May 4-10

Week 1 of “scout hiring season” was fast and furious, and we covered it pretty extensively last week in the Wrap. Lots of scouting talent was sent to the street, and there weren’t a lot of accompanying hires, at least among veteran evaluators. Would Week 2 bring us more of the same? 

Yes and no. We heard of plenty of interviewing, but for the most part, we didn’t see an accompanying round of hires in NFL front offices this week. However, that doesn’t mean there was no activity. Here’s who was coming and going on scouting staffs this week.

• After almost three decades in Charlotte, Jeff Morrow retired from his position as Senior Personnel Executive with the Panthers. His retirement was confirmed by his son, Jordan. Morrow got his start with National Football Scouting in 1995.
• Baltimore’s Director of Football Research during the 2023 season, Scott Cohen, is no longer featured on the team’s website. We ran down the arrivals and departures in Baltimore in Monday’s report.
• In Tuesday’s Rep Rumblings report, we broke the news that former NFL running back Shane Vereen had joined the Texans as a player personnel assistant. Vereen was drafted by the Patriots in 2011, and many of New England’s staffers then are in Houston now.
• The Agnew family business added a new office this week as Keenan Agnew took on the role of scouting assistant for the Titans. Keenan’s father, Ray, is the AGM of the Lions, while his brother, Ray III, is a pro scout for the Jets who was a 2023 BART List Award winner. 
• Beau Bell and Devon Smith were promoted from scouting assistants, respectively, into bigger roles in Miami. Bell is a new pro scout, while Smith is a new player personnel scout. It’s a job that comes after plenty of dues-paying for Bell, in particular, who has served as a scouting apprentice for the Rams; coached linebackers at the College Gridiron Showcase; and even served as the GM of one of Arena Football’s most successful organizations, the Philadelphia Soul. Bell was also drafted in the fourth round by the Browns in the 2008 draft.
• The promotions of Bell and Smith were two of several moves made involving scouting assistants across the league, and we ran down several of them in Thursday’s report.
• Eric Stokes, who was the Senior Director of Player Personnel in Washington, will not be part of the Commanders front office in 2024. He’s a victim of the changes that take place when a new GM takes over. 
• Tom McConnaughey, a scout’s scout with more than three decades in player evaluation between San Diego/Los Angeles and Jacksonville, called it a career this week. McConnaughey is the rare evaluator who actually played in the original USFL in the early 80s. 
• Brian Zeches and the Falcons parted ways. Zeches, who has worked with the Commanders and Falcons and coached at New Mexico, Weber State and UTEP, has also evaluated players for the Senior Bowl; he held the title of Player Personnel Coordinator this year. His father, Jim, was a longtime scout in his own right whom we profiled in 2022.
• Tokunbo Abanikanda, who has spent more than a decade in Atlanta, was rewarded by the Falcons for his performance with a new title: Director of College Scouting. We predicted the move in Thursday’s report at Inside the League. Abanikanda has plenty of fans in the business as he was among the evaluators in the “road scout” category to win a BART List Award for his efforts in 2022. 
• The Giants made official their hiring of Chris Snee, who scouted for the Jaguars for four years. The official announcement came out today, along with the news of promotions for Nick La Testa (the new Assistant Director of Pro Scouting) and Charles Tisch (Manager, Football Administration). 

While the ITL Twitter account is our main vehicle for publishing scouting changes, we also took to social media to make a few observations on hiring practices so far. Thursday, we pointed out which teams had hired scouting assistants since the start of the 2023 season and provided our expectations on who’s next. Later that day, we tipped off our followers about our report on scouting assistant vacancies and the progress of hiring. 

However, ITL’s Neil Stratton had much more to say about the churn in NFL front offices these days. Wednesday, he joined former Falcons scout Rodrik David to discuss front offices in the Scouting the League podcast. It turned out to be the most popular edition since Stratton and David teamed up to produce a show devoted almost solely to the NFL scouting community just after Thanksgiving 2023. Among topics:

• The latest we’re hearing from the teams who new or newish (within the last two years) GMs, i.e., Arizona, Tennessee, Washington, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (the Chargers), New England and Carolina.
• Some of the risers expected to get consideration for promotion.
• Why so many veteran scouts have been let go.
• The growing popularity of analytics, at least based on last year’s movement.
• Which teams may get mined for new hires.
• Why coaches make so much more money than scouts.
• What you can do if you want to be a scout.

And plenty more. It was a pretty meaty hour, and has drawn about twice as much traffic as any of the previous broadcasts. If you haven’t yet, we think you should check it out, especially if you have an interest in the player evaluation business, whether you’re a scout, an agent, or someone who aspires to be a scout or agent. 

Speaking of the Scouting the League podcast, next up is former Browns and Saints scout Matt Manocherian, who is now the Chief Operating Officer at Sports Info Solutions. Manocherian will provide his insights on the fusion of analytics and traditional scouting, how to address the blind spots in both, his rise from Duke grad to NFL scout to prominent place with a major sports analytics firm, and more. There will also be more buzz on the latest movements in the scouting place, as well as what David and Stratton are hearing. In short, if NFL scouting intrigues you, or you aspire to be a scout someday, don’t miss next week’s edition. 

