Mike Band isn’t a household name, yet. However, behind the scenes Band has been one of the most influential and impactful people in football putting his unique fingerprint of intelligence on everything he touches.
Band got his start down in Florida where he jumped in with Gators head coach Will Muschamp as a recruiter. He focused on the defensive side of the ball with now Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn and helped build one of the most dominating depth charts in the nation when it was all said and done.
Guys like Jonathan Bullard, Antonio Morrison, Keanu Neal and Vernon Hargreaves all had their name called early on in the 2016 draft. Meanwhile, Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone, Quincy Wilson, and Jalen Tabor are all lining up to follow a similar draft path in the upcoming months.
Once Band felt like he accomplished all he could in Florida he took his sights to the NFL where he became a scout and analyst for the Minnesota Vikings. At Winter Park he worked under general manager Rick Spielman diligently grinding tape while working on various projects. Band said over his tenure he was constantly bringing Spielman and his staff new strategies and programs that could help the Vikings become a highly respected front office.
It worked. Band helped bring in two outstanding draft classes though in 2014 and 2015, using an unique blend of his own algorithms and analytics mixed with his pure football instincts. Bringing in players from Eric Kendricks to Teddy Bridgewater, and late round studs like Danielle Hunter, Stefon Diggs, Jerick McKinnon, and Shamar Stephen.
Safe to say Band has stories, but we’ll have to wait for the book to get published to find out and real drama, which Band said isn’t coming out anytime soon.
In 2016 Band and most of his colleagues were relieved of their duties and sent packing but, that only motivated him to work harder and continue doing what he loves. He decided to go back to school