This year, CollegeInsider.com has made its competition a little more spicy, by bringing in Dynasty’s Danielle Wolfe into the fold as the one tasked with picking the winners on the catwalk.  CollegeInsider.com set Danielle up with her own page on the site, a Twitter account specially made for the competition, and has used her image throughout the site.

This is always a fantastic competition. sponsored by CollegeInsider.com, and we are happy to have Danielle be a part of it in 2010.

Last week, when rumors were quickly spreading about various coaches who might seek out the vacant Kansas football head-coaching position, some writers started to take critical looks at their hometown coaches.  They were upset just thinking that their head coach might leave town to try to fill the large void left by Mark Mangino.  No need to chuckle for too long about that “large void” line…let’s move on.

Over the weekend, the Turner Gill, formerly the head coach of the Buffalo Bulls, accepted Kansas’ offer to become the football team’s next head coach.  The Stanford community no longer has to worry about Jim Harbaugh possibly moving East and the State of Mississippi can relax knowing that Houston Nutt is not going to be leaving any time soon.  When it looked like Nutt was considering the Kansas opening, some reporters got all out nasty when discussing the coach.  One, in particular, waged all-out war-of-words on his agent, Jimmy Sexton.

This is what Brian Cook wrote in The Sporting Blog:

Look no further than the googly-eyed one’s agent, Jimmy Sexton. Sexton looks exactly like you’d expect a slightly reptile sports agent to look and acts like he’s been scripted by Jerry Bruckheimer. Sexton represents about half of the coaches south of the Mason-Dixon line and is almost certainly the “source close to Houston Nutt” cited above.

Sexton is almost singlehandedly responsible for creating the maelstrom of coaching insanity in the South. Any opportunity to pretend his clients are thinking about jumping ship is taken, whether it’s to wheedle out a contract extension or just buy a guy who turned a top five preseason ranking into obscurity a little more goodwill at his current home. Here’s an archetypal example:

In November 2006, he brought Butch Davis back to the college ranks at North Carolina. A year later, despite a 4-8 start, Davis received a contract extension and a raise from UNC, a response to rumors that he might leave Chapel Hill and take the vacant job at Arkansas, his alma mater. Even though Davis vehemently denied the chatter, he still received an extra year and $291,000 more per season.Sexton is the coaching equivalent of sleazy, soul-patched pickup artists displaying “PUMA SKILLS“; there’s nothing to see here except posturing and possibly a Nutt contract extension.

The picture referenced in the first link (which is at the top of this post) is a little disturbing, but does Sexton really deserve the “sleazy, soul-patched pickup artist” comparison?

Baseball

• Buster Olney wonders if the fact that many 2nd tier starting pitchers have the same agents will drive up their costs to teams [Starters with same agents could push prices].
• Interesting that the owners and the MLBPA may be interested in an international draft [Is the international draft inching closer to reality?].
• I actually tested the software for Bloomberg…cool stuff [Bloomberg Technology Embraces Baseball].
• The Winter Meetings are a bratwurst fest [Suitcase Chronicles: It's Raining Men].
• Technically still not retired, though [Bonds' agent concedes slugger's playing days are over]
• A good bit of information about baseball agent, Scott Boras [The man fans love to hate].

Football

• Maybe the UFL could learn a tip or two from the CFL [CFL Stays True To It’s Brand…].

Coaches

• The first college coach (including football and basketball) to break $5 million per year. Pete Carroll can’t ask for more after this season [Mack Brown gets raise, will be highest-paid college coach].

Golf

• A view that Tiger Woods can’t expect to remain a private person and needs to get out in front of and in control of the news cycle [Tiger Woods news: sports agent Leigh Steinberg on Woods].

I am a sports agent, but I am also a fan of my home teams.  That’s why, to this day, I have a problem with Nick Saban.  He bailed out on my Dolphins after he said there was no way that he was leaving.  I should have known not to trust him, since he did the same thing to LSU before leaving the Tigers for the Fins.  Anyway, Jimmy Sexton, a very popular and successful agent, is Saban’s agent.  He also represents many other high profile NFL coaches, NFL players, and a few baseball players.  His company is Athletic Resource Management, and his website is http://www.sextonsports.com/.