So where are the remaining hotspots? We aren’t privy to succession plans, but so far, since the end of the 2023 season (as far as we know), the Bears, Bucs, Niners, Falcons and Titans have two vacancies compared to last year’s scouting lineup. The Cardinals have four and the Panthers have five. The Browns, Commanders, Eagles, Giants, Jaguars, Jets, Packers, Ravens, Steelers, Titans and Vikings have one each. How do you find out what positions are open, at least for now? Check out the Scouting Changes Grid, which lists almost 80 names of the hired, fired, retired, promoted or demoted since the offseason kicked off. 

Don’t have access to NFL? This year, through the end of May, we’re offering our Next Wave rate to scouting enthusiasts who want to keep up with the latest news. It’s a flat $75 (instead of $29.95/mo), and you have the run of the website until the end of November. It’s a popular way for personnel professionals on a limited budget to follow all the hiring news. Want in? First, register for ITL but stop at the pay wall, then pay the Next Wave rate here and we’ll get you activated ASAP.

Now let’s look at what else happened in the business of pro and college football this week.

Still want more scouting?: Don’t forget about Neil Stratton’s book, Scout Speak, which is chock-full of stories from the road, details about the industry, and plenty of other insights on the life and times of today’s NFL evaluators that you won’t find anywhere else. It’s a quick read and perfect for the person who’s not a fan but a devotee of the business of the game. It’s just $13 plus tax, and you can get it here.

Where’s the draft analysis?: Normally, this week’s edition of the Wrap is devoted to breaking down the draft, from non-combine draftees to top training facilities to positions drafted and signed, by the numbers, plus the total points rundown for each agency (and a nod to all the first-year agents who got players on contracts). Unfortunately, with all the movement in NFL front offices this week, we weren’t able to do it justice. That’s why we’re asking for grace as we push that issue to next week. Presuming we don’t see another high-volume week of scouting moves, we’ll have lots of looks at the draft from an industry standpoint. It’s gonna be good. Thanks for your patience. 

Oh yeah, the portal: Lost in the post-draft shuffle is the fact that the April transfer portal window “closed” at the end of last month, and as expected, it flooded with players from all over the country and all divisions of football seeking a better situation (and some cool cash). What were the themes? How did it differ from December? What positions were most in demand? What mistakes did teams and players make? We reached out to several personnel people at schools across the country to get their observations, and we gathered them up and put them in this week’s post at Succeed in Football. We think you’ll find it as perceptive and thought-provoking as we did. Want even more? We got lots of responses from player representatives and agents, as well, and they were so detailed that we saved their responses for next week’s blog. Look for that Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, check out this week’s edition of the blog.

Catching Up: Paul Roell, 58, spent more than three decades scouting in the NFL, plus he’s worked for the Senior Bowl and the USFL, each for a year. We caught up with him last week.

• Where are you living and what are you doing now?:  “I still live in Kansas City. We moved here in June 1991 when the Colts hired me, and now with the grandkids here, my wife will never move. I tried to retire somewhere warm, but that’s gone. But it’s been great, it’s a great place to live and raise a family and watch my grandkids grow up. We’ll be here forever.”

• Do you miss the job? What do you miss most?: “Yeah, you know, that’s something that you definitely do. There’s nothing like being part of a team during the season, watching the season unfold, how well you’ve done, how you need to get better, what you need to replace. I kinda live vicariously through my buddies and follow how their teams are doing and root for them. That’s been the hardest transition. The camaraderie that you have as a staff, throughout training camp, December meetings, April meetings, you’re together so many months throughout the year. The camaraderie you get during those draft meetings, it’s the closest you get to a locker room setting when you’re done playing. It’s a very tight-knit group, and you become one trying to get to the ultimate goal every year. That’s the part that’s different. I’ve got players that I’ve scouted that are still playing and some that are still scouting with different teams. Some of my better friends are with new teams now, so you watch them, watch their teams. I’ve had the NFL Ticket for 25 years or so. Whenever it came out, I got it right away. I couldn’t watch our games with the Colts -- they weren’t televised here -- but that’s been a great way to keep up with the teams. I do miss the camaraderie, especially this time of year. That month of April, when you’re in there together, that you can’t replace.”

• Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues?: “Yeah, I do. I’m not a big phone person, never have been, never will be. I don’t like to call guys during the year, though I’d love to talk to them, but I don’t like to bother them, because I know the demands of the job, especially in November and October, and you’re in that grind, and you don’t have time to get on the phone. I don’t like to impose on them because they have a job to do, so I text back and forth with guys all the time from all three places (I’ve scouted). Some are still there, some have moved on to other teams. You stay in contact with them. I have lifelong friendships. You’re always gonna stay in touch.” 

• Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)?: “I had up until this fall. In the USFL, we didn’t go to live games. We did all our scouting watching film, and if you could, making a few contacts, calling and getting background. We didn’t go to a lot of games, but I went to the Senior Bowl, and in the past I did. I like to go to at least one Ohio State game, but my son-in-law, his cousin coaches at St. Pius X (in Kansas City), so I go to all their games, and I stream my (old high school’s) games. It’s been 40 years -- just turned 40 years -- but I try to watch them every week. You stay involved with it. Once football is in your blood, it never leaves. You gotta get your fix somewhere. I enjoy watching these kids grow through their high school career.”

• Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game?: “I don’t really have a specific team. Living here in Kansas City, you get to watch the Chiefs, and I have friends on the scouting staff and coaching staff here, so I like to see their success, and I like to see all my buddies (win) who I’ve worked with who are onto new teams or (who are still) where we were at. There’s nothing like winning in the NFL and having that success. I was part of a number of great teams at each spot, and got to a number of AFC championship games, but never the Super Bowl. We probably had better teams in (Indianapolis) in ‘04 and ‘05 than in ’06, but they got hot, so I was happy for them. I like to see as many guys as I’ve worked with get that opportunity to share with their family, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. It’s hard to do multiple (Super Bowls), and obviously, the Bills had it and the Patriots, but it’s rare. I like to watch the guys we drafted, and some of those guys we drafted in Jacksonville are still playing, and I like to watch those guys and see their careers be successful in other places. You invest so much time in players and relationships, you enjoy seeing those people have success in the game. So that’s what I follow.” 

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.

Profile Reports: After a slow start, we’re wound up and rolling on our team-by-team breakdowns of the top 10 prospects at each FBS school. On Monday, we had Baylor, followed by Boise State on Tuesday, Boston College on Wednesday, Bowling Green Thursday and BYU today. We’ll have five more next week. To review all our reports so far, check out our big board.  

Video vault: Eighty days. Eleven weekends. That’s how much time there is to study for the 2024 NFLPA Exam. Maybe it sounds like a lot – and there are plenty of applicants who haven’t cracked a book yet – but every second counts when it comes to passing the toughest entrance exam in pro sports player representation. As always, if you’re just starting out, we recommend you start with our study guide ($350 plus tax), and once you’ve got all the tough concepts down, test yourself with our first practice exam. Ready for yet another test? We’ve got one right here. On the other hand, maybe you’re more of a visual learner. Once again, we got you. We have three recorded Zoom sessions ready to help you. They are:

• February: Given a signing bonus and Year 4 cap number, calculate rookie salary • Calculation of problems re: June 1 rule, a key concept that's always part of the exam • 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. $35 plus tax

• March: Eligibility (accrued, credited for benefits, credited for salary) and free agency (Tenders, ROFR, exclusive rights free agency, restricted rights free agency, unrestricted free agency; transition tag, franchise/non-exclusive with terms, franchise/exclusive with terms); determining if a player has accrued a season, earned credit for benefits, earned credit for salary; deadline for payment (if cut on Tuesday, does he get paid?). • Split contracts • Termination pay • Veteran salary benefit. $35 plus tax

• April: Preseason split and in-season split, types of splits, definition, etc.; workman’s comp offsets, etc.; draft signals; PPE (partial coverage); and practice squad salaries. $35 plus tax.

Our next Zoom session is Wednesday, May 22, at 9:30 p.m. ET. Topics and registration link are to come. In the meantime, get caught up on the schedule with our previous videos. Got questions? Let us know by responding to this email.

Next week: By Monday, rookie mini-camp season is over, which means we’ll have a clearer picture of every player who was shown even a shred of interest by NFL teams. That will help as we dive into the numbers. In the meantime, here’s what we’re looking at for next week.

• Our Rep Rumblings will be as hot as ever as we’ll cover all the agent-related news plus the latest buzz out of NFL front offices. You don’t want to miss anything.
• Our next five Profile Reports will include Buffalo, California, Central Florida, Central Michigan and Charlotte. 
• Our Catching Up interviewee will be Salim Powell, who spent two years with the Jets. Check out our four years of interviews with former scouts and executives here.
• The Scouting the League podcast will continue casting a spotlight on pro evaluation as Matt Manocherian of Sports Info Solutions guests.
• The Succeed in Football blog will feature the impressions of the April portal window from several player reps who had, or have, clients in the portal this spring. 
• All our exam prep tools are here. If you haven’t started studying yet, and you’ve paid your money to the NFLPA, now might be a good time.
• We owe you an Agent Changes report. We’ll try.
• We’re hoping to have our complete list of agencies with non-combine draftees; agencies with combine draftees who went undrafted; top training facilities for the draft; top agencies, both for the draft and going back 10 years; and the draft by the numbers. It’s a lot to put out there, and we’ll try to make progress. To review our previous years’ work, click here.

If you work in the game, you better have a good handle on the most up-to-date information available. That’s true if you’re an agent, a scout, or an aspiring agent or scout. We can make your journey faster or your job easier. Give us a chance to prove it.