May 27-June 2
This week, we saw movement in front offices tick up a bit (more on that later), but the bigger story was the continued transition in analytics departments across the league. In the last week, we’ve seen, as tweeted (or retweeted) by ESPN’s sports analytics writer, Seth Walder:
Earlier this month, we saw the Chargers and Cowboys post openings in their analytics departments, while the Ravens and Panthers each hired key analytics staffers from rival teams. So what’s behind this? Has there really been more activity this offseason? And if so, why? We asked Walder.
“There’s been quite a bit of movement among analytics staffers already and the open roles means there likely will be more,” he said. “When it’s all over, this year may end up being the most movement we’ve seen in a single offseason.
“A few years ago, when there were three director-level team-switches, I remember asking about it, and an analytics staffer quipped something along the lines of, ‘We’re growing up!’ I think that’s basically the answer as to why there’s more movement, or about to be more movement. One, there’s more analytics staffers than ever before, so that just naturally leads to a higher quantity of moves. Two, previously, if you were a team looking for a director and wanted someone with, say, at least five years team-side experience, that used to be a very limited pool of people, but that number is increasing. And as time goes on, more teams are deciding they need a director of analytics, too.
“As analytics in the league matures, I suspect the staffing and resulting movement will begin to resemble other front office (and coaching) roles more and more.”
So, bottom line, the perception that analytics is getting more attention in NFL front offices is not a mirage. Maybe that focus on the numbers side of player evaluation is one reason why scouting movement remains snail-like, though we did see a little activity this week. To wit:
Granted, we still haven’t seen the flurry of moves among teams that we normally see this time of year, but maybe we need to get used to seeing more of it on the numbers side and less on the traditional scouting side. So far, we’ve counted 78 members of the scouting community who are in, out, up or down in NFL front offices so far this spring.
We’ll continue keeping an eye on what’s next among scouting moves. We’re expecting some settling and clarity among 4-5 staffs across the league, and we’re trying to sort out a few other moves we’ve heard but not yet confirmed. Make sure you’re following us on Twitter for the latest action. 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.
Rep Rumblings: This week, there was just enough of a trickle of scouting news that we had three reports, preventing us from catching up on a few other key features. On Tuesday, we discussed the latest buzz out of Minnesota, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, plus we had agent recruiting buzz and we previewed Wednesday’s Zoom session. On Wednesday, our focus was on what’s happening in San Francisco, Pittsburgh (again), Chicago and New Orleans, plus we had another note from the agent recruiting trail. Finally, on Thursday, we reviewed the latest out of Nashville, Jacksonville, San Francisco and Minnesota. If you’re interested in how the wheels turn in NFL front offices, make sure you check out all our reports this year here.
Catching Up: Joe Pirucki, 40, spent six years in player personnel, all with the Lions. We caught up with him this week.
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Where are you living and what are you doing now?: “I’m in Northern Ohio. I run a mentorship program for a local school district and have launched a consulting service for athletic programs. It addresses all the things off the field and helps athletes and athletic programs get healthy, thrive, be more productive and build team skills (https://welloflifecoaching.com/the-paw/).”
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Do you miss the job? What do you miss most?: “If I’m being honest, no, I don’t really miss it. But what I miss the most, I miss the strategy of helping put together the best team of people to accomplish the goal.”
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Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues?: “A few. I appreciate (former Lions/current Steelers executive) Sheldon (White), who was my first direct report.”
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Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)?: “I go to any games of the teams that I’m working with. They’re all over, high school and college, but it could be pro, too, if it got to that point. I’m kind of open.”
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Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game?: “All the guys that were in it when I was in it are done now. The last guy I could pull for was (former Lions player turned Lions executive) Don Muhlbach, the (former) long-snapper, because he was just a good dude. I respected his hard work and humility, and I would root for him, but I think everyone else is done now. I don’t think there’s anybody left.”
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.
Wednesday with Russ and Doug: We’ve brought the ITL family together with XFL staffers numerous times over the past year, but none of our previous Zoom sessions attracted as much interest as Wednesday’s meetup. More than 100 members of the player representation community (plus some media) joined XFL Senior VP of Player Personnel Doug Whaley and Director of Player Administration and Officiating Operations Russ Giglio for an hour of discussion on the upcoming XFL Rookie Draft, which is set for Friday, June 16. The duo discussed the number of rounds (10); how to provide information on prospective players, what details to include, and where to send the email (FBO@xfl.com); how the league will vet the top performers at this summer’s showcases across the country (there will be a combine in Arlington, Texas, later this summer); and many more details. If you’d like to watch the entire Zoom session, do that here on YouTube. If you’d like to get a quick overview of details before you watch, check out this week’s post at Succeed in Football.