Sexton recently granted an interview to Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News.  Sexton says phrases like “they’re gonna take you out boots first in a pine box,” which is something that would never ever come out of my mouth.  I guess I have no hope recruiting clients in states like Alabama.  Lane Kiffin does not call Sexton, “sir”, and I am not surprised.  An interesting note is that Sexton represents two of Bobby Bowden’s assistant coaches.  Think he wants the University to push the old coach to retirement?  Sexton also has the pleasure of repping the head coach of the Dolphins and the Jets.  No bad blood between those two teams.

This article is posted in the hope that it provides athletes with a way to more accurately assess the skills of an offer from various types of agents.

For example, anyone doing any research on me will quickly see that I have a strong background in the law, so one would expect my skills to be strong apropos contracts, negotiation, drafting, professionalism and presentation.  But does that make me a good agent?  Is the agent who is a former player without as much formal education and experience necessarily a weaker negotiator than me? Is he less well-versed in the nuances of contract law?  Can he pick out a future star as well as me simply because he has played professionally for many years?  Am I any less able to find the diamond in the rough simply because I spent my formative working years in Court rather than on the rainy, muddy and wind-swept soccer pitches of England?

I will readily concede that one of my weaknesses on which I have worked very hard is identifying young players who may have what it takes to play professionally at some point in the future.  Unearthing young talent is a key component of any agent’s practice.  But there is a vast difference between noticing a player who is playing well in that game and in spotting someone who has the raw materials and can go on to forge a career.  When coupled with the myriad factors involved in making it professionally then, this can suddenly seem a daunting task.

My solutions have been two-fold.  Firstly, there is no substitute for actually getting out there and watching as many games as possible.  DVDs only take one so far.  Being present during the game is vital.  The more games one watches, with one’s agent hat on rather than punter, the more I have been able to build up an accurate picture of youth soccer and, over time, been able to make more accurate and informed judgments on players.

Secondly, being humble enough to ask the opinion of others – namely, coaches.  My company currently represents a number of coaches, some of whom are experts in youth development.  I have done a good job for them in the past and they are delighted to receive DVDs of players on whom I would like their feedback.  It can really mean the difference between investing time and resources into a player who may never make it and, on the other side of that chain of reasoning, between having a reliable and experienced 2^nd opinion to back up my own thoughts on the player.

So, what can a former player who is now acting as an agent offer?  You can expect him to have a lot more contacts earlier on his career than someone like me who had to build everything up from the bottom over a period of time.  He may or may not have the same presentation skills and may place less emphasis on the quality of the written work.  He will most likely have greater access to better young players earlier on due to the fact he has just finished his playing career and is making the transition from playing to representation, so if you’re an unknown young player then he may already have a complete portfolio of young players and be less willing to take a chance on you.  Whilst there is the prestige of being represented by a former big name, does this mean that you will get the personal touch you as a player want and deserve?  Equally, there is no guarantee that someone without a playing background will give you the requisite attention.

I’ve had players come to me from other agents with stories about what took place which led to them leaving.  I have no doubt that the player is telling the truth and, equally, that the other agent was doing his job properly and professionally but it didn’t work out based on a number of factors…but mainly chemistry.  What works for one player and one agent may not be appropriate for the agent and the second player.  Likewise, I’ve had 1 or 2 of my clients ask if they could leave the agency or speak to other agents.  There is never bad blood, because as much as this is a personal relationship based on trust, it’s also a business deal and there’s no sense in preventing a client from looking elsewhere.

For me, the absolute bottom line is chemistry with my clients.  If we’re not getting along well, then I will have no hesitation in terminating the contract and allowing both parties to walk away.  I love this game too much, and am deeply fortunate to be able to earn a living doing something I love, to allow it to be hindered by a client with an attitude problem.  If it’s not working out, as sometimes happens, then there’s nothing wrong with walking away.  Neither party should be unhappy when the excitement of building a successful career together can be incredibly fulfilling.

In summary, I would say that there are really no sure things and perhaps this article has achieved the opposite of what I set out to accomplish – to pose more questions than provide answers!  But I hope it’s helped somebody, somewhere, if they are weighing up which type of agent to appoint.

