Back in June, Iowa announced it hired former NFL general manager Scott Pioli to help the school navigate the new waters of salary cap and roster management. Pioli came aboard months before, but the move was announced in June, along with a slew of other hires. Precious little was known beyond that.
We know more now, and boy, this is good work if you can get it.
According to documents obtained by Sportico, Iowa agreed to pay Pioli $30,000 for his services. And his services amount to six 1-hour Zoom calls, and a 1-day visit to Iowa City. Assuming a 10-hour work day on site, Iowa is paying Pioli $1,875 an hour, less travel and prep time. His contract began in November and expires in October.
Of course, the "if you can get it" is the key phrase above. The 60-year-old Pioli spent four years coaching college football before embarking on a 27-year career in the NFL personnel space. He began as a pro personnel assistant for the Cleveland Browns in 1992 and eventually became a key cog in the machine that built the dynastic New England Patriots of the 2000s. Pioli joined the club as the assistant director of player personnel in 2000 and rose to become the VP of player personnel, a job he held until 2008. He left to become the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs and, later, as the assistant GM for the Atlanta Falcons. In addition to three Super Bowl rings, Pioli won three Pro Football Writers Association Executive of the Year awards (two in New England, one in Kansas City) and was the back-to-back Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year in 2003-04.
Pioli left the NFL in 2019 to work for NFL Network and start his own consulting firm, known as 51 Consulting LLC. He's worked with Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Florida, Texas A&M and Virginia in addition to Iowa, according to reports.
Pioli isn't the only person making money off the players making money, either. Former Green Bay Packers general manager (and prominent Twitter personality) Andrew Brandt is making $165,000 to serve as a strategic advisor for Louisville, and Maryland is paying longtime Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith $10,000 a month for advice, according to Sportico.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.