No more procrastination: We are now just under eight weeks away (52 days, to be exact) from the 2023 NFLPA Exam for would-be contract advisors. If you were waiting to start preparing for the test, but haven’t yet, now would be a great time. If it’s your first try, the odds are much greater that you’ll struggle with the test than that you’ll cruise through it, and it’s no picnic for those who are on their second try. If you are just beginning, we strongly recommend you pick up the ITL Study Guide. It’s $300 plus tax ($324.75), but worth every penny and even more. Our guide takes you patiently through the key topics necessary to pass the exam, and it’s chock-full of examples and samples. Don’t make the mistake of trying to pore through the CBA, all 700-plus pages, and soaking up the important concepts that way.
Room for Zooms?: If you can focus better on a video instruction session, you’re in luck, as we already have recorded four Zooms (February, March, April and May), with three more to go. Here’s a look at what we’ve got to offer so far:
· 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
· Coverage of questions related to these topics
· 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).
· Eligibility (accrued, credited for benefits, credited for salary)
· Split contracts
· 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?)
· Termination pay
· Veteran salary benefit
· Rookie signing bonus, dates, payments
· Funding rule
· Preseason split and in-season split, types of splits, definition, etc.
· Workman’s comp offsets,etc.
· Signals
· PPE (partial coverage)
· Practice squad salaries
· VSB/Four-Year Player Benefit
· Termination Pay
· Injury Grievance
· PPE/5th year option
· IR/Designated for Return
· Practice Squad
· Severance pay/calculation of retirement benefits
· Draft signals
Want all four (February, March, April and May)? Click here, and we’ll get to work plugging you in for each video.
Our practice exams: If you’ve got the content down and you’re ready to test yourself, we have two practice tests. They’re sequential, meaning you must buy Exam 1 first, but written to mirror the questions you’ll see in July. We strongly recommend you give yourself two chances to prepare yourself. Exam 1 is $200 plus tax if you’re not an ITL client and $150 if you are, while Exam 2 is $100 plus tax for non-ITL clients and $75 for ITL subscribers. What’s more, we’ll be adding 10 questions to each exam in July in an effort to provide our clients with even more chances to test themselves. We’re willing to go the extra mile to help you achieve your dreams.
Profile Reports: We’ve been slacking in our efforts to provide ITL clients with an overview of the top prospects at each FBS school, and this week, we did our best to get caught up. We broke down eight schools this week – Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Southern and Georgia State. We’re still a couple schools behind, but we’re getting closer to catching up. To review all our reports this year, or going back 10 years, click here.
Welcome (back) to Texas: The East-West Shrine Bowl has a major announcement set for Monday at 11 a.m. CT, and we’re pretty sure this tweet offers clues on what’s ahead. January’s game saw a greater gathering of scouts, executives and agents than any in recent memory, and the move east probably boosts the Shrine’s attendance even more in 2024. We’re convinced the new location only builds on the game’s momentum. Congratulations to Executive Director Eric Galko and the whole staff at the EWS. We hope to talk to Eric about the move and what it means for the EWS in the coming weeks, likely as part of our Succeed in Football blog.
Next week: As we mentioned earlier, we’ve gotten just enough scouting information, day by day, that it’s set us back on some of the features we normally offer. With no Zoom session this week, maybe we can get caught up. Here’s what we have next week.
· Our Rep Rumblings will be a big part of our content, though maybe a bit less than last week. We still have some unsettled scouting staffs, so there’s sure to be new developments coming. Make sure you’re on top of all the moves in our Scouting Changes Grid.
· We’re going to try again to finish up our tabulation of total value points, by agency, going back to 2007. We’re way behind. Hopefully, this is the week.
· We’re also behind on our Agent changes for the March-to-April and April-to-May terms. At the very least, we hope to get the Agents by Total Clients list is done this week.
· We did better on our Profile Reports this week, and we hope we can get caught up once and for all this week. Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Houston, Illinois and Indiana are next up.
· We hope to carve out some time to discuss the Shrine Bowl’s big move on our Succeed in Football blog next week. If not, we’ll have something related to the industry and aimed at the next wave of off-the-field professionals.
· We'll talk to former Jaguars evaluator Greg Jones as the latest entry in our Carching Up series.
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