Opinion: Scouting Report Writing – What should you Do?

So many people offer various different scouting classes or seminars.  It’s mind-boggling out there.  While I appreciate that people are growing and learning, I think most of them are overpriced and expensive.

So, I’ve decided to do a series of posts for Draft Diamonds and offer it for free based on personal experience.  I took a scouting class once (a cheaper one from a former GM) and it basically confirmed everything I already knew.

The truth is that you can take every class in the world and it wouldn’t matter if you don’t sit down at a table with a computer and notepad and take notes.  There are so many things that a class can’t teach you that just come with experience.

It’s like fishing: you can read all the books on fishing, but until you cast out your lines, until you feel the fish nibble on the bait, and until you set the hook for the first time, you won’t be very good. 

And you’ll waste a lot of money on bait, too!

I’ve decided to start off this series by doing basic report writing dos and don’ts.  The most critical aspect of scouting is producing a written report that is descriptive yet also concise.  Let’s start off with some dos:

Do’s

Find a mentor, preferably someone with a lot of experience, who can see your work.  Ask for tips and ideas on how to make it better.  I have a couple in my world.

Practice!  Bill Polian once compared scouting to Tiger Woods: if Tiger didn’t hit hundreds of range balls every day, he wouldn’t be a very good golfer.  Scouting effectively requires practice. 

Be honest and blunt.  Write what you see.  Your opinion is yours!  Don’t give into groupthink.  Chris Ballard once said if we’re all thinking identically, we aren’t thinking!

Have conviction, too!  Even if you stand against the grain of everybody, your head will hit the pillow knowing you didn’t lie.

Be skeptical!  Here’s some shocking news: not many football players are truly great!  This is especially true if you are working in a college football recruiting office.  Just 5 percent of all high school players get scholarships. Math wasn’t my strong suit, but this requires you to be better than 95 percent of the country.  The NFL is even tougher!  Ask yourself: if my job depended on it, would I be willing to coach this player?

Use normal words to describe a particular player trait.  Divide up how well a player encompasses a quality trait by using four different levels of words, as follows:

“Outstanding/excellent/exceptional” – player performs the trait on a consistent basis and does it extremely well. Example: “Has outstanding hand use; consistent hand placement and strike timing.”  “Has excellent leg drive.” 

“Good/Above-average/strong”- player performs the assignment very well, but may have lapses in consistency.  Examples: “Has above-average vision.”  “Has good foot speed in his lateral set.”

“Average/marginal/decent” – player performs the task well at times, but is inconsistent and/or needs to work on the finer technique points.  Examples: “Has marginal closing speed.”  “Has average foot speed.”

“Below average/poor” – player does not perform the trait well, consistently underperforms, and/or needs serious work.  Examples: “Makes poor decisions with the ball.”  “Has below-average breakaway speed.”  Typically a player who does a key quality trait poor will hold less value.

Tomorrow: Report writing do-nots!