What is the front office in football?

The front office in football refers to the employees of the organization responsible for drafting players, negotiating contracts, trading, and bidding for free agents. The front office includes the General Manager, President/CEO, director of pro personnel, and director of college scouting.

Many football fans hear the term front office and do not necessarily know what it means. Most fans know this refers to those who run the business side of the football team but don’t know the specifics.

Football teams are not all structured the same way which means there are different positions in different teams’ front offices.

Generally, the main positions of note in the front office are the General Manager, President, director of pro personnel and director of college scouting.

That being said there are many more employees that make up the front office of a football team.

General Manager

The general manager in football is the position which has the final say over things football-related. This position will be in charge of which coaches are hired and fired from the coaching staff.

The general manager will also be in charge of hiring/leading the director of player personnel and college scouting.

The general manager is a very important position and has a huge impact on the roster of players that make up the football team.

President/CEO

The president/CEO is another very important position in the front office. Oftentimes teams will have one of a CEO or a President but some teams may have both of these positions.

Generally, this position is responsible for running the business side of the team that does not have to do with football. This includes things such as marketing, promotion, the stadium, and travelling.

In many ways, the President will determine how the organization is run as a whole outside of the players and the games.

Director of pro personnel

The director of pro personnel is going to be in control of working directly with the players. This position will assist the general manager in working with the players on things such as contract extensions and negotiations.

This position’s main purpose is to improve and maintain the makeup of the roster.

Director of college scouting

The director of college scouting is a fairly obvious job title. This position is responsible for running the scouting department for an NFL team.

NFL teams are going to have a large number of scouts on their payroll and need someone to organize and coordinate their work.

The director of college scouting will come up with scouting strategies and goals for the team to find the players they need for their team to succeed.

This position is especially relevant when it comes to the draft. The scouts will analyze just about every player that has entered the draft to determine where they rank in terms of prospects.

Every NFL team will have different rankings of the prospects in any given class. Having a quality director of college scouting is going to give your team a better chance of improving through the draft.

After all, this is where teams are going to find the majority of their starting players.

If you want to learn more about the front office or other inner workings of a football team check out our guides on offensive coordinators or defensive coordinators.

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