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James Blanchard: see, I started in 2012, 2013. It wasn't until 2018 I got an opportunity. Man, I did it for free and for fun for the longest, man. And I really was, man, I had always dreamed that man, I would get an opportunity, but I never fathomed it it would happen. I was like, you know, that that doesn't, storybook endings like that doesn't happen for guys like me.
Alex: I really look like a guy. Hello and welcome back, or welcome to the Up Close in Personnel Podcast. I am your host, Alex Brown, National Scout with East West Shrine Bowl, former Atlanta Falcons area scout and college football front office executive. And we're here today with one of the best in the game, James Blanchard, general manager with Texas Tech. Fresh off a Big 12 championship season. And a college football playoff appearance. James is here to talk about his journey, where he's been, where he's going, the bachelor's degree he learned in scouting and recruiting under Matt Rule, the master's degree he got with the Carolina Panthers, and what actually goes on behind the scenes and how things are run at Texas Tech. It's a great in-depth story on his roots, what fires him up. I love talking ball with James. He's one of my close friends in the industry. And I appreciate him jumping on the show. We've got the personnel symposium this week. I know a lot of you are traveling in town to Nashville, Tennessee for that. So I hope this finds all of you at a good time to lock in, learn from one of the greats in the game. And for those of you that are at fall camp coaching. Leading a team, leading a staff. I appreciate you for tuning in. And please be sure to hit that subscribe button, like and rate the show, share it with
AB: Yeah.
Alex: your friends. And with all that, I want to go ahead and just roll into the show. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you at the end. Just hit a button Morty, give me a beat! man, okay, alright,
AB: The man, the myth, the legend needs no introduction. Texas Tech's general manager, James Blanchard, my friend, how are we doing today?
James Blanchard: Amazing brother. What about yourself?
AB: I'm I'm good. I I just got to Nashville a little earlier than the rest of the symposium people. I went to Memphis's practice, and then I went to Austin P's practice today. So got a little bit of time to chop it up with you. I I think I think I owe you some some sort of like agent representation fee of some kind, 'cause you have gone out of your way to shout me out and a handful of other people. over the last two, three years. You have no reason to do it. You you always seem to like end every single episode that you're ever a part of pushing other people's names. I just want to say I appreciate that, first off. But who kind of pushed you in that direction to like constantly evaluate the field, right? Because you're in a position where You're running the show at one of the biggest programs in America, but you spend a lot of time reaching out to people at different schools and respecting other people's game. And I appreciate that. I'm sure people listening to this show that have some sort of interaction, they have a positive feel about you because that's how you operate. But like, when did that start for you?
James Blanchard: Man, when I was on Twitter, like, you know, I never I've risen to this because of my connections and people I've met along the way of my journey. I've never been a guy that's gotten to this point and thought too highly of myself. I'm always looking for people that, man, I want to work with in the future. And, you know, I mean, I think I remember the first time, man, I came across you. Like I used to pride myself on finding under the radar prospects. And I used to love finding the guys who I felt were gonna blow up. And they didn't have any followers.
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: And then I remember, man, I found like two kids that I thought were like amazingly under under the radar. And I look and I'm like, follower Alex, man, who the fuck is that like, man, what the hell? But like to me, man, I I without even knowing you and ever having a conversation with you, man, that made me respect you. Cause I'm like, yo, man, I know how hard I grind. If this guy's following these guys before me, he's grinding his ass off So I just became an admirer and then, you know, man, over the course I just I'm just an admirer of good football and man, good football scouting and recruiting. Anybody that I come across that man, they're doing a good job. Hey, I man, they offered this kid earlier, so forth and so on. I become a fan, whether they know it or not.
AB: I appreciate it. it was the Rice days and you had just left for the Panthers. I I remember that,
James Blanchard: Up.
AB: and you were a pro scout with them. I I wanna start this in a different section because I think you've had a chance to talk with some big time guys like Adam Brennan and you hopped on the twenty four seven show and you know, people have talked a lot about where you're at right now. And I think a lot of people don't realize that lonely chapter. of grinding just to get a foot in the door. And you and I have a lot of parallels where Twitter kind of became our segue into getting on people's radar and building from scratch. You started with your own recruiting service, doing your own thing. And when you look at the timeline, there's a five year window of just putting in work. And I I want you to be able to talk about what that was like, the vision that you had for just making a difference for the kids in your area and kind of how we got to here. Because I I I think it's easy to skip over that first chapter and people need to hear that from you because you're a self made man in this industry. And I think that's why we connect on such a a a deep level and have so many conversations. But walk me through how it went from JK KB recruiting on Twitter and on message boards to Texas Tech GM.
James Blanchard: Yeah, I mean, it really started with me just
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wanting to help the kids out in my hometown. Man, I felt like we had a lot of talent.
AB: Orange, Texas, right?
James Blanchard: Orange Texas, man, the 409, Golden Triangle. Shout out Beaumont, Port Author, the whole, you know, Sealsby, Coon, see everybody out that way. Man, But it started out with me really just being focused on Orange, Texas. I wanted to help out the kids at West Orange Stork High School, Lil Cypher's Mauriceville High School, the two schools in my hometown. And I thought, you know, man, we're one of the most winningest programs, the most winningest program in the state of Texas from a percentage basis. And I'm like, God dang it, man. We're having some D1 guys here or there. But man, I feel like we could we could do more, man, if we just get the light shined on this place a little more. So it was my brother's like probably junior year. and he was a a really good high school football player. And I'm like, man, I'ma see if I can help him and his classmates get scholarships. And man, that year, I think, man, we ended up having six or seven kids, signed to FBS schools. And I was like, wow, this is cool. The next recruiting cycle my little cousin Deontay Thompson. he was a sophomore on that team. My brother had just played on. They went to the state semifinals. But man, and like everybody in the secondary had went D1 that year. But DT, my little cousin, had led the team in interceptions. So man, I make his highlight tape. I start sending it off, and Alabama offers him. Nick Saban offers him as a sophomore. And at the time, like Nick wasn't offering anybody as a sophomore. And again, I just thought it was really, really cool. So I'm like, shoot, let me see if I could do it for people in Beaumont, Salesby, Port Arthur. And Man, it kind of just took off from there. I would post them on message boards, post them on Twitter. And man, it was kind of dumb luck. I used my message board name as my Twitter name or whatever, just not wanting to come up with another name, just kind of proud of being lazy at the time, really. And
AB: Ha ha.
