I Turned Down 5 Player Development Opportunities. Here's Why.....

Here's what I learned, what I would do differently, and what would get me back in the role.

Oct 22, 2024

You read that right, I turned down 5 player development interviews.

In this newsletter I will talk about why I did it and what I learned from it.

Here’s some background to help you understand why I would make those decisions.

In December 2021, I was let go as the Assistant Athletic Director of Player Development at Baylor University. For the next 10 months, I took interviews, had conversations, and reached out to as many people as I could.

Unfortunately, during this time I found out some former coworkers were spreading lies about me, my work ethic, and the impact I had.

At some point during the player development career drought I had, I had to make a decision for my family, our savings was getting low and we knew we didn’t want to live in Waco for the long run. So, we moved to Kansas City because it provided the most support for my wife and kids.

Well, 11 months after being fired the calls finally came in, I guess the Player Development Pod and the value I provided to others pulverized all the lies.

The First Opportunity

I was walking in our new house with my newborn son when I got a call about applying for the NFL Academy in England. I was like WOW! Thank you for the thoughts but there’s no way I can move my family at this moment. I remember thinking where was this call 8 months ago. 😂

The Second Opportunity

About a month later I got a call about interest in a position with a BIG TEN program. It was a good conversation, but the fit wasn’t the best.

The Third Opportunity

The spring of 2023, brought a very interesting opportunity. These were all for the same position to lead a department at a SEC program. The Director was transitioning and wanted me to meet with his HC. When I politely declined, there were two more calls about just meeting. The program was phenomenal but I felt it would be tough to truly create a customized program for the players on the team.

The Fourth Opportunity

I was attending an event for a family friend when I got a call from the West Coast and a BIG TEN program started the conversation immediately. The call was good and the conversation went very well and I admired the commitment I heard from the GM about the vision for player development. On this call I asked about building a staff and having someone with me in the department and there wasn’t a commitment to that so I politely declined.

The Fifth Opportunity

This one is a longer story, so when I still lived in Waco, I attended the 2022 NFL Combine per the advice of many scouts I knew who had found out I was let go. I went to Indianapolis and spent 11 days there, shoutout to my bro George Midgett for letting me crash his place there for that time. At the combine I ran into a Director of Player Engagement that I know, he came to me and told me he left my name with a SEC school and they would call me for the player development position. I looked him in his eyes and said they won’t call me, he was shocked. I went on to explain that someone from his staff had recently had a conversation with the head coach of the program and was telling him not to believe what was being said about me from those in Waco. So once I had heard this, I knew from my experience through those 10 months that a call wasn’t coming. The DPE I talked to at the combine called me two weeks later to see if they called and as I predicted they hadn’t.

Fast forward to the beginning of the 2023 football season this university came calling and wanted to know my interest in the position. I politely declined. It is hard for me to trust and work with people who believed a lie about me for so long.

Here’s What I Learned

Looking back at those incredible opportunities I would have gone through the process and had conversations with the head coaches and administrators. At the time and even now, I know what I am looking for, so I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.

BUT, the number one thing I would have been able to assess was the commitment to player development by talking to the head coach and others in the program. Head coaches move as do administrators, those conversations would’ve been beneficial for my career and what I am currently doing.

I would’ve been able to hear from those making the decisions the necessary additions they would need to see their program as they planned.

Sooooo….What’s In It For You

You have read through this much and thought so why did he write all this and tell me his life’s story.

I wrote this honestly because as I begin a webinar series, I’m reminded during my last webinar, I received three questions of why I was not currently in the role.

So there’s that, but what you can learn from my story is:

Continue to do the work because you never know who’s watching. But I can assure someone’s watching
Go through the interview process, you never know what you know or don’t know until you know or don’t know
Interviewing is a form of networking and welcoming more people into your career ecosystem
Be strong in your reasons to take or not take a role, know what you will work with and won’t work with. It won’t be perfect but know you non-negotiables.

So what would get me back in the player development role:

I would have to personally know or have someone I trust personally know the head coach. The reasons why he does things and how he truly does things.
I would have to have a staff. I spent 6 years in the role without another full time employee and I can’t do that again. I look forward to having a staff and developing some impactful professionals.
The opportunity to create an impactful program based on the needs of the program.
The opportunity to continue to create engaging and insightful player development content through Beyond The Field.
BIG BAG!
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The Player Development Pod

I spoke about this subject in detail in this podcast episode from 2023. It provides even more detail to the above portion of my player development journey. Hope you enjoy.