following topics:

·      Difference between accrued, credited for benefits and credited for salary, and what each of these designations mean for the purposes of free agency, etc. 
·      Split-salary contracts. 
·      Exclusive rights free agency (zero, one or two accrued seasons), restricted free agent (at least three accrued seasons), transition tag, franchise tag, exclusive franchise tag, and how accrued seasons only relate to free agency and how you can have an accrued season but not a credited season. 
·      Minimum salaries based on credited seasons, when you are counted as active based on what day you get cut (after Weds, counts for a game), when a player goes to waivers when he’s cut, etc.
·      Workman’s comp offsets, etc. 
·      Termination pay (not subject to offset, etc.) and pay for players who get cut. 
·      Veteran salary benefit.

This is one of our weightier sessions and will cover several critical topics that are key to passing the exam, so we hope you join us. Our sessions are recorded, so if you can’t make it, not to worry. For the same price, you (and everyone who joins us Wednesday night) gets the secure video, as well. As always, after you register, you’ll get a confirmation video, and we’ll send out the Zoom link Wednesday afternoon. See you next week!

Tips for new agents: Tuesday, we got together with dozens of first-year contract advisors to discuss the thorny issue of pro days and how to get small-schoolers into the best workout. It’s not an easy topic, and one that is tough to solve if there hasn’t been a lot of work setting things up starting in December and January. We also discussed options for players who don’t get a pro day (and, maybe, don’t get a real NFL shot as a result of it) with Houston Gamblers GM (and former NFL scout) Bob Morris. Bob clarified a lot of the rules and procedures associated with the USFL and discussed how talent is procured with camp rosters already set and the league careful about costs. Missed it? All is not lost. We covered some of the points Bob made and the answers provided by ITL’s Neil Stratton in this week’s post at Succeed in Football.

Next week: With the big names in free agency mostly signed and pro days about half-over, we’re getting into the weeds, draft-wise, and getting closer to the April desert before the draft just before May. Here’s how we’ll be spending next week. 

·      Now that we’re finally caught up on our Agent Changes and Agents by Total Clients lists, we’ll try to stay on track by presenting both reports next week.
·      We’ll also strive to get local pro day info on all 32 NFL teams for our big board. We’re about halfway home. 
·      We’re still gathering info on college pro days, which we’ll include in our Pro Day Grid. We’ve got about 150 schools so far. 
·      Don’t forget about our study session with Chicago-based Ian Greengross, who’s not only been a certified contract advisors for almost two decades, and who’s negotiated multiple first-round contracts, but who also teaches sports law. Register and pay here. We’ll send out the Zoom link Wednesday afternoon. Can’t make it? For the same price, we’ll provide the recording, which you can watch any time.
·      Whether or not you can make it Wednesday, you gotta have our study guide. It’s must-have information for anyone who has any desire to pass the agent exam. It’s a 70-page PDF that you won’t find anywhere else. Order it here; once we’ve confirmed your purchase, we’ll ship it over, usually in an hour or less. 
·      We’ll talk to longtime former Dolphins scout Mike Cartwright in our Catching Up feature as part of next week’s Wrap.
·      When we’re not publishing our Agents by Total Clients or Agent Changes, we’ll have our Rep Rumblings.
·      We’re edging ever closer to turnover time for scouting departments. Monitor our Scouting Changes Grid for every move, up to the minute. 
·      Just around the corner, we’ll be starting up our school-by-school Profile Reports for all 129 FBS schools. 
·      We’re just under a month (28 days) from the opening kickoff of the 2023 USFL season. That’s one topic we may consider for next week’s Succeed in Football blog, which we’ve been using to discuss every corner of the football business world going back to 2014. 

Is that enough? We think so. Got questions? Need us to focus more on something else? Let us know. But make sure the answer isn’t already on the site. Find out here. Not a subscriber yet? C’mon, join us.