James Blanchard: man, what I noticed was that a lot of college coaches were on these message boards because man,
AB: Dave, look at it. Yup.
James Blanchard: they would they would go and follow me on Twitter. And I'm like, dang. Why is all the Baylor staff following me? Why is TCU staff following me? I don't know these guys. But then I'm realizing like, sh, they're on the message boards. They're looking at all these guys I'm posting. And then, you know, a couple of the guys were were crazy enough, man, to befriend me and reach out, man. Shout out to man Matt Rule, the first head coach to man, give me an opportunity or whatever, hire me off of Twitter, changed my me and my family's entire life. Joey McGuire was one of the first guys to DM me and man be interactive. And man, be respectful with me. Man, Morgan Scally, Zorn L Fitch, And then, man, really it was the it was man a bunch of junior college coaches. Man, a guy named Nick Dobler was a defensive coordinator at Kilgore. Yeah.
AB: Kilgore, yeah.
James Blanchard: Man, say he's the head coach at Coffeyville community college in Kansas now. Willie Gooden's the head coach at Kilgore. And then man, Coach Black, man at Iowa Western, he's defensive coordinator at Iowa Western of the Junior College Powers. Those were like the first guys, along with Thomas Rocco. Who was a head coach of TJC, now he's the defensive coordinator at like I think Temple High School. But like those were like the first maniacs to like they were letting me offer kids for them. I'm on Twitter and they're like, hey, if you see a kid you like, you can offer them a scholarship to Kilgore, you got authority. And I'm like, God, this is inspired. I'm like, this is fire. And like I was completely satisfied with that. I mean, I never charged a kid. Man, I was just happy to man see these kids that man I thought were talented be recognized, man, by other programs, whether it was junior college or power five.
AB: When so then when was it like, hey, I want to make a career out of this? Cause you were working a full-time job. You have a full family. Like you've already gone to college, gotten your degree, and you know, something that I just kinda want to double click on is I mean, you spent five years doing this and
James Blanchard: Yeah.
AB: not making any money and just kind of building and stacking not just like contacts, but like value. Because now you've got a Rolodex of players, like you know the area. I think a lot of people just want to say, I wanna get into recruiting and well if I spend one year as an intern or a a student assistant, like I deserve this. And that's kinda not how it works. So, when did the switch flip to I'm gonna get a job out of this? I'm gonna make a career out of this.
James Blanchard: Man, Matt Rule is really the one, because man, see, I started in 2012, 2013. It wasn't until 2018 I got an opportunity. Man, I did it for free and for
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: fun for the longest, man. And I really was, man, I had always dreamed that man, I would get an opportunity, but I never fathomed it it would happen. I was like, you know, that that doesn't, storybook endings like that doesn't happen for guys like me. That was my thought process. And man, Evan Cooper. Man, when they got the Baylor job, I remember the Baylor fans had like a Twitter storm where they were tagging Matt Rule and Evan Cooper, like, hey, you guys need to follow this guy on Twitter. Man, he knows where the Texas guys are. He loves Baylor. 'Cause my brother played there. whatever they're like, he loves Baylor football. Man, he will help you guys man, get recruits. So man, Evan Cooper and Matt Rule reached out, like, hey, I heard you're guy. I sent him guys, and that was in twenty seventeen when they got there, I believe. Sent him guys all of twenty seventeen, just man, having fun with it, nothing. No money exchange, no nothing. 2018 Coop man hits me
up and he's like, Bro, he's like, How much you you make from these kids? I'm like, I never told you I don't make anything. I just send it. I just love to see them get offers. And he's like, So you never charge the kid. And I'm like, no, never charge the kid. He was like, I love that. He was like, but we gotta get you some money. And I'm like, okay, what do you think? He was like, keep not charging the kids. He was like, screw that. He was like, you need to charge the schools. And I was like, really? He was like, man, you need to come, man, open up your own recruiting service. And he was like, charge each school like five grand. He was like, they got it. Everybody knows your name. You've been doing it for a while. He was like, they're gonna buy it or whatever. He's like, make you 50K on the side, bro. That's great for you and your family. And I was like, well, what I start. He was like, me, I already talked to Matt Rules. As soon as you get in it NCAA certified, we're gonna be your first customer. I got five grand for you. So man, I did that. And Evan Cooper was the first, TCU was second, Utah was third. Man, shout out my man Kobe Carthor at SFA. Man, he was he was in or whatever. shoot, he was like, Man, you know, we only got a little budget. Can I get half off or whatever you need, Coach? I'm just blessed to have this. But it
AB: Ha ha.
James Blanchard: started like that. And then somewhere along the way, man, Matt ruled, man, Fran Brown takes credit for this or whatever. So Fran's like, hey, I told Matt that he needs to hire you before I left. Order. I have no idea if that's true or not, but Fran ain't never lied to me. So we're gonna go ahead and say it's true. So Rule calls me and says, I'm gonna be in Beaumont, Texas. I'm going recruit this kid named Tyrone Brown. He was like, Man, can you, man, meet me at the high school? And it's a little rough area. I'm just thinking, man, you know, middle-aged, man, wealthy white guy. He just needs a little black muscle. You know what I'm saying? Something like that with him. And man, I show up and Rule's like, hey, man, you've been doing great. Man, you've been bringing kids to camp. you aren't charging these kids. I respect that. I love your hustle. I can tell you're passionate about it. Man, I want you to come work in the Baylor Scouting department. And man, it it is I get kind of emotional even thinking about it now because him being bold enough to do that just completely
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: changed me and my family's life. And It was just it was so different. It was so different. And I'll never be able to repay that guy for that. I'll never be able to repay him for that. And I'm just so appreciative. But man took the opportunity and just ran with it. So man, it was amazing. But yeah, it was a five year journey.
