Meeting Room: How Coaches & Front Offices Work Together
Breakdowns 7/31/22
The grind of the NFL season doesn’t end when teams walk off the field for the final time.
The Process
Coaches and front office members get straight back to work as soon as the final whistle blows, determining the future of the roster for the next season. Positional coaches get to work scouting out their respective positions, while front office personnel scout other teams and prospects in the upcoming draft.
Position coaches present players on the rise and players they feel are starting to lose a step. There is constant communication and planning between the coaching staff and members of the front office.
All the while, the General Manager, Head Coach and Owner begin working in tandem to shape the team and establish a clear direction on the team.
Repercussions
Those three discuss the details of decisions, planning on what happens and what they’ll do based on the repercussions of these decisions. Two recent examples of this were brought up by Mike Tannenbaum, former NFL executive and Founder of The 33rd Team.
“Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams left partially due to the money that went to Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, if you’re privileged enough to have these guys you have to pay them, but you have to plan out what happens after because some of these complementary pieces just won’t fit under the cap.”
This communication goes into scouting as well. The coach sets the guidelines for what he’s looking for to fulfill certain player types that fit his vision, while the General Manager orchestrates the members of the front office and scouts into finding those kinds of players. Tannenbaum brought this up discussing how Bill Parcells had certain player archetypes he liked, and how establishing these prototypes gave the scouting department a clear vision of the kinds of players to look for that fit the vision of the coaching staff.