Alex Rogers is currently a football analyst for the Tennessee Titans. Keep reading to learn more about his job, how he ended up working for an NFL team and how his high school experience helped prepare him for the future.
Where did life lead you after high school?
In high school I really thought I was going to be an engineer. I went through the entire engineering process at Case and even had an engineering Youth Apprenticeship. But when it came time to choose a college, a good friend convinced me to choose the school I liked most and not the major I wanted because most people change majors in college anyway. At the time it made sense, so that’s what I did. I ended up going to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, played football as a 4-year starter and captain, and got a degree in computer science and data analytics.
From there, I worked for a company called HyVee where I did pharmacy analytics. Then I went to work for the Phoenix Suns as a data analyst and went on to do the same thing with the Titans.
What are you doing now?
Currently I am a football analyst for the Tennessee Titans, which includes office work for the draft and free agency, working with coaches multiple times a week and providing recommendations to strength and performance staff based on all the numbers I am able to gather.
The easiest way to describe what I do is that every week I scout the team we are going to play the following week. On Mondays, I meet with our defensive staff and explain to them how that team’s offense works through how often they pass the ball in certain situations, how often they run, or what certain players like to do. It is all based on data. All the players wear a tracker in their shoulder pads, so I used that data and other information such as what quarter it is, how much time is on the clock and when the ball was snapped. I basically give the defensive staff like 10 pages worth of insights every Monday based on every single offensive player.
What are your plans for the future?
Long-term goals for me are just to continue to learn and develop. As far as positional goals, I am still in between the coaching focus or staying at the front office, so I'm at a crossroads where I could go either way.
How did your high school experience help prepare you for your future?
I think more than anything, when I was at Case, it was the diversity. Meeting people from different backgrounds and knowing how to relate and speak to people who you may not have spoken to in a natural setting. The IB classes also helped accelerate college and made it easier to be a student athlete so I was not so concerned with the amount of classes I had to take.
Do you have any recommendations or insights for current high school students?
I feel like not a lot of people know that these types of jobs exist. There are other avenues into professional sports besides being a player. A lot of people dream about being around professional sports, but they think they need to be a player. I always think that's interesting. There are 75 of us in the building, and I am one of the only people who played college football in the building who isn't on the coaching staff or a player. My boss is a female from Canada so she has never played football, and my coworker is also a female from Oklahoma, so neither one of them has ever played football in their life. It's an easy way to combine passions, and there are no height, weight or speed requirements on the job.