AB: So then was that your first kind of exposure to the Matt's a big planet theory guy. He's a height weight speed, take really freaky athletes, teach how to play football. Is that the
first time you got exposed to to that concept, that philosophy?
James Blanchard: One hundred percent, man. That was the first time I got exposed to that. That was the first time, man, I I hadn't even thought of football like that. You know, I was just I'm from West Orn Stark, man, where you know undersized football players can play ball and you know, we home of Earl Thomas, the five ten hall of fame safety. So I'm thinking everything's great. And Matt Rule was like, yo, like Earl Thomas is great. All these guys from your hometown that made it a college ball are great. He was like, I'm about to show you how to build championship programs. And he was like, man, we gotta have height, weight, speed, we gotta have traits, verified times, and man, we gotta have great coaches develop them. So man, that's when I got, and how I tell people my bachelor's degree in evaluating. no, man, the I come from the school of Matt Rule evaluating. I got my bachelor's degree in that. And then when we went to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, my GM Marty Herney and met our assistant GM, DPP, Patrick Stewart, who's now the GM in Nebraska, that's when I feel like I got my master's degree in scouting.
AB: how hard was that move? Cause
James Blanchard: Yep.
AB: I can speak from experience. Like that was not easy for me to leave Ole Miss in the situation that I was in. You were in, I mean, at Baylor, y'all were at the height of the heights. Like, was it more of I gotta do this for myself plus I wanna stay with Coach Rule?
James Blanchard: Man, it was a lot of, yeah, it was a bunch of things. Like one, I I knew the GM thing was coming down the pipeline. I didn't know when, but I'm like, man, I'm seeing the Austin Thomases of the world, man, get his GM title. And I see how the world thinks of him. And I'm like, okay, man, how can I get up to that level? And I felt getting the NFL shield would, man, be my shortcut, man, my path to man being seen and that esteemed. and then man, part of it was, man, Matt Rule was like, you what I'm saying, my football uncle, my football dad, whatever you wanna call it. So it's like, man, god dang it, man, my guy who gave me the my opportunity, man, is going to the NFL and he's giving me an opportunity to go with him. So I'm like, you know, man, I it's kinda,
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: man, why would you not do it? So man went ahead and and made the move, man, which it was scary. I had never lived outside of the state of Texas at that time before.
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: You know, and you know how Texans are. God, we're crossing the borders,
AB: It's a different country.
James Blanchard: it's a different country, man. It really is. So, man, that was my first exposure outside the state of Texas. And man, I tell everybody if you're young in it, or man, if you have an opportunity to do it, I do recommend going do a year, three, four, or whatever, man, in the NFL. And then Becoming senior level director in college, man, I think it's it's an amazing experience. And I think the people that have done both are the most versatile people in the country when it comes to what we're doing right now.
AB: And you were you like for me, I was on the college side. I was on the road going into schools, doing visits. You were on the pro side. You were in the building every single day, advanced scouting reports, free agent reports, still doing some college guys. You're you're ingrained in the process day in and day out. And it's a different grind for both worlds. How would you explain that to our audience of like what what does a pro scout do? Not just a a college scout, but In your role, what is that like?
James Blanchard: And exactly what you said, man. We're going to do advanced scouting reports on the teams that we're about to play. man, we're building a free agency board. We're looking for weak links on teams that man are in our division or man on our advanced scouting schedule mine or whatever. Look for weak links in on their team. So we can probably identify what they're gonna target in the draft, what they'll target in free agency and set up, you know, draft boards and so forth. But man, it's really that that last part that you mentioned, man. The benefit of being a pro scout was being ingrained into the day-to-day of man front office life. And, you know, it's crazy, is Matt Rule just being the genius that he is. I almost blew it. You know, he asked me, trying to give me the choice to be smart. He was like, hey, you know, do you want to be a pro scout or a collar scout? And I'm like, what's the difference? He's like, man, the pro scouts are in the office, blah, blah, blah, blah. Collar scouts are on the road grinding. And I'm like, I wanna be a collar scout. He was like, see, I try to let you, man, pick it on yourself. He was like, but you picked the wrong one. He was like, you're gonna be a pro scout. You're gonna learn how this building operates. And I was like, he's like, just shut up and listen. Trust me, man, this is gonna be best for you. And he was 100% right, just like his smart ass always is. Man, like it would've was super man vital to man, how good I am at my job now or perceived to be at my job now, being able to. be next door to our Sally Cap manager for the Carolina Panthers, Samir, being man, two doors down from man our GM Marty Herne, being across man the hall from man our assistant GM Patrick Stewart and hearing and seeing how they conduct business every day, how relationships are important, how men treating people is uber important. It was just amazing. And then God dang it, man, one of the coolest parts of it, you know, Luke Kinkley had just retired. From the NFL or whatever, due to I think concussions, he was getting too many concussions. So he spent the year being a pro scout. So like, man, he was, you know, man, the other pro scout with me that year. And Luke was amazing. Like, I like, man, the day I got hired and flew to Carolina, you know, he's the one that picked me
up from the airport. I'm like, shit, Luke Kingley's picking me up or whatever, going out to eat with Luke Kinkly. So that like super cool, man. Super cool. Shout out my man Luke, man.
