BOCA RATON, Fla. — Jon Robinson’s road to the Tennessee Titans’ general manager job was paved like so many others — with Diet Pepsi and beef jerky.
The man who holds the No. 1 pick in next month’s NFL draft came up as an area scout — a job with a relentless cycle of midnight drives between college campuses that formed Robinson’s knowledge of what plays in the league and made him question whether finding out was worth it.
“To have to go out and be the lowest-paid guy in an area, and eat Wendy’s four nights a week on your way to the next school, and get up the next morning and be at a school, and pack a suitcase and unpack a suitcase — it’s mentally draining,” Robinson told USA TODAY Sports during a break at last week's league meetings.
“I would say there were probably two instances my second year where I had gone out on the road, and I had been away from my family for probably 18, 19 days. And by that 19th day, I was just gone. I was ready to quit. I was going to go coach high school football where I could be home every night.
“Then November rolls around, you come off the road because college football’s done, you kind of get re-energized.”
Roughly half the league’s GMs have college scouting jobs on their resumes and with good reason. It’s a starting point for building a database of players, tracking their performance in the NFL and self-evaluating based on those original scouting reports.
It’s also a test of will, whether you’re getting kicked out of a powerhouse’s practice after a few minutes of stretching or — in one instance Robinson recalls — squinting to make out numbers on a shaky VHS tape being projected onto a bedsheet inside a small school’s dilapidated gymnasium, breathing in sweat from the pads airing out nearby.
“Everybody thinks scouting is this awesome (job) — you just drive to Oxford, Mississippi, on Saturdays, you eat chicken wings and cheer, and it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Robinson said. “Those reports, they pile up on you at night, and you’ve got to crank through them.”
The end result is just a recommendation for somebody else’s decision, as it was in Robinson’s time with the New England Patriots — he was an area scout (2002-05), regional scout (2006-07), assistant director of college scouting (2008) and director of college scouting (2009-13) — and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for whom he was director of player personnel the past two seasons.
Now, it’s Robinson’s turn to make those calls.
Bucs GM Jason Licht said recently that his former assistant “has to hire a Jon Robinson,” emphasizing the importance of delegation. But Robinson, 40, is carving out plenty of time for film amidst his administrative duties, knowing that’s one spot where his expertise is needed with a franchise that went 5-27 the past two seasons and last made the playoffs in 2008.
Asked if he’s still a scout, Robinson replied: “Absolutely. I think it exuded itself in our meetings in February — when we sat down and had roundtable discussions with our scouts — I would disagree with them on occasion. I was like, ‘I don’t know what game you watched, but the games I watched, I didn’t see what you’re seeing.’ "
A Union City, Tenn., native, Robinson points out he’s an ex-coach, too, having gotten his start as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State, where he played three years on the defensive line. He also coached at Nicholls State, where he worked with linebackers and started to figure out his management and leadership style.
So far, Robinson has made moves that should help young Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota. He traded for running back DeMarco Murray (swapping fourth-round draft picks with the Philadelphia Eagles to consummate the deal) and signing receiver Rishard Matthews and center Ben Jones in free agency. Robinson also added several veteran defenders (safety Rashad Johnson, linebacker Sean Spence, cornerback Antwon Blake) on one-year deals.
He's a platinum member for life at Marriott hotels, still the salty guy other scouts liked having on campus and conscious of how the No. 1 pick will be a face of the Jon Robinson era. He says there are realistically about 10 candidates for the choice — Mississippi left tackle Laremy Tunsil surely among them — and he’s fielded some calls with serious trade interest, too.
“You’re right, that player will be a cornerstone piece,” Robinson said. “You’re sending a statement not only to the fan base, but to the players on your team, too: this guy is worthy of being the No. 1 overall pick.
“(The evaluation is) kind of all-encompassing. There’s a mental component. There’s a character component. There’s a psychological component. There’s the on-the-tape component. There’s just the overall interview piece: ‘Are we going to be able to work with this guy on a daily basis?’ "
Accounting for the full profile of the player — coachability, dependability, fit for the program — is another valuable lesson from the road, where Robinson has spent enough time to have confidence that when April 28 comes, he’ll have the right answer.
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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero
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