May 28-June 3

There has probably never been a more important time to keep up with the major shifts in the industry, wherever you are in the football business. One way to do that is to listen to the experts. This week, we’re bringing you one that we think provides a great learning opportunity.

Peter Schoenthal started Athliance to help facilitate the role between players, vendors, and schools as the name, image and likeness (NIL) era was dawning last summer. An NFLPA-licensed contract advisor himself, he saw a lot of places where the athlete seeking opportunities; the school trying to help its players while keeping things on the level; and the vendors excited about partnering with athletes who were previously off-limits. His company’s software allows everyone in the pipeline to know what the other participants are doing and streamlines the process for everyone involved. Currently, Athliance is working with over 30 schools, 20 collectives and numerous agencies nationwide helping them with the ins and outs of NIL.

With the Year 1 of the NIL era coming to a close, but still plenty of time to make things happen this summer, we get daily questions about how to crack the code on marketing and endorsements. We’ll let Peter explain what’s under way in the NIL field today, and let him discuss the opportunity he’s bringing to the football business community next week.

Although name, image and likeness might be in the news for some of the wrong reasons, it can and will be one of the greatest things to happen to college athletics. Unfortunately, NIL has created more questions than answers for everyone involved. But with change comes opportunity. NIL can be one of the great equalizers for new agents breaking into the industry or for agents looking to take the next step in their career. You just need to know “How to NIL.”

We all know student-athletes have a full-time schedule. More importantly, they need to know what is out there and what they can do with NIL. Currently, there is a lack of NIL education. As the saying goes, “confusion leads to inaction.” The key to winning this space is knowing how you can help. Student-athletes need assistance with:

  • Marketplaces
  • Summer camps
  • Individual and group lessons
  • Dealing with collectives
  • Engaging with local businesses
  • Enrolling in national campaigns
  • And more

This is where agents can and should come into play! This newfound opportunity can become an advantage for agents . . . if you know what you are doing and how to help. There are so many ways to help all athletes get NIL opportunities. And make no mistake about it, NIL is for all. 

For example, the summertime is a great time for a player to have a camp. It sounds like a lot of work, but we recommend helping student-athletes:

  • Create a standard waiver
  • Create T-shirts
  • Reach out to the high school in their hometown to secure a field
  • Reach out to their high school coach to spread the word
  • And more

Think about it. If you can help an athlete with his camp and 100 kids show up, and he charges $50 per kid, you just helped your client make $5,000 (minus expenses) for one day’s work. Oh, and by the way, you can do this a few times a year and long into his pro career! Keep in mind that, this summer more than ever, people will be staying home and seeking local activities. 

Again, agents can really set themselves up for long term success if they know what they are doing and can provide value, all while offering guidance and representation. Again, NIL can be the great equalizer. You just need to know how to turn this great unknown into your own personal secret weapon, and we’re here to help. 

Please join us Thursday June 9, at 8 p.m. ET – yes, in six days -- for a free webinar on “How to NIL for Agents” to learn how you can take that next step and use NIL as an advantage. We’ll go about an hour, and we’ll dig into how you can improve your NIL game practically overnight. We’ll fit as much into that hour as possible and share the insights and ideas we share with our clients across the nation. 

Sign up here. See you next week!

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.

Let’s review: It was yet another red-hot week of scouting changes with some big names changing teams and other established evaluators moving on. Here’s a chronological recap of what happened in the last seven days.


As always, get a look at every move made since the end of the ’21 season on our Scouting Changes Grid, which chronicles 140 hirings, firings and promotions so far with plenty more to come. Incidentally, for our May 20 edition, we tracked the total years of scouting that were now unemployed since the last weekend in April. After this week’s moves, there is now another 20 years of scouting now without a team since we last counted it all up. This week brings the total to 30 scouts with a total of 619 years of scouting service “on the street” since draft weekend. As scouting changes and the demands of modern evaluation change, and as scouting departments expand but budgets remain unchanged, there’s never been a tougher time to be a longtime NFL evaluator.

Speaking of scouting: Matt Manocherian, a former NFL scout (Saints and Browns) who’s now with Sports Info Systems, hosts a must-listen podcast, Off the Charts, and this week, his guest was ITL’s Neil Stratton. The two discussed the various changes in front offices over the last month-plus, talking about how analytics is being integrated and which new additions will be difference-makers in their respective new homes. If you’re into the game behind the game, and love to consider how a scouting staff’s makeup affects what happens in-season as well as the following April, we encourage you to give it a listen. Do that here. By the way, this week’s blog at Succeed in Football previewed the podcast and touched on a lot of the topics that people in the industry are talking about. Make sure to check it out. 

Want even more?: If you’re really into scouting and need some summer reading, don’t forget about our book, Scout Speak, which is chock-full of war stories from the road. We quote more than 30 current and former NFL evaluators with stories of players you know well. We also give an overview of the industry and tell you how to get and keep a job on a scouting staff. It’s a quick read – some readers have completed it in one sitting, even re-reading it – and we think it will make you laugh and cry. OK, maybe not cry, but certainly gain several insights on the business, even if you are already part of it. It’s available in paperback on Amazon here and on Audible here.

Catching Up: Scott McEwen, 63, spent 31 years in scouting, getting started with BLESTO and then spending 29 seasons with the Lions. We caught up with him this week.

  • Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m back here in Pittsburgh. I was born and raised this way. Actually, Harrison City is where I live now, but I grew up in McKeesport, East McKeesport. I’m back here, enjoying my grandkids. I ran the country for 31 years, and that’s a long time, so it’s good.” 

  • Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I miss it, but I don’t miss a lot of the other stuff. I’m still an avid fan. I love football, and always have, and made a living out of it. What do I miss the most? The camaraderie. It was, when I was working, you always ran into guys on the road, built relationships with guys from other teams. I (also) miss the evaluating, no doubt about it. I don’t miss the reports and all the travel, but I miss Sundays and seeing how your players progress. Everything about it, really, except the travel and writing reports. I was fortunate enough to be with an organization, the Lions, who were great, a great organization, no matter what people said. We had good football teams, especially in the 90s. We never got to the Super Bowl, then a lot of change happened. The organization was great to me.”

  • Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “Yeah, pretty much, though not as much anymore. We lost (former Lions and Steelers executive) Ron Hughes a year or two ago, and me and him were very close. He was very instrumental in my career. But I’ve worked with some great people and they were damn good scouts, every one of them that I worked with. Hard-working, down to earth, most of them old school, but younger guys come in, and they have new ideas. (Steelers Director of Pro Scouting) Sheldon White, we stay in touch. I’m happy for him. (Recently retired Steelers GM) Kevin Colbert, I worked with him for 10 years in Detroit. I worked with a lot of good people. You miss that.” 

  • Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “Sometimes, but not as much. Like I say, I’m involved with my grandkids a lot, going to things they do, so not a lot. I’m sure they will (play football) but they are still at that young age.”

  • Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “I’m so happy for (former Lions QB) Matt (Stafford) that he won a Super Bowl. He’s the real deal, always has been, and I personally know that. I’m just so happy for him, and we’ve had a lot of guys around the league, but we’ve changed coaches and systems change, and some guys fit this but that don’t fit that. All the ones that are playing right now, I try to keep an eye on them, see what they’re doing. We had a couple high draft picks, then people come in and things change. A lot of my guys are done already, but I try to follow them. I was happy seeing (2014 second-rounder Kyle) Van Noy go on and do some things, and Laken Tomlinson that we drafted in the first round (2015). I don’t follow it that tightly, but we’ve had a few of them around the league playing, and you try to keep an eye on them when you can.” 

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.

Good news!: With the 2022 NFL Agent Exam 47 days away (!!!), we’re hearing more and more from people getting serious about studying. Obviously, our Study Guide and Practice Exams 1 and 2 are both available for anyone looking to sharpen up his knowledge of the CBA. This week, however, we’re introducing a new feature. Starting in February, we’ve had monthly online study sessions with Chicago-based Ian Greengross. Ian has spent an hour on Zoom each month working several problems test-takers will see on the exam, and we’ve been dutifully recording them. This week, we started providing them to the participants who were part of each session. However, you might have missed them, and if so, we’ve got great news. Each of our first four sessions is on sale for $50 (plus tax) each. Here’s what each session covers:

  • February ($50 plus tax): Given a signing bonus and Year 4 cap number, calculate rookie salary. Also, June 1 rule and agent fee calculation when a player terminates his representation mid-contract. 

  • March ($50 plus tax): 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. Minimum salaries based on credited seasons, when you are counted as active based on what day you get, when a player goes to waivers when he’s cut. Workman’s comp offsets. Termination pay and pay for players who get cut. Veteran salary benefit.

  • April ($50 plus tax): Calculating minimum tenders for franchise and transition players. Preseason split and in-season split, types of splits, definition, etc. Calculating contracts with up/down amounts. Calculating payment to a player on practice squad. Extended injury protections and worker’s compensation offsets. What is the rookie salary given signing bonus and cap number for Year 4?

  • May ($50 plus tax): Veteran salary benefit. Termination pay. Injury grievance. Proven Performance Escalator. Draft signals. Agent fee calculation. Split contract calculation/IR. Practice squad salary computation. 

The NFLPA exam is in a class by itself among the four major sports; no other licensing body requires as much of its potential contract advisors, and for good reason. The Collective Bargaining Agreement protects players, and players’ representatives must have a good grounding in the rules. That’s why we calculated last summer’s passing rate at 38 percent. Once you order, we’ll send you the video link. Note: You must have a gmail email address (ends in @gmail.com) to receive and play the private link. 

Next week: As we cruise into the heat of the summer, we’ve still got plenty of work to do and things to discuss and explore. 

  • Our partners at the XFL tell us the league will announce the personnel directors for all eight franchises next week. Some are back from the league’s last run, and some are familiar faces that are new to the XFL. We will drill down into each of the men who will build the eight rosters that will take the field next spring on our Succeed in Football blog.
  • We’re expecting big announcements from the Eagles, Chargers, Panthers, Ravens and others as teams make their final front office revisions. We’ll follow along, breaking news along the way and analyzing the industry on our Twitter account and in our Rep Rumblings, and tracking everything in our Scouting Changes Grid.
  • We’ll have five more schools (Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Iowa State) as we continue rolling through FBS football with our Profile Reports.
  • We’re targeting the week of June 12 to (finally) start rolling out our various reports breaking down the NFL Draft (Agencies by Value Points, Trainers by Value Points, Combine snubs who were drafted and vice versa and more). Thanks for your patience. We haven’t forgotten you. 
  • We’re behind two Agent Changes reports. We hope, again, to get at least one of them done this week.
  • We are targeting June 23 for our next Zoom session for agents preparing for this summer’s exam. We’ll have more details in the coming weeks. 

If you’re already an agent, check out all our grids, reports and lists that will help you do your job. If you hope to be an agent and you’re taking the exam, join us so you can save money on our exams and our Zoom videos. If you’re a scout, or hope to be, check out our daily reports to find out where the openings are (or will be) and what all the movement means. We think if you have any place in the football business community, you won’t be sorry if you join us. However, if you’re none of those, but you just love the business, also consider giving us a try.