AB: That's so cool. And it's almost like you you got the the training to learn how to handle this new portal era. And this was right before Portal and NIL kind of really went full tilt at the college level. walk me through how that transition back into the college life was because you know I think it's it's interesting to have the experiences of both, but like actually bringing it into fruition
James Blanchard: Mm-hmm.
AB: and like acting on the knowledge of that that you wound up getting from the Panthers and implementing that both at Baylor and now at Tech in a different way.
James Blanchard: Yeah, man, it it was cool. It's a two-way funnel that it runs through or whatever, man. Coming up, man, to the Carolina Panthers from Baylor. Man, it was great going up there because man, we're having draft meetings or free agent meetings. Man, a lot of the kids were talking about, I had been scouting these guys or covering these guys since, man, they were freshmen and sophomores in high school. So a lot of information that we needed in the Panthers office, man, I was able to give backgrounds and Man, recruiting stories and all that on these guys. Then, man, up there, you know, man, advanced scouting, man, got to come up with three strengths, three weaknesses for every guy. Gotta have a detailed report, gotta log in in the system, handwriting it, typing it, all that stuff like that. You really got the essence of scouting or and being able to verbalize it, being able to put it down somewhere in the system. You know, man, when I was on Twitter and man in the early stages of Baylor, man, I knew what I was looking at. I could see talent. And I could tell you like, hey, yeah, this guy's good enough. But I couldn't properly articulate it at the time or whatever. I couldn't put it into the verbiage that man, schools are now doing and NFL teams have been doing for years. So, man, that was the big thing I learned up there. And then, you know, pro scouting, watching those guys, having to find the strengths and weaknesses, how they fit into the scheme, man, that ended up fitting like a charm when I came back down into the portal world. And you know, man, when I first got to Baylor, man, I was I was a little bit ahead of him because man, we had an opportunity. I remember Jabril Peppers got in the portal. And man, I'm trying to convince Dave Aranda, man, not Jabril Peppers, I'm sorry, Jabril Cox out of North Dakota State had got in the portal. Man, and I'm trying to convince Dave Aranda. I'm like, yo, man, we need to take this guy. This is gonna be amazing. And Randall's like, nah. I I don't think he's that good. And I'm like, bro, I just came from the league. I just did these reports all day. This is a monster. And, you know, it's funny. He ends up going to LSU and being a third round pick and all that. And at the time we didn't think he could play for Baylor. But man, you know, it I just think, man, it was the we were just ahead of it. Or whatever. I was just ahead
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: of it when I came back down, being able to see it through the lens of a of an NFL scout. And then, you know, man, you just see it keep progressing, progressing. the portal becomes a full blown thing and you know the portal now is a mix of man the chaos of free agency in the NFL after the draft, everybody's on the phone trying to sign these free agents and and you know, as fast as you can. so I mean, it's it's fun, man. It's fun. But that's the that's the two-way funnel of it man. And both of them go hand in hand and It's valuable, valuables on both sides. People always ask, you know, man, Who should be the GM? Should it be the NFL guys? Should it be the college guys? Man, both sides have a tremendous argument. Both sides have a tremendous skill set. The high school guys or whatever, man, have the relationship part of the job down pat. way more so than any NFL guy can ever have. Man, the NFL
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: guys, man, if they were, man, in the building or they were in on stuff or whatever, they have the organization and man, the game plan big picture-wise. They have that down pat. So I mean, shoot. The best candidates are probably guys like me and you that have done both.
AB: And on the free agency and the chaos side, I I want to dive into that on like just what all goes into the acquisition phase because it's so much different like the recruiting model that we came up with ten years ago is dead. It's dead. It's
James Blanchard: Mm-hmm.
AB: a completely different timeline. It's different for the player, us, the agent, it's it's all different. But before we kind of get into that, I want to put like a pin in there. I want to talk about your role right now with Joey Maguire. And that relationship, GM head coach relationship, I think it's unique, like the level of autonomy that he's given you, the amount of trust and communication that y'all two have. Y'all go way back, way, way back to his Cedar Hill days, and I know that. Can you talk about what went into getting to where we are now? Because like that relationship doesn't happen overnight. I think people assume that okay, if I work X amount of years at this position and I have this type of resume and I sign these types of players, I deserve to be a GM. And it doesn't work that way. You know that and I know that. So talk about the building of that relationship from early to the Baylor days of meeting with him one on one and all the stuff that y'all had gone through before Texas Tech. Because I think that's something important for people to hear.
