Ep. 47 - Eric Galko - Taking on the East-West Shrine Game & Asking the Next, Right Questions in Scouting

In an encore performance, Eric Galko (previously featured on Ep. 26 of the show) breaks down his new exciting position as Director of Football Operations and Player Personnel with the East-West Shrine Game!

Getting the shrine game was always a target of Eric's for more than just the football aspect, as a premiere all-star event for NFL scouts but primarily for its impact on the community and the Shriner's Hospital.

As Eric details his job responsibilities, you can see that putting an all-star game together is much more than fielding a team of draft-eligible studs from across the country. Eric broke it down by simply stating he has 7 days or 168 hours to work with, so he's focused on three main things:
 1. Players and teams will be able to meet in a very organized and professional manner (for interviews)
 2. Players will be receiving first class treatment with meals, recovery technologies, etc.
 3. Creating time and space for community events, specifically the Shriner's Hospital visit

Moving onto the picking of players and building his boards, it's amazing to hear that Eric and his crew are already finishing up with the 2023 NFL Draft class. His focus, echoed throughout the show, has been and will continue to be eliminating bias in the process. 

How do you do that? Be detailed, thorough and accurate with the background profiling of prospects, knowing who they are, where they're from and objectively assessing the athletic measurables.

In talking through how he and his staff at Optimum Scouting are able to work so far ahead on underclassman, Eric repeated a mantra that earned the show its title and that is "know which question to ask next". You can have too much information as a scout and it's important to know when to put the book down. After you've fully evaluated the prospect, know what is your next question to answer and monitor that question or the development you're waiting to see. 

From there, we touched on the fundamentals he teaches his scouts when evaluating players, what a "Demar Derozan-jumper" is in the scouting world, and how Eric stays up to speed on what is winning in the NFL today!

It was a blast to record, as always with someone like Eric, and you can follow him on Twitter at @EricGalko!

Thanks for tuning in, be sure to check out UpCloseInPersonnel.com for show notes/updates and have a blessed weekend!