Coffee & Cigarettes: The Football Educator reads

Former NFL GM Ted Sundquist's blog on all things NFL team management. Fascinating stuff.

NFL Front Office Management: Hedging | TheFootballEducator.com
Those familiar with finance will understanding the term “hedging” in the business sense, while others might know the phrase “to hedge a bet.” A hedge is, essentially, a backstop in case of failure.

NFL Cap Management: Some trades don't make dollars or sense | TheFootballEducator.com
It’s easy to throw out the notion of a trade; the idea to get equal or greater value, putting your club in a better CAP situation and or with a prime pick in the coming draft. If only it were that easy.

NFL Draft Preparations - Effects of free agency on strategy | TheFootballEducator.com
It’s interesting to analyze the logistical strategy that was built into the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Player’s Union (NFLPA) and the National Football League (NFL). Since its inception the official start of the free agency period has coincided with the start of the new League Year. Traditionally that’s around the first week of March and with it, the feeding frenzy of NFL clubs looking for a quick fix to what ails them. In the early years of the CBA, clubs placed a significant emphasis on their roster improvement by focusing intently on veteran acquisitions. Agents knew this and skillfully used “the first 48” as leverage in negotiating and finalizing a deal.

NFL Player Personnel - 8 keys in assessing team needs | TheFootballEducator.com
It’s that time of year in the National Football League – the season has ended, the college all-star games are over, and the rest of the professional football following fan base and media impatiently await for something to sink their teeth into. Next up is the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis, but even that feels “light years” away for those that clamor for something real to dissect and examine. So the headlines speculate and “rumorize” (that’s a made up word I might add) about potential trades, mock draft scenarios, coaching staff hires, and personnel staff shufflings across this sleepy time in the professional football news cycle.

Scouting Football Talent - 2 keys to a 3-4 OLB transition | TheFootballEducator.com
Flexibility in putting together today’s NFL roster is key to any long term sustainable success. The rigors of surviving and thriving in a 16 game regular season can only come through players unselfishly contributing in many areas on the field and at a moment’s notice. Young players are more often asked to contribute on special teams, something many were immune to throughout college as the primary stars on their squads. But those that understand their role and the opportunity that any playtime presents are eager volunteers for special teams duty.

Scouting Football Talent – Boom or Bust? | TheFootballEducator.com
The phrase “boom or bust potential” is often used a lot when discussing draft prospects. What is the best method of evaluation to measure both the floor and ceiling of a prospect, and what is used to determine whether or not the reward will outweigh the risk? My immediate reaction to the question was this – “If we had the exact answer to that question then we’d all be seven figure General Managers in the National Football League!”

NFL Draft Preparation - Best value vs Team needs | TheFootballEducator.com
There are numerous avenues a General Manager can take when piecing together an NFL roster. Veteran free agency is a quick fix system that usually requires a substantial investment on the club’s part and can lead to fiscal disaster if your evaluation is errant. Most argue the prudent route to take is through the NFL Draft; selecting young talent and then developing within your own organizational structure. That’s hard to argue with. Certainly free agency has its place within NFL roster building, but the draft has shown to be a more stable system from which to upgrade a club’s professional football talent.

NFL Player Personnel - The Balance of Power | TheFootballEducator.com
One by one they parade up to the podium at Lucas Oil Field; General Managers and Head Coaches. Some look a bit grizzled for the many long seasons that put the wrinkles and gray hairs in place, others look as if they just crossed the stage at their high school graduation.

NFL Draft Preparations - Cutting through the chaff of mocks | TheFootballEducator.com
It’s that time of year of where the number one play in professional football is to try and predict the number one pick in the annual NFL college draft (and 31 after that). Just about everyone has their own version of the mock draft rundown and with each example is a different version based on an individual perspective.

NFL Draft Preparation - 1st round tactics & strategies | TheFootballEducator.com
In the movie classic “Braveheart”, England’s King Edward “Longshanks” invades Scotland at the Battle of Falkirk against the Scottish army led by Sir William Wallace (Mel Gibson). Longshanks had secretly organized the invasion while sending his daughter-in-law to negotiate a truce.

NFL Draft Preparation - "Failure to plan is planning to fail" | TheFootballEducator.com
How many scenarios are accounted for in NFL draft preparation to ensure a team is well prepared in the event that a highly rated player, one who has been targeted as the team’s top prospect, is selected just before they are on the clock? The Football Educator thought this was a rather intriguing question and one that deserved a closer look as we continue to dissect the various aspects of draft preparation.

The importance of NFL ownership in sports negotiations | TheFootballEducator.com
Recent cases involving veteran NFL players have reinforced to me the importance of NFL ownership. Proprietary control of a professional football franchise is an elite club and one that many successful businessmen and women have aspired to. Only a small number ever get the opportunity to own an NFL franchise. Membership has been garnered through a number of avenues.

Sports Negotiations - Contentious conundrum of NFL contracts | TheFootballEducator.com
I was never formally trained in the art of negotiation prior to becoming a general manager in the National Football League. There was really nothing in my professional background or experience that might lead you to believe that I would ever be successful in selling a roster opportunity in exchange for multi-millionaire dollar deal. Most might argue that this responsibility would be best left up to attorneys, wise in the ways of spinning situations and scenarios in their favor without letting the facts or the truth get in the way of results.