James Blanchard: Yeah, you know, everybody, if you know anything about Texas High School football, you know Joey McGuire, and you know, man, what he did at Cedar Hill. Before he got there, they had never even won a playoff game, I believe,
in the school's history. And by the time he leaves, multi-state champion, man, number one team in the country, you know, right at 100 man, D1 football players. Like, he was a legend. Absolutely. Him and Jeff Trailer are like, you know, rock stars in that world. so Man, me and him, I had always known him from afar, never Uber personally, until we got to Baylor. And you know, when we got to Baylor, I was wondering, I was like, I wonder if this guy's really as good as he seems online. I wonder if he's really as energetic as I, you know, all these things people say. And he was that and even more. You know, one of the night one of the greatest humans you ever gonna meet. Like I I I don't know if Joey Maguire has any enemies or whatever. Like, if you don't like Joey Maguire, it's something wrong with you or whatever, probably. Like, Joey Maguire is an elite human. So, man, we get there, and man, you know, I he doesn't even know if I if I'm good at the job, if I suck. He's just being nice to me. Or whatever, man. And man, that was that was just refreshing in a room full of man, new people, man, Uber football minds, or whatever, and big name coaches, or whatever, man. It was just refreshing to have somebody that. Man, just the first day is nice to you, man. And so man, you know, that was that on the personal side. On the the football side and the scouting side, you know, it we would have staff meetings and he would see me, you know, the new guy. I'm begging Coach Rule, please, Coach Rule. Man, there's this kid from Mount Enterprise named Kendra Miller. Like he has no scholarship offers right now. We need to take him at Baylor. Like, this kid's amazing. And it's like, nah, blends, we're not taking Kendra Miller. You know? And man, you know, we had Jermichael Hasty and Tristan that we had NFL backs or whatever. So we ended up being fine. But like Coach McGuire's in there. He sees me and Brian Nance begging Dave Aranda to take man Ollie Gordon. And you know, man, it just doesn't work out or whatever. They don't want to take Ollie Gordon. and just guys like that, man. It was it was a multitude of NFL guys that Man, myself initially, and then me and Brian Nance stood on the table for. And we just watched him get drafted a couple years later at other programs. And man, I think Coach McGuire, man, was always a head college head coach in his mind. And he started building out his staff or whatever every year in his mind. And when he saw that, he was like, Hey, this guy might kind of know what he's talking about. So, man. If I'm going to be a head coach anywhere, Texas State, North Texas, Texas Tech, I'm gonna have this guy on my staff because man, he's shown a propensity to be able to identify talent. And man, and then, you know, the trust just over the years, he knows I'm not doing anything for James Blanchard's glory. I'm not, man, putting out offers, man, as favors or this is my buddy's kid. Like if I offer a kid I really believe he can make a difference. At man, the program that me and him are at, whether that was at Baylor from 2018, 19 to 21, or whether that's at man, Texas Tech from November 2021 to present. It's always an offer to man better the program. So, man, I think he recognized that and he really changed college football. A lot of people, man, I don't know if he gets the credit he's supposed to, like a lot of these GMs, Joey Maguire 3%, because man, people started hiring GMs. And man, you
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: know, they they give him the title and maybe a little money. but Joey McGuire is the first one that verbalized it, man, nationally, when he would get in front of microphones and say, hey, this is how we run our program. Man, James Blaze and his staff decide who we offer. shoot, they decide who who man we're gonna sign, so forth and so on. And man, once he started verbalizing it. Man, other people I think started following suit. They didn't verbalize it, but man, it things started to change in people's buildings. And now, man, it all I would say about eighty percent of college football programs, that's kinda how things are run. So, man, Joe McGuire needs to get his flowers for that, man. He changed college football.
AB: And I don't think people realize that personnel staff being able to be the first to offer and to start that process. Now now it's pretty commonplace. A lot of a lot of people have adopted that like you said. And I don't think they realize how difficult it was to get guys offered in the old school way of thinking where it had to go through all of your coaches and the amount of time that would elapse. I think Joey talked about this on an interview he did a while back this year. And he's just like, I wanted this guy and I thought he was good enough. And by the time it went through the whole process, there's 10 offers on this kid. And I knew
James Blanchard: Mm-hmm.
AB: about him before. So the reason I say that. It's such a critical time for people in our industry and our space to capitalize on that. Like that's a responsibility of ours, right? And
James Blanchard: Yeah.
AB: I think they have to realize to dig dig into what you said, Joey was evaluating your eye for talent, whether you offered the guy or not. When you stood on the table and went and said, Hey, this guy's a dude, even if you don't take him, that's still a part of who you are as an evaluator. Like, can you talk to how how valuable time with coaches, even if, hey, they they go a different route, people will remember who you stood on the table for, and that's part of building your brand within your building. And those are the people that are gonna eventually hire you.
James Blanchard: 100%, man. You know, being a yes man, I believe, man, doesn't get you to that place, you know, that you want to get to, man, in these situations when it comes to scouting and evaluation. Man, it it's those times where you, man, what I call have professional conflict, man, with your coworkers, with the coordinators, with the
position coaches, even with the head coach or whatever one called to, over their own personnel, that man, people gain their respect for you because they're gonna remember that conversation. And man, if the kid pans out, pshh, he said that, you know, man, like I remember, man, we wanted Xavier Hutchin out of blend. Hold up, man. And man, shoot, a wide receiver goes in on at the time. And he goes to Iowa State and shoot, I think Xavier ends up being a top 100 pick. It's it's those things where man, you keep chopping wood, chopping wood, having those tough professional conflict conversations. And man, you know, at the time personnel staffs don't have all man, this is 2019. Whatever, 2020, 2019. Personnel staffs don't have all the power. So you lose those battles. And but somebody in there is paying attention and watching, it's like, shoot, man, that guy was right. And then, man, it just builds confidence in you. And then, you know, personnel staffs, man, it being the first to offer, man, especially before NIL, could be the difference between winning and losing a kid. And man,
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: those processes in those buildings used to be terrible. Hey, it has to go from the personnel staff to the position coaches to the coordinator to the head coach. Coach Maguire's right, it might be seven days, it might be two weeks before a kid, man, gets washed. And it's like, man, you look up and it's like, look, god dang, who I offered them? Well, I wanted to show you them, nobody, but now boom, boom, boom, or whatever. And for Coach McGuire. To allow, man, us to bypass that. It's like, hey, it's all on you guys. Just don't mess it up. Man, that was game changing. Game changing. Because a lot of those, man, a lot of that stuff is shortstopped just by coaches' egos. It's like, hey, man, he might not just.
AB: Or our egos or or our egos on the back end, right? So if if you're if i if you have it set up to where your D P watches with the head coach, you know how it goes? It's whoever's running the the clicker that usually
James Blanchard: Yeah.
AB: has all of the sway 'cause I can pick and choose
James Blanchard: Hello so next.
AB: what I want to watch. And as much as we don't wanna say it, like for the guys you really like, you're gonna put together a good clip, right? And
James Blanchard: Right, click.
AB: it's trying to remove that bias. And we still have to like decide if we're gonna pay anybody, NIL, right? And I think that's where the recruiting model's changed a little bit. that's some good stuff. So going back to what we talked about early on, and we were talking off air, you you just had your owners meeting with Mr. Cody
James Blanchard: Yeah.