Max Eppel is a soccer Players’ Agent Licensed by The FA. His company is Max Eppel Soccer Agency LLC and has offices in Newport Beach, CA and London, UK.  For further information click on www.maxeppelsocceragency.com.

The agent-related article of last week that generated a lot of buzz in the sports agent community was a very long piece written by ESPN.com’s Andy Katz.  While I was not able to put aside the time to give it a thorough read until several days after it was written, I am glad that I kept that tab hanging around and finally read it.  So if you have not yet read the piece, Agents and coaches battle for prospects, go ahead and give it a try.

Adding a player as a friend on Facebook is an interesting tactic for an agent to employ.  As Cameron Schuh, the Associate Director for Public and Media Relations for the NCAA, once told me, there are no restrictions between agents and student-athletes in the NCAA rules/bylaws as far as communicating through social networking … AS LONG AS no oral and/or written agreement has been made.  Katz basically echos that statement in his piece.

Additionally, SPARTA and other laws are not particularly well-suited for online communication.  So it seems as though an agent is not violating any particular rule by communicating with a student-athlete over a site like Facebook.  And if an athlete is so bothered by agents contacting him on a social networking site, that athlete always has the option of not adding the agent as one of his contacts, or not having a profile on that site at all.

Coaches do hate it when agents have contact with their players, even if the agents are taking actions that are 100% legal.  I will not mention any names, but I have already had an experience with a college coach leaving me a 3 minute phone message, screaming expletives at me and basically telling me that he would make sure I never sign another college basketball player again in the future.  Was he out of line?  Of course.  Especially because he did not know that his player actually contacted me and asked that he be the one to break the news to his coach that he would be leaving early to play ball professionally.  It was not my fault when the player did not tell the coach until a couple of days before leaving school.

That’s why I am not surprised at all when Katz writes that Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said to him, “Anybody that I find who goes behind my back to get my kids, I’ll do everything in my power to see that they’re not involved in the process.”

But is it any better if an agent goes through a coach instead of going directly to the player?  Coaches might refer a particular agent to their players even if that agent is not necessarily the right fit for the particular player.  Then we have to worry about shady coach/agent relationships…is the coach getting a cut of the action?

And yes, AAU coaches have taken the spot of college coaches as the emphasis for agents in building relationships for all the reasons mentioned by Katz.  But many college coaches still have very tight relationships with various agents.

The moral of the story is that basketball is pretty dirty.  There are a lot of different actors looking to benefit from an athlete’s talent.  There is a lot of money in the game of basketball, so the fact that there is so much shadiness behind the scenes should not surprise anybody.

Baseball

• Dan Leatherman – Last night, he picked up the win for the Potomac Nationals.  His final line was: 3.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.  This improves him to 2-0 with a 5.32 ERA on the season with the High A Potomac Nationals.  Leatherman has not walked a batter in his last 7 outings, which spans 12.2 innings.
• Pete Parise – Parise threw 2 perfect innings (1 K) in Springfield’s loss last night.  Parise has now thrown 11.1 consecutive scoreless frames over his last 8 outings and has a 0.59 ERA over his last 10 outings.  His season ERA is 2.86 in 34.2 IP (26 K’s).  We showed you a powerpoint slide on him yesterday.  His stat line has only gotten better since.
• Kyle Gunderson – Recently, Hi-A Jupiter placed Kyle on the reserve list.  Kyle is healthy and looking forward to returning back to the active list soon.  The Marlins put him on the reserve list as a precautionary measure to give his back some rest.  Since joining the Jupiter Hammerheads in a trade for Logan Kensing, Gunderson has a WHIP and ERA of 0.90 in 10 IP.
• Kyle McPherson – In his last 4 starts, McPherson has 3 wins and 1 no-decision. In the 22.1 IP over that span, Kyle has racked up 13 K’s and only walked 2 batters.  His overall record on the year with the West Virginia Power is 4-1.
• Ryan Kelly – R.Kelly has provided solid relief for the West Virginia Power thus far.  His ERA is sitting at 3.06.  When A-Rod was making his way back to the majors with rehab assignments, he could not get a hit off of R. Kelly.
• Brendan Murphy – Brendan got off to a scorching hot start with the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League, but has cooled off a bit ever since.  He still has 2 HR in 8 games played, along with 6 RBI.
• The rest of our boys: Tommy Johnson, Nick Czyz, Ben Billingsley, and Zach Rosenbaum are doing very well in Extended Spring Training and will be on their respective teams’ Short Season A teams.

