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  • Writer's pictureAlex Brown
    • Jul 4, 2020
    • 2 min read

Listen Now to Episode 14 - Featuring John Peterson

Finishing up last week's conversation with retired, longtime NFL Scout John Peterson, part two of my conversation with John spans all things related to player personnel departments in the world of college football


As mentioned last week, our guest for this conversation is both a dear friend and respected mentor of mine. John Peterson details his involvement with the Scouting Academy at the tail end of the interview, but this episode is chock full of advice on leadership, management, player personnel and evaluating within recruiting departments and football programs.

As far as main takeaways from the conversation, I loved hearing John's passion for teaching, leading and educating in the world of college athletics.


At the core of all we do in this game, we fundamentally must be able to learn and teach at a high level.


From his own days as a post-grad student, John broke down the "Formula for Education" as formulated by Dr. Clark W. Heatherington. Additionally, he noted that you can replace the word education with production because education ultimately leads to development which in turn leads to results.


So what is the "Formula for Education"?

  • Man + Environment + Activity + Leadership = Education

    • Man: Refers to the person you're teaching or the recipient

    • Environment: Refers to the exposure to learning & how growth is facilitated

    • Activity: Refers to the actual act or activity you need to propel learning

    • Leadership: Refers to the need to have a leader to motivate said person to act

Beyond the formula for education, leadership and management advice, we also discussed the growing specialized roles in recruiting.


Here are some quick hitters on that point of player personnel in college football:

  • Flow charts at each program are different and so are the roles

  • Ideally you have multiple levels of evaluators to "cut the wheat from the chaff"

  • There needs to be someone assigned full-time to monitoring the Transfer Portal

  • Grading scales with numbers and verbiage are paramount to assigning value

  • "Use every bit of information" -measurables, psychological, learning aptitude, etc.

And John says it in his closing remarks, but Quality People Build Quality Programs!


We covered a ton, just like last week so...

For those that like to skip around, here is your listening guide to the show:

  • Dr. Clark W. Heatherington's Formula for Education (2:34)

  • Leadership Defined & Management Styles (4:50)

  • Player Personnel Departments at the College Level (8:25)

  • Specialized Roles Required in College Football Recruiting (12:38)

  • The Role of Combine Scouts & Evaluating Underclassmen (14:08)

  • Applying NFL Scouting Principles to Covering the Portal (22:00)

  • Grading Scales in Evaluation and Assigning Value (33:13)

  • Sendoff Advice to Recruits, Parents and Coaches (44:01)

  • Information On The Scouting Academy (56:32)


Thank you for listening to another episode of Up Close In Personnel with Alex Brown! To learn more about the college recruiting course John Peterson teaches, don't forget to visit the Scouting Academy!


And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, rate and share the show!


Send in your suggestions for guests and/or topics by commenting below or via email at upcloseinpersonnel@gmail.com and have a Happy July 4th Weekend! -AB

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