AB: Campbell, talking budgets, and you know, I think it's a com Just a misconception about you guys as a organization, as a program, that you have this endless wallet that that you could just outspend everybody. And it I I know it's not that way because we've had a lot of conversations. and you've joked like every time I pump gas, you're you're making money.
James Blanchard: Yeah.
AB: but what goes into it now as far as managing the cap? you've seen it at the NFL level. And now you're dealing with it at Texas Tech, it's not as simple as just saying, all right, I've got forty five million dollars to work with. It's way more complex than that. And I just however whatever direction you want to go with this, just talk about what goes into building that salary cap and what your involvement is with it day to day.
James Blanchard: Yeah. I mean, with the salary cap, it it's it's just like the NFL or whatever, man. You a lot of people, you're right, it's a it's a huge misconception with Texas Tape. Like, hey, they just got all they gotta do is make a phone call and you know, ten million dollars gets printed off or whatever. That is not how elite businessmen operate. That's not how Cody Kevell, John Sellers, Dusty Womble, man, Clay Cash. Man, that's that's that's not, man, that's not how these Gary Peterson. It's not how these men operate. Like they want to know the plan. They want to know the who, what, when, where, and why.
AB: plan.
James Blanchard: want to know the analytics behind it. And then Cody Campbell's a real football guy. He will come in there and watch tape. And it's not like a man, let me approve of this. He's never, ever overstepped. Man, but it's like, shoot, Blanche, I wanna see. Like I w I wanna see what this guy looks like. And you know, man, I remember, man, we we ended up watching DNs. And and I'm like, hey, man, it was my idea. I'm like, hey, Cody, man, we got the plan for the money. Or whatever that it's gonna take to build, man, a a Big 12 champ, a playoff contender. man, you've already approved everything. And but I want you to come in and I want you to, man, watch some guys with me. I want you to watch, man, my top five to ten at every position group we're gonna go and attack. And he's coming in and man, we're watching and I got got it out of order or whatever. And then I pop on David Bailey and he's like, who is that? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the number one guy on the board.
AB: Ha ha
James Blanchard: That's the one guy on the board. But a lot of people always ask, you know, man, how do you get donors to buy in? How do you get so forth and so on? I think you gotta be proactive. It has to be stuff like that. Like invite them to come in and be behind the curtain. Don't just call these guys and ask for money.
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: You know, man, it'd be just like if one of your buddies called to ask, hey man, can I borrow 10 drinks? How about whoa, whoa, whoa, what's this going on? What's this? But it'd be totally different if he, man, brought you in. behind the scenes to a company or real estate AI, whatever it is, you saw the behind the scenes and it's like, hey, do you want to invest? Man, I bet you, man, you probably get a higher, way higher hit rate when you do it that way. so that was my thought process. It's just
accent.
AB: Then just asking. Yes.
James Blanchard: It's like, God dang it. I don't even want to pick up the phone for you. All you do is call for money. Or whatever. So man, but like, so is that or whatever, man. The who, what, when, where, why, and you know, man, the analytical part of it, then the scouting part of it. So man, we have, you know, X amount of dollar budget. I try to budget it out just like man NFL teams do. Man, you know, I look up teams in the NFL that have went to the playoffs over the last five years and how much have they allocated to the quarterback room? How much did they allocate to the tight end room, O line, D line? And then man, you man, use a you know, you slide it on a percentage basis to whatever fits, man, maybe your team's needs. Like here we're gonna spend money on defense alignment. Because I look at East Conference, man,
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: kinda like NFL divisions, NFC South, AFC North, all the stuff like that. Man, we man work in and operate in the Big 12 division, Big Twelve Conference, right? And I think the most efficient thing that people recruit in this conference at a high level is offensive linemen. So therefore, you should probably, man, spend a lot of money on defense alignment. Man, you know? So That's how we that's how we look at things. But no, contrary to popular belief, we have a have a budget. And man, I don't call, man, Texas Tech or or Mr. Campbell or or or Gary Peterson and ask them to go over the budget. They say it's it's five dollars. We're gonna figure out a way to make it work.
AB: How are you handling agents now? And and when I say handle like collaborating, 'cause really like their partners in this process no different than than the donor base. And it's kinda like the more times you can have a a real conversation and work through what they're looking for and what we're looking for, I think you normally get to a better place. But what's your approach for that? 'Cause I I think that's a that's a big piece of this puzzle right now.
James Blanchard: Yeah, man, it's just relationship based, man. Like, you know, and it's and it's it's crazy because you know, I'm a Texas high school football guy. So we grew up in the era of the Texas high school football person, man, you know, where where Asians were bad initially. It was, man, we're dealing with these street agents, you know, this guy, that guy, you know, we're going through the high school coach. Still respect, man, the high school coaches and do all of that stuff, but now, man, You gotta have a great relationship with these agents. You gotta make sure, man, you're you're handling business above board. And it's a partnership with these guys. Because, man, you know, you can try to screw over this guy or box him out or or do something, man, disingenuous with him. And you're gonna look up in a year or two and he has a guy that your program needs. And he's gonna be like, no, no, no, no. Remember, man, you disrespecting me or remember, man, hey, man, you you brought a guy in. Man, after we had made a deal on a play, or I had a play on the team, you told me it was gonna be this, and now you changed the situation and you said it was just business. Well, you're gonna have to respect the business. Whenever, man, hey, you you need Romelo Height or David Bailey, and you screwed over that guy. And that's just a part of it. So, man, a big thing with me is balancing the relationships with those guys. When those guys come in town, man, I'm I'm taking people out to eat. And man, like it's shoot. And then you know what? Man, a lot of agents get bad raps, bro. The majority of those guys are good people. The majority of those guys are good people, man. I would say 97.5% of them are really, really good at their job, really, really, man, informative and educated on what they're doing and really passionate about their clients in a positive way. It's not all about the money and all about this. And they all want to make money as well. Like, who doesn't? But like it's not in some grimy sleaze ball way. Man, a lot of these guys are serious about their business and man, they conduct themselves in a professional manner. It's the two and a half percent that man does things the wrong way. And man, shoot, you know, everybody else gets a bad rap for those guys. But man, I have great relationships with agents from man, athletes first, WME now win, CAA, you know, FAMO Sports, man, the family, prestige management, man, and and shoot, the mom and pop guys who are just getting started or whatever, man. Bandit sports, everybody, man. There's so many good people in this industry, man. If I forgot anybody, man, I apologize. Got out Excel, man. I forgot Excel. God
AB: you guys are trying to do something.