Bowling

• Our latest bowling client is Jason Belmonte.  He is currently in his home of Australia making the rounds with the press, but will be back in the U.S. shortly to bowl in the PBA’s Summer Series.  We have big plans for Belmo.  In the meantime, become a fan on his Facebook page.

Football

• Rulon Davis is doing well with the Denver Broncos.  The team needs all the help it can get on Defense and Rulon is just the type of guy who can give them that edge they so desperately need.
• Andrew Johnson had a very successful mini-camp tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but unfortunately, was not retained by the team.  We are now searching for other options for Drew.
• Kevin Grant is considering various options, but we still believe that he belongs in the NFL.  We continue to find the right fit for the former 4-year Akron LB.

Basketball

• We have recently added a bunch of new clients including, Terrrance Woodbury (leading scorer at UGA for the past 2 years), John Gilchrist (former standout at University of Maryland), and Jamarcus Ellis (University of Indiana – named Honorable Mention All Big-Ten).  All of them are receiving considerable interest in the United States (NBA/NBDL) and overseas.

Coaches

• Been working on a new website.  Jason and I have been given important positions in a particular coaches association.  More information will be posted in the near future.

Entertainment

• Hopefully you know about the new EntertainmentAgentBlog.com.  The new site alone, has allowed us to receive more leads for our clients.  Additionally, we are starting to move away from being “agents” to our clients, to taking on more of a managerial role.

Keathley has been in the coaching industry for 10 seasons now, and has yet to record a losing record. He is an innovator of the game and is best known for his extreme version of the Run-N-Gun offensive which was responsible for his team averaging an absurd 111 points per game in the 2007-2008 season.  It is a true rarity to find such a young coach with such a vast knowledge and passion for the game. With that combination, the sky is the limit for Coach Keathley.

The NCAA has formally approved the use of Twitter for recruiting purposes.  This is definitely big news for college coaches, who will use Twitter to sent direct messages to high school recruits.  But what about agents?  Agents are bound by strict NCAA regulations that prohibit contact with a student athletes until a certain point of their collegiate careers (depending on the sport).  Now, can agents, like college coaches, use sites like Twitter and Facebook to talk to athletes of any age, as long as they follow specific instructions?  These are the instructions for coaches:

1. On Twitter, stay away from @ comments.  Instead of reaching out to student-athletes by sending a message via @ reply, send it in a direct message.  This way, the conversation is 2-way and not open for all to see.
2. On Facebook, stay away from wall posts.  Send messages to individuals, instead.  Again, this creates the 2-way convo and does not allow others to chime in.
3. No problem being an athlete’s Friend on Facebook or Follower on Twitter.

Such Facebook messages and Twitter direct messages are considered to be the equivalent of an e-mail or blog post.  Interestingly, Instant Messages and text messages are still prohibited.  Almost anyone who uses Twitter on a phone receives Facebook and Twitter messages as texts…why make the distinction when there really is none?  A text is also kept private like a Direct Message on Twitter.  Is it because Facebook messages and Twitter DMs leave a trail, whereas texts are not kept on any type of server?  This way, just in case, the NCAA could sweep in and take over a student-athlete’s account and check on the messages going back and forth; something you cannot do with texts, which are often times deleted from a phone after roughly 15 days.

Anyway, NCAA Division I Bylaw 13.4.1.2 does not make it clear as to whether or not agents now have the same rights as coaches.  Anyone at the NCAA reading this that can fill us in?

Chris Layne

Track is not a sport that I am very familiar with, but I do know one of the names on the Total Sports client list: Xavier “X-Man” Carter.  He has done a lot of training at UF.  Anyway, the video is below.  Enjoy.