The NFL will host its annual Front Office and General Manager Accelerator Program this week in Irving, Texas, for nearly three dozen men and women the league has identified as being GMs within the next zero-to-three years.
This will be the third standalone GM Accelerator and fourth overall as the league continues its efforts to diversify the highest ranks of its football teams.
There are 34 participants from 28 clubs taking part in the program, which begins Monday and runs through Wednesday afternoon. The group includes a former GM, several assistant GMs, two members of the league office and various directors and scouts.
The program will take participants through sessions that will touch on leadership, player engagement, leveraging media opportunities, negotiating for oneself and body language. There will also be opportunities, like in years past, where these participants can mingle with decision-makers from all 32 teams.
The league provided biographies of all the participants to team owners and decision-makers, urging both sides to do their homework before meeting this week.
"Research who they are, see where the opportunities are, that areas where you would like to engage in clubs you would like to engage with," Jonathan Beane, the NFL's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, said last week in an interview with CBS Sports. "Do your homework before it starts. The informal networking is a huge opportunity because you determine your own time, whether you're a candidate or whether you're a club owner, and be very, very specific about who you want [to talk to.]"
The program includes an hour-and-a-half cocktail reception with the top brass from all teams Tuesday night. Then there's a more formal meeting Wednesday for more than an hour.
In the past, the formal session has involved more than 30 tables in a large meeting room where participants go to three tables for 20 minutes each. This year the tables will be split into three rooms so it is less crowded and noisy, and participants will go to two tables for 30 minutes each.
"We got feedback that said, it's really important, we need more than 20 minutes," Beane said. "So what we're going to do is instead of having three different phases of engagement, we're going to have two and we're going to make the time longer so they get to spend more time. So more focused on quality and less focused on quantity when it comes to formal networking."
Today there is a total eight men of color who are general managers in the league. The program has only turned out on general manager -- Titans GM Ran Carthon -- since its inception.
But that statistic alone doesn't define the level of success with the program, Beane says.
"To me, success is way more than just one metric," he says. "The other metrics should be how many of them end up getting promoted within, or how many of them end up getting promoted at another club? … So I think we're thinking we're going zero to a hundred when we're looking at metrics in terms of what success is. I think it should be much broader. Another metric is how many of them are seriously being considered for the GM position, even if they didn't get it."
Below is the list of participants attending the program this week.
Tumbo Abanikanda (Director of College Scouting -- Falcons), Ray Agnew (Assistant GM -- Lions), Chad Alexander (Assistant GM -- Chargers), Mark Azevedo (Director of Player Personnel -- Ravens), Kevin Booth (Director of Management Council -- NFL league office), David Blackburn (Director of Player Personnel -- Commanders), Chris Blanco (Assistant Director of Player Personnel -- Texans), Ron Brockington (Senior National Scout -- Dolphins), Brandon Brown (Assistant GM -- Giants), LaMar Campbell (Strategic Personnel Development/Football Operations -- Seahawks), Steve Cargile (Senior Personnel Executive/Assistant Director of Pro Scouting -- Texans), Jon Carr (Co-Director of Player Personnel -- Jets), Glenn Cook (Assistant GM & VP of Player Personnel -- Browns), Jackie Davidson (VP of Football Research -- Buccaneers), Ray Farmer (Senior Personnel Executive -- Rams), Terrance Gray (Director of Player Personnel -- Bills), Khai Harley (SEP of Football Operations/Assistant GM -- Saints), Quentin Harris (Senior Personnel Assistant -- Steelers), Catherine Hickman (Assistant GM & VP of Football Operations -- Browns), Alonzo Highsmith (Senior Personnel Executive -- Patriots), DJ Hord (Director of Pro Scouting -- Bears), Rich Hurtado (VP of Football Administration -- Broncos), Mike Martin (Director of Scouting Advancement -- Lions), Roman Oben (VP of Football Development -- NFL league office), John Park (Director of Strategic Football Operations -- Cowboys), DeJuan Polk (Director of Pro Scouting -- Jaguars), Steve Radicevic (Director of Pro Personnel -- Bengals), Anthony Robinson (Assistant GM -- Titans), Jeff Scott (VP of Football Operations -- Eagles), Eric Stokes (former Commanders Director of Player Personnel), Tim Terry (Director of Player Personnel/Pro Scouting -- Chiefs), Demitrius Washington (VP of Football Operations -- Vikings), Josh Williams (Director of Scouting & Football Operations -- 49ers), Richmond Williams (Director of Pro Personnel -- Packers)