James Blanchard: dang it.
AB: Yep. But right now you guys are trying to do something that has only happened twice in in your conference is is going back to back for the Big Twelve title and you are not the the hunter, you're the hunted now. So how you taking your game to the next level? 'Cause like I I think people don't realize that it it becomes a different approach every off season, but it really, really becomes a different approach after you've won.
James Blanchard: Man, just fighting complacency. You know, I think that's the biggest thing everybody has to fight off, man. Fighting complacency. Like, yeah, you made it. Good job. Go do it again. And man, that's kind of how I'm wired, you know, man, on again, man, you know, Matt Rules, my football uncle. and man, that's him, you know, man. Like, fight complacency and man, fight positivity as much as possible or whatever amongst yourself as a staff, where it's like, yo. Cool, we did that. It's not good enough. Do it again. Do it again. Do it again. you know, still the phrase from Kirk Cinetti. You how you gonna handle being the hunted now? Kirk Cinetti said, hey, I wouldn't got a bigger gun. man, we gotta, you gotta, man, you gotta get a gun and you gotta keep
reloading. Our gun is the D-line. And you know what I'm saying? Our defense, man, we went and reloaded. So, man, that's the big thing, man. And just, man, always trying to evolve, man. A lot of people. Man, we made it. We did it. whatever, man. We don't we don't have to learn from anything. We already got the blueprint. Man, we did tremendous in the Big 12. And then, you know, we got to the playoffs and offensively, man, we had our worst game of the season. So cool, man. That's to me, that was a tremendous opportunity to, man, learn and grow. And man, we're gonna capitalize on that. That's why, you know, man, we went and made some investments on the offensive side of the ball. We'll read up on the defensive side of the ball and you know, we'll see how it pans out. We'll see if, man, you know, we learned anything from last year.
AB: you still do the top no offers list and your staff top one hundred in Texas project?
James Blanchard: Mm-hmm. Yeah, heck yeah. Man, make a
AB: What what is that? Can you can can you tell everyone about that?
James Blanchard: So man, I I make my guys get on man Twitter or wherever and man, they look up every all district list in the state of Texas that they can find. And from that all district list, they're supposed to make two two different lists. I want for the rising seniors, I want them to make, man, a Texas top 100 guys in the entire state that have offers or whatever are or don't have offers. Man, give me your list of your top 100 guys. And then I want another list of your top 25 to 50 guys in the state that don't have any offers. And you know, man, everybody goes on, you know, on three rivals, 24-7, so forth and so on. man, I want our guys to, man, be their own rivals, be their own 24-7. Like, hey, do you see something that they don't see? Do you have you done more research than them? Do you know something that maybe they don't know? I want your opinion. Don't tell me what rivals are saying. I'm I see that enough. I want your opinion. So man, do that and I grade it. And man, shoot. The guys who find the most under-the-radar guys or whatever, man, that don't have offers by the end of the year, man, shoot. Man, I take them out to Lost Breeses out here, man. We go get a good steak dinner or whatever, man. Cause God dang it, like the essence of recruiting, of scouting and finding those under rate under the radar guys, that can't be lost, man. That That is how,
AB: Yeah.
James Blanchard: man, the the the godfathers of this industry made their hay or whatever, man, before the huddle, before man Robles and all that. They used have to go and dig. Well, now it's so easy, man, to identify
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: these guys. The young people are losing, man, the passion or man, the the knowledge of man going and digging and finding somebody. So I'm just trying to do my part in keeping that alive.
AB: Man, I love that. I love that. How have you felt that that you've grown as a manager of people? 'Cause it's it's a different world than than when you first started. Like now you got a whole you got a whole department that that you, Huff and Coach McGuire gotta gotta organize. and you don't just have scouts, you don't just have personnel guys, right? Like you have a lot of people looking to you for for answers. How how have you managed that that growth and like learned how to lead an organization?
James Blanchard: Man, luckily, man, I've had, man, good people to model it after. You know, man, I learned under Matt Rule. I learned under Joy McGuire. Man, I learned some things under Dave Miranda even. and it's just treating people, man, the right way. Man, being direct, having a clear plan, man, shoot, detailing how that plan can be executed, giving coaching when needed, having professional conflict when needed. But man, most importantly, man, pouring a whole lot of love into people and be willing to, man, help out as much as possible, man. Even, you know, myself today, man, no job is too big or too small. Hey, if you need me, call me. I'm in the building probably as much as anybody. well, man. Like, hey, man, if if my guys are in there, I'm in there. I'm I'm not a guy that, you know, I'm leaving out of there at three o'clock and my guys are still grinding away. Man, if anything, it'll be the opposite. Hey, you guys go home at four. Blanche, when you leave, I'm gonna stay another hour. Man, I'm I'm just working. Because to me, that that's the detailing off a little bit. There are no secrets to this thing or whatever, man. You you outwork people
AB: Mm mm.
James Blanchard: and you find, man, different metrics and stuff or whatever to be great. But, you know, to back go back to answering your question, man, man, being a clear communicator and man, always being willing to, man, help and love, man, on the people on up under you.
