Most NFL head coaches will be attending the Scouting Combine. A growing minority have decided that the juice is not worth the squeeze.
Per the Packers, coach Matt LaFleur will not be attending this week’s event in Indianapolis.
He joins Rams coach Sean McVay, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, Jets coach Robert Saleh (although that might be changing; stay tuned), and presumably 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan (we’re waiting for confirmation on Shanahan) as head coaches skipping the event.
Another head coach said that he regards the Combine as valuable for coaches — far more valuable than the league meetings in late March. The coach called that gathering “the biggest waste of time” and a week full of “propaganda.”
The argument against going to the Combine is that the workouts are filmed and head coaches can participate in prospect interviews virtually. Other coaches want to see and hear the prospects in person.
At a certain level, an important message is sent. The head coach knows that the prospects have to show up and be poked and prodded and weighed and measured and eyeballed while they work out in their underwear. Showing up represents a degree of appreciation for the crap the prospects have to endure, under the vague guise of a “job interview.”