2015 Training Camp Intern - Nothing like a 3 week working interview during what is among the busiest times of the NFL calendar to prove your worth. With airport runs, physicals needing to be done, roster cards to update, film to cut, meetings to attend, scouting to learn and work to be done, sleep was a bonus. It was during this time that relationships were formed and I did all I could to convince GM Thomas Dimitroff, that I would be worth taking a chance on.

2016 Scouting Assistant - February 1st, 2016, after an 11 hour drive from Cleveland, OH to Flowery Branch, GA, I was ready to start as a full-time scouting assistant. Alongside James Bodenheimer, we prepared for the 2016 NFL Combine, pro days, private workouts, meetings, free agency, and everything else anyone in the scouting, administration and coaching staff asked us to do. It was in these long days and late nights that I got to experience the grind, passion and work it took to have a successful NFL franchise.  

After a historic and successful 2016 NFL draft, that brought in 5 year 1 starters, the fall season got under way. Now alongside Richard Sanders, we hit the in-season grind with a passion and intensity that would ensure we were doing our part to help in whatever way we could. Joel Collier led the in-house scouts as we strived to make sure coaches had all they needed to win weekly, and it was in that effort that I took over the weekly Special Teams portion of the coaches advance scouting report.  

Team success led to an eye on playoff advances and before I knew it I was on the road gathering information for potential playoff opponents like the Packers, Giants and Rams. Even as a scouting assistant I had proven enough to be in New England for the AFC Championship where, if the Steelers would have won, I would have been in charge of the Super Bowl Advance. Unfortunately, we know how that one ended up; a field view memory of James White crossing the goal line in overtime forever seared into my brain.

2017 Pro Scout - Following the Super Bowl and in the midst of free agency I was promoted from Scouting Assistant to Pro Scout. A title and role that I embraced with the same intensity I had always had. From free agency to league wide team need draft analysis, alongside Joel Collier, I strove to be the best pro scout in the entire NFL. It was over the next two years that I worked tirelessly to know the entire league, advance opponents in a way that gave the coaches an advantage, be on top of every waiver wire, short list and workout candidate as well as continue to learn all that scouting encompassed.

In just the blink of an eye, it was a long plane ride back from Minneapolis, MN where I had been prepared to advance our NFC Championship opponent before a premature end to the season came in Philadelphia. So close, yet another season once again done. With free agency and looming cap decisions on my mind, a surprise meeting with the GM sent me on a new journey.

2019 Midwest College Scout - With changes to both the coaching staff and scouting staff underway, Thomas transitioned me from in-house to on the road where I would handle Midwest Scouting duties for the team. Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois were all part of that territory.  With pro days ready to start it was hit the ground running. Pro days led to the draft, the draft led to mini-camp, and before I knew it, the fall was there and it was time to hit the road.  

Handling the Midwest over the course of the next three years was my next education in scouting in the NFL. A fast paced and completely new scouting schedule allowed me to expand my network and learn scouting from a draft perspective. Meeting coaches, staff, academics, trainers, basically anyone that wanted to talk about football was information for a report. Hitting your stride means being uncomfortable for a while - but the pain is worth the gain.

Routine is a great thing when you start operating as a road scout, but all of that was interrupted by the shutting down of life as we know it in March of 2020. After attending the NFL Combine then heading north to Wisconsin for the Badger pro day, that fateful day in Mid-march came that kept us all behind screens and in our basements for the next, what seemed like, eternity. Though scouting from home was a different animal, the character had to be gleaned, the film had to be watched, the sources had to be vetted and the reports had to be done.  

Finally the pandemic seemed to be done. In person meetings. An in person draft, now with GM Terry Fontenot. And a new head coach. Life seemed to be getting back to normal, even with a few hiccups, until that day in September that changed everything. 

2014 Outside Linebackers Coach - Hard work pays off, just not the way we always expect. What seemed like a tremendous season with Tennessee Titans, I was confident that a full time scouting assistant position would open up at some point that year. A few conversations, a few interviews, but by mid-summer, it seemed that the 2014 season would be spent out of the NFL.  

And as only God can work, a blind resume to a program in Ohio that I had never heard of led to me joining a coaching family that I am still close with to this day. CWRU - A high academic university in East Cleveland is where I was headed to coach outside linebackers. What I learned under Mike Vrabel at Ohio State was quickly paying off as I worked to help some of the smartest football players in the country how to set edges flat drop and rush the passer.  

As part of the gig, I got to take care of many of the in's and out's of Hudl film management, recruiting, strength and conditioning and academic advisement alongside Head Coach Greg Debeljak. Fortunately for me, Coach Debs understood my passion and desire to return to the NFL and gave me every opportunity to continue to seek that career path.

2015 Defensive Backs Coach - An underwhelming 2014 season led to changes in the coaching staff and I found myself a little further away from the ball working with defensive backs in what we coined as part of our defense - "Death from Above". Working with the secondary gave me a whole new group of guys to both teach, and learn from, as we came so close a Division III playoff appearance. What ultimately came up short on the wins side left me with an even greater understanding of the game of football, defensive game planning and preparation and an appreciation for how smart and passionate every player on the team was.  

2013 Seasonal Scouting Intern - When opportunity comes, you do not always have time to plan things out.  

After completing my masters degree at Ohio State in May of 2013, I had transitioned to an unofficial, but essentially full time job, working with the Ohio State defense. Shane Bowen, the Defensive GA for the last 2 years, had just departed for his next opportunity and Vince Oghobaase had stepped in to fill the role. I was full steam ahead, ready to figure out away to be part of the OSU staff, when I got a call. 