AB: We got the symposium coming this week. So what advice do you have for all these people that are gonna pour into to Nashville? I think it's over like a thousand people that are signed up for this.
James Blanchard: network and and man guys, man, network not just with the with the James Blanchards, the Alex Browns, the Mark Pantones, the man Marshall over there at Oregon, Courtney Morgan, Brandon Harris, man, not just those guys, because it's like, man, I already kind of got in my head who's gonna be on my staff in the future, and guys that I would love to work with. I might come across a young guy, he he jumps the list, but like that's few and far in between. Matt Rule. Man was at a the coaching convention in in God dang it, I might say it was in Charlotte, like in 2019, 2020. And he got up there and he said something, and that resonates with me today. And I think that should go for every young guy. He told all the young coaches in there, he said, Man, don't try to chase down man Kirby Smart. Don't try to chase down Nick Saban, hey, here's my resume. He said, Those guys aren't hiring you. He said, Man, it's the QC that's next to you, the GA
that's man walking down the hallway or whatever. That's the next Matt Rule. That's the next Kirby Smart. That's the next Kirk Signetti. That's the next Joey Maguire. Man, you need to go and talk to that guy. Man, get to know that guy. Trade ideas with that guy. Take that guy out to eat. Or whatever, man. You know, and man, that's how you're gonna build. And I try to do that now, man. Like I like when I go to places, man, I'm going to talk to the D three head coaches. man, I would take a D three head coach out to eat, the FCS defensive coordinator, who had the number one defense, man, you know, because Man, I'm I'm looking towards the future of, man, this guy could be a position coach. This guy could be a coordinator for us one day. I man, I want to take those guys out, guys that can do absolutely nothing for me at this current spot in my life, but man, I just think he's gonna be the next something. And I just want to shake his hand and pick his brain a little bit or just get in front of him. Man, I think people need to do that more and more, man. I find myself now, you know, on Twitter. I want to talk to Patrick Lilly, man, the the North Dakota State general manager. I wanna talk to him. I wanna I wanna see, man, what their process is like. I wanna talk to Andy Wayne over there in Northern Illinois. Andy can't do a damn thing for me right now. But man, god dang it, man. If you look at man at Northern Illinois, they're putting some good guys in the portal. Man, so man, Andy's evaluating
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: his ass off down there. And one, I wanna let him know that I'm a fan and I see him. And two, I wanna pick his brain, see what man, what all he has going on. And three, I hope we work together someday. So man, it's just it's just stuff like that, man, that that I just absolutely Love and man, guys, do that, man. Go find the D2 DPP. Man, because he's working his butt off. Go find Raleigh Bymaster, who's man, man, working the the shrine bowl or whatever, man. and yeah,
AB: Strand bowl, baby.
James Blanchard: man, doing doing a whole bunch of good work, a smart guy. Man, go go go and find the guys who aren't household names, but man, they're gonna be there one day. And get to know them. I think that's what this event should be for. And I think a lot of people hit the mark, but man, I think just as many people missed the mark. And hopefully, man, this video helps a lot more hit the mark.
AB: Amen. Amen. It's like that Ted Lasso scene. be curious, not judgmental. Like talk to talk to the person to your right and left. Don't don't go chasing a logo because there's a lot of really, really talented people that that'll be here. So I I
James Blanchard: my God. I can't wait. But I'm
AB: told I told everybody I told everybody I knew I knew you were gonna do that. I knew you were gonna do that. You all you got a reputation, man, and I appreciate it because you speak life into a lot of people by shouting out people that do a good job. And I think we should we should have that mindset of abundance. There's a there's enough good out there, right? Like let's promote the people that do a good job.
James Blanchard: Bro, it is, it is so many guys out there that are talented that man just don't get the recognition. And it's like, you know, everybody wants to say Courtney Morgan. What's up, Port? I love Port. Everybody wants to say Brandon Harris, you know, but it's like, man, Andy Wayne, what he's doing is hard, man. What he's doing is hard at NIU. What Patrick Lilly is doing at man, North Dakota State, man, is hard. What Caleb Douglas is doing at San Diego State is hard. So it's like, man, like I
AB: Yep.
James Blanchard: just absolutely love seeing it. Love seeing those guys, man, grind. And man, they deserve all the recognition in the world, man. So I don't know, man. Any small school guy, I don't know when you're putting this up, but man, any small school school DPP general manager that's out there, man, I promise you, I want to talk to you way more than man, I want to talk to Derek Miller at AM or or whoever the heck is out there, man. I promise, man. And man, I ain't got nothing against Derek. I like Derek. But man, Derek's a self-made man. Derek's one of the best GMs in college football, man. Me and Derek compete against each other. There's some young GM out there that's at South Dakota State, man, that has it going on right now. And man, I would love to talk to him. So man, let's make it happen.
AB: Last one. What's the best lunch spot when I go out there at some point? I gotta come see you at some point. what's the best lunch spot?
James Blanchard: Man, I take my staff to Hayashi Midtown a lot for some hibachi. We go to Thai Pepper, man, which
AB: Okay.
James Blanchard: is actually around the corner from Haishi Midtown. we go to Top Pepper and get some Thai food a lot. God dang it, man. They used to have the spot called Broadway Fish and More. They used to have the best, man, fried catfish in town and they serve it with Kool-Aid. That was a great spot. but nah, man. I I would go to Tha Pepper. Or man go to Hayashi and get some hibachi.
AB: Okay. James, this is a pleasure. we'll drop your your Twitter info and everything. People can follow you up on you. And best of luck this fall as y'all chase another Big Twelve title in a college football playoff and appreciate your time, brother.
James Blanchard: Nah, appreciate you, man. Thank you. Appreciate the platform, brother. Have a good one. See you in Nashville, man.
AB: No doubt.
James Blanchard: Yeah.