July 23-29
Last week, we detailed the struggles experienced by so many of those who took the NFLPA exam this month. Some stories were pretty harrowing, and we were able to collect a lot of information that didn’t reflect well on the test-taking experience. Still, it was anecdotal evidence, which is about all we had time to gather in the brief period between the exam and Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET. So this week, we wanted to dig a little deeper. Was that negative experience really representative of all test-takers?
The answer is: not really. We asked many of our exam prep clients several questions about how last Wednesday went, and while there were definitely issues, we found that those who were able to take the exam felt, on balance, pretty positive about it. Here’s a look at the results.
How did you feel about the exam?: After a drama-filled exam when emotions were raw, union officials would have to be happy to see that, just a week later, a resounding majority (61 percent) felt positive enough about the exam to say they “feel they passed it” or were “optimistic.” What’s more, 15 percent said they “aced it.” Only 19 percent of respondents said it “could go either way,” and only four percent said either they were “not feeling optimistic” or they “probably didn’t pass.”
Did you have any problems with the testing procedure?: More good news, on balance, for the NFLPA. The percentage that said they had “no problems at all” was 45 percent, which led all answers by a large measure. Twenty-six percent said they had “major” problems linking to the testing service, but were still able to test. Another 20 percent said they had problems they wouldn’t call “major,” but still got to take the exam. Balancing the good news: almost eight percent said they were completely “unable to test (solely) due to technical issues.”
Did you take the exam last year? If so, were you able to test?: The news was worst for those who were attempting to take the exam a second time but who couldn’t test, leaving them potentially looking at a three-year pursuit of certification. We found seven respondents with this scenario. If this number is reflective of the almost 400 who took the exam, there could be 40-50 agent hopefuls facing this scenario. Will they keep trying? Would you?
Which of our study materials was most helpful? This was aimed at gauging which of our services was most effective, and the results were not especially surprising. By a small margin, respondents said our study guide was a little more essential than our practice exams (40.1 to 33.3). If you’re one of the unfortunate number that fails the exam, and you chose not to use our materials the first time, please consider us next summer. We promise we won’t make fun of you.
Regardless of whether you feel you passed, how would you assess the exam?: This question offered more good news for the Players Association as we got a nice bell curve. Only 11 percent said the exam was “pretty easy,” while another 5.7 percent called it “very difficult.” More than 80 percent described it as fair, with 44 percent saying it was “tough but fair” and 38.5 percent calling it “fair but tricky.”
How helpful were the pre-exam seminars?: We always get vocal criticism of the instructional sessions provided by the NFLPA in the days before the exam, and usually, the criticism is related to the speed of the presentation. There’s a lot of content and a limited time to cover it. This year’s class was no exception, with more than a third (37 percent) saying classes were helpful, but could have been more helpful if presenters had gone more slowly. The good news for the PA is that almost as many (33 percent) said the sessions were both helpful and essential to passing the exam, regardless of pacing questions. Only 11 percent said sessions were “helpful, but limited by the virtual platform.” In all, more than 80 percent said the pre-exam classes were aided them, which has to be good news for union officials.
Our work on the 2022 NFL Agent Exam is done, at least until we hear how the union will respond to those who were unable to test. We await the end of the two weeks post-exam when so many frustrated agent hopefuls will learn their fates. In the meantime, here’s a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said about the business of pro and college football this week.
Catching Up: Tom Gibbons, 54, has spent 27 years in pro and college scouting with the Chargers, Jets and Bills. We caught up with him earlier this month.
· Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m in Buffalo still. Been consulting on and off with a computer company. We had a product in the NFL. The algorithm scanned college players and rosters and scanned their social media accounts, and could go through everyone’s social media account instantly, and any red flags would alert the NFL teams. We had about 7-8 NFL teams, then Covid hit, and the social media platforms kinda changed their policies that kinda froze us out. They’ve moved on. They’ve been out of the NFL and they have some MLB accounts and some in the NHL now.”
· Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “Everything. Being involved in it. The weekly pressure from the games really stand out during the season. It’s a week-to-week grind, and the ups and downs are awesome, and that’s what I miss the most. The people you deal with, the players you deal with, the situations you find yourself in weekly. You’re never gonna find it doing anything else.”
· Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “Yeah, I do. A lot of the scouts and guys I spent time with on the road. A lot of the people I’ve worked for. You stay in touch and contact them, keep in touch, see how they’re doing, and what they’re up to. It’s nice when you’re out. The nice thing is, you don’t have the pressure that the guys still in are going through. You can joke with them and give them a little razz when you’re not as involved in it as they are.”
· Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “Not so much anymore. I did quite a bit, and I was working at University of Buffalo doing their advance reports with Lance Leipold and his coaching staff. They left last spring, so right before the season I was doing a ton of games, all the home Buffalo games, plus Lance would let me travel with them whenever I wanted, which was nice. He’s a great guy and great coach, but he’s up at Kansas now. I haven’t been to too many games this past season. But up until then, I did a ton of them.”
· Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? The one thing, after being at Buffalo the last three years, watching all the MAC players and keeping up to date with players you recently wrote reports on just to see how they’re performing. I did pro my last 6-7 years, so I had plenty of contact with a lot of the players, and it’s always nice to see players you’ve signed before doing well and always keep up to date on those players that you have personal relationships with. All the MAC players, it was just a great experience to step down and see a non-Power 5 school and their conference be able to go through and just really evaluate the talent in that conference. Gave you a better perspective of everything where you’re dealing with a different group of players that I’ve dealt with prior to that. Everybody’s been through it all, and it was really a good experience. Learned a lot about the development of personnel as well. You just don’t get that perspective when you’re dealing with all NFL players.
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.
XFL salaries, compensation and packages: Look, we get it. Camps just started and your guy is killing it. He’s 53-bound. Still, it doesn’t hurt to know what else is out there, right? Monday night, the XFL’s Russ Giglio and Doug Whaley joined agents and the media on Zoom to lay out how the money will work for the league’s players this spring. We gave an overview of everything they discussed in this week’s post at Succeed in Football. In case you’re in a hurry, however, here’s a quick overview:
· Training camp will last five weeks and players will get paid $800 per week.
· Players active on game day will get $5,000 per game over a 10-game schedule. There will also be a $1,000 win bonus, so regular players on good teams stand to make more than $60,000 for 15 weeks’ work.
· The championship will be played late April/early May, so there’s a chance that even players who make it to the title game would be done in time to attend an NFL mini-camp.
· Players will be housed in hotels during the season which will be paid for by the league. Meals, too (three meals and a snack during camp, two meals and a snack during the season).
· Each player will also receive full health, dental and vision insurance with the option to add a family member (though the player will have to cover costs for a family member). That’s an estimated $20,000 benefit package.
· The XFL Draft will be held sometime around Thanksgiving with one or more subsequent drafts to follow. The league will try to get its quarterbacks on board early and give them special training as well as to make them well-versed on the XFL brand of football.
Don’t recruit the wrong player: Now that camps are just around the corner and we’re mere weeks from the kickoff of the 2023 college football season, it’s important to make sure you’re focusing on the right prospects. Our Blake Beddingfield spent two decades working in an NFL front office and has access to film on everyone from FBS powerhouses to D-III. We feel that for $100 plus tax and a two-day turnaround, our scouting reports are one of the biggest bargains in football, especially if you’re still building your rolodex when it comes to scouts and evaluators. Don’t spend months building a relationship with a player who’s not on NFL radar screens. If you’d like to see a sample, just let us know. We’ll be glad to give you a look at players Blake has written up in the past from any school and at any position. Reach out and let’s get you the information you need.
Agents by Total Clients (July): There are 146 contract advisors with at least 10 active clients as of this week. With 869 agents, that’s about 17 percent of the entire body of licensed player representatives, which should give some idea of how top-heavy the industry has become. Nine agents have 40 or more clients; 22 have 30 or more; and 54 have at least 20. Find out which player reps have the most power in the industry by checking out this week’s report.
Another one bites the dust: Thursday was the latest bumpy day for the MLFB, which has been trying to take the field since its official launch in 2014. Though we initially touched on the feedback we started getting Thursday afternoon here, this story on Outkick details players’ struggles to find lodging and a way home after they were forced to vacate their hotel rooms due to the league’s financial struggles. Among “name” coaches who’ve tried and failed to help the league field teams are Dave Campo, Ted Cottrell, Jerry Glanville, Galen Hall, Larry Kirksey, Terry Shea and many others. It’s just one more reminder not to take the opportunities provided by two viable alternative leagues – one having just completed play, one kicking off in 2023 -- for granted (and don’t forget about Fan-Controlled Football, which has two seasons under its belt).
Rep Rumblings: Though we touched on the MLFB’s struggles on Thursday, we had three other reports this week. On Monday, we looked at the coaching staff at North Texas and discussed which ones had NFL and agent connections. We also had a reminder for the night’s Zoom and more. Wednesday, we looked at Northwestern’s coaching staff as well as a player with a former NFL brother; we had a scouting move; and we discussed the buzz we’ve heard on three agencies that might be making moves. Thursday, in addition to what we heard on the MLFB, we had a college coaching change; the latest scouting moves by the Chargers; and more. Recap all our reports going back to the start of 2022 here.
Next week: We’re still setting the table for a couple projects, so next week will consist mainly of catching up on some features we meant to publish weeks ago. Here’s a look at what’s ahead.
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We will, at the least, have our Agent Changes for the March to May period (yes, we’ll do a two-month report this time). We will shoot to complete the May-to-June report, as well.
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We’ll have five more schools as part of our Profile Reports series. It will be a big week with Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion and Oregon.
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Though we don’t yet know how many we’ll post this week, our Rep Rumblings will roll on.
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As we pour over the media guides being published by all 32 NFL teams, we’ll turn up scouting news that teams hadn’t previously released. We’ll dish it up on our Twitter feed and plug it into our Scouting Changes Grid.
· We’re getting closer to updating our Draft by the Numbers for 2022. It won’t be fully complete until the rosters are built for the 2022 season, but we’re hoping to get final numbers on camp participants, tryouts, etc. We’re working on it.
· In next week’s Friday Wrap, we’ll talk to former Saints and Raiders executive Chet Franklin for our Catching Up feature.
In the meantime, we’ll be monitoring NFL camp updates an the beginning of college camps, and we’ll keep waiting on news from the NFLPA on what’s next re: the agent exam. Come hang with us as we wait for what’s next.