Monday, July 22nd - I get a call from the Tennessee Titans about a seasonal scouting role that they needed to fill right away.

Tuesday, July 23rd - I fly from Columbus to Nashville to spend the day interviewing for the role. By the time the sun went down, I had a job offer. 

Wednesday, July 24th - First Day of training camp. 6:00 AM my car was packed with everything I owned, I had no place lined up to stay, I still had rent to pay in Columbus, but I was on my way to my first NFL opportunity.  

Grungy hotels to start, all my hours spent at the facility, to a hole in the wall apartment well outside the fun Nashville you imagine; my NFL dream had started. Learning from Pro Scouts James Kirkland and Dennis Polian, Pro Director Lake Dawson, VP of Football Administration Vin Marino, Director or College Scouting Blake Beddingfield and GM Ruston Webster, my NFL tutelage was underway. 

2011-2013 Master of Sport Management, GA of Outdoor Facilities Management, Recreation Sports

The road to where we want to end up is rarely straight. After completing my degree at NWU and working as a copier salesman for 6 months, I was off to Ohio State where I would get a master's degree in sport administration, manage numerous outdoor recreation facilities, and in my mind, find my way into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to shake hands with Jim Tressel. But the year was 2011 and fallout from Tattoo-gate was just getting started.  

With a head coaching transition and NCAA investigation that led a locked down football facility, my time would have to wait. While working diligently to make the ODFM the best Rec Sports department on campus I enrolled in an undergraduate coaching football class, where, among the other coaches, I met someone who would give me the most intense on the job training I have ever received - Mike Vrabel.

2013 Defensive Line Intern for Mike Vrabel - Ohio State Football

Balancing the expectations of a student staff, intramural sports, weather swings and finishing a masters degree all while trying to get your foot in the door, a door that many would die to be behind, was no small task. But this led to that, and before I knew it, I was learning the playbook, getting lunch, and doing anything else the defensive staff asked of me. Along with Vrabel, Luke Fickell, Kerry Coombs and Everett Withers were on staff for new Head Coach Urban Meyer who had high expectations coming off an unlikely 12-0 fall season.  

A new recruit on campus, Joey Bosa, among others, needed to learn the playbook and be ready for the fall season. New opponents needed 2012 film broken down and spring practices needed to go to another level to ensure Coach Meyer had the success he demanded. There is no better place to be forged than in the hottest fire, and the heat was certainly turned up every day at the Woody Hayes.

2006-2010 Varsity Football Team

I loved wrestling, track was great; but football is what I had a passion for. An undersized, slightly stiff, white corner that was more of a middle distance track guy may not have a future playing in the NFL, but being around the game every day was something I knew I was going to do. From the moment I put on the Prairie Wolf logo I battled for the team, working from a special teams role to a rotational corner in my first camp. Availability is often the best ability and a shoulder injury the final 2-a-day practice meant I was under the knife (for a 2nd time) on my shoulder, ultimately giving me a medical redshirt season.

Over the next 4.5 years as part of the NWU football team, I saw coaches come and go, the defense change, and players leave; but through it all I developed my love of film watching, and specifically, looking at the details of those opponents I was going to face. Work on and off the field both in-season and out led to me being voted a Team Captain for the 2010 season, an honor I held with great pride. Playing football was not going to last forever, but being a part of the game of football was, and all that I learned in my time on campus still helps shape who I am today.

2006-2010 Bachelor of Science - Sport Management

Going to Nebraska Wesleyan was as much a football decision as it was about school, but a strong athletic training program certainly help put it over the top. But, as so many know, that major did not stay the same for long. Athletic training was not for me, but a future in sports was, and sport management was my next program of study. An all encompassing degree, paired with a minor in marketing, would surely help me as I knew without a doubt, that somewhere in the sports field is where I would end up.

When most people hear I grew up in Colorado, they think big, beautiful Rocky Mountains, fresh powder and a snowboard and all that comes with an elevation over a mile high. Now travel 168 miles East on I-70 to where the land is flat, barbed wire fence surrounds most sections and the corn, wheat and pastureland go as far as the eye can see. Welcome to Burlington, CO.

A farming community on the interstate, just under four thousand people, and a graduating class of 60 is where I grew up. The 2nd oldest of 5 kids, 2 brothers and 2 sisters, and parents who were both teachers and coaches, we were always on the go.

Track, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, swimming and cheerleading. Activities for 5 kids that all had a passion for competition.  

When not in season, you could find me working in the garden, cutting and splitting firewood, and eventually working long days at Hitchcock Farms, where as a hired hand, there was no task that I shied away from. Among the many stops I made, this is where I learned work ethic, problem solving, self reliance, and so many other life lessons. Days can be long farming thousands of acres, tending to hundreds of cattle and keeping all aspects of the operation running, but it is all part of what makes me who I am.

All I do is shaped by my faith in my Lord and Savior, the one true God and soon returning Jesus Christ. This faith shapes the way I view the world, the way I treat every person I interact with and the final decision I make in any matter.  

I strive to take the whole gospel, to the whole person to the whole world and do so as part of the Body of Christ. With my non-profit, Copper Coin Ministries, I continually seek additional opportunities to share the Gospel with people all over the world.