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Most long reads contain a lot of fluff that simply adds to the word count and requires a magnifying glass to spot tidbits of actual news. A new article from ESPN.com’s Kalyn Kahler about the influence of agents on coaches and GM staffs has very little fat in and around the meat.
If you’re interested in how to make NFL sausage, take some time Read everything. The biggest takeaway is this: After years of not noticing or caring about the fact that agents are the kingmakers when it comes to NFL coaches and general managers, the league cares — and hopes to make a difference.
Kahler explains that it started in earnest in Indy two years ago. Six training agents (Trace Armstrong, Bob Lamont, Jimmy Sexton, Jason Fletcher, Brian Levy, and Kennard McGuire) met with Commissioner Roger Goodell and others to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion in the hiring process.
The problem, the association sees it, is that the habit of “blanket deals” involving clients from the same company makes it difficult for minority coaches to get fair chances to ascend to senior positions.
“It’s fixed,” Fletcher told Kahler. “I think a lot of guys — and I’m not pointing fingers — I think there’s a strong energy where if this guy gets the GM job, he’ll hire someone from the same brand. That happens a lot in this business.”
Actually it is. Much of the article focuses on Armstrong’s long-term impact on the Bears, where he currently represents GM Ryan Poles. Armstrong’s company, Athletes First, also represents (per Caller) former Bears coaches Matt Nagy and Eberflus and former Bears offensive coordinators Mark Helfrich, Luke Getesi and Shane Waldron.
Armstrong also represents Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, one of several candidates for the head coaching vacancy in Chicago.
“The business is absolutely tainted,” Fletcher told Kahler. “It’s a relationship business, and you’ll have experienced people who deserve opportunities that won’t get them. And then you’ll get people who don’t deserve those opportunities who will get opportunities.”
The NFL has begun informing teams of this dynamic, with this message included in materials distributed to various franchises: “Look outside of the ‘usual suspects’ or ‘hot guy’ for this season. . . . Ask specifically for a variety of names. Be aware of conflicts of interest and bias from any referrals, especially agents or media.
On some level, the league can only blame itself. With coaches unwilling to have the same type of union maintained by players, there is no one to directly regulate the agents who represent coaches. The union will be able to enforce rules related to the representation of coaches, such as preventing agents who represent coaches from representing general managers.
However, the NFL Players Association does not prohibit agents from representing players and coaches, so there is no guarantee that the coaching association will address this issue.
The deeper problem is that when the time comes when owners with little or no direct knowledge of the sport need to hire a wide range of candidates, other factors (such as relationships with agents) can influence the final analysis. That’s one of the basic facts of the multi-billion-dollar soccer operations run like family-owned food trucks. Many owners don’t know what they don’t know, so they find people they can trust to help them develop the confidence needed to make decisions.
Thus, while the league office can complain about the influence of agents on the hiring of coaches and general managers, the fundamental problem is that no matter how hard it tries, 345 Park Ave. will never be able to adequately breed the 32 cats who routinely dispose of an imaginary feast of mints. Wild.
