How Important Is A Big Scouting Department These Days?

[*ochocincos*]

(01-22-2025, 07:44 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I still think that we need more scouts, but how important is a big scouting department these days?

Everything is online and you can find pretty much every game on every player that you want.

I still think that coaches are important because they know what they want, but we don't need a bunch of scouts to fly all over the country to find hidden gems and properly evaluate players because you can find out pretty much anything about anyone online now.

I think more scouts would be good to find players online, but how important is a big scouting department?

Coaches can spend time before the draft looking for the player that they want and that fits the team needs.

Ironic part is that we finally have a front office willing to spend money when we don't need to as much.

The *WAY* scouting is done now vs 20+ years ago is changed, for sure.

You may not need to physically go to the games (as much) now with all these games getting recorded, having the All-22 views, Ultra 4K, multiple camera angles, etc.

What you do need is *TIME* to review these games, and the more bodies you have, the better.

It's unrealistic to think an OC/DC/Zac can spend hours upon hours watching game film assessing these prospects in addition to their actual other responsibilities.
An expanded scouting department can help take (some of) these responsibilities off of the coaches and get more eyes and opinions on prospects to potentially bring in.
With that said, you need resources you can trust with a proven pedigree. Proven pedigree as in either proven success identifying/selecting good talent, or at least put less experienced individuals through some type of interview to understand what things they would look for and understand how they assess if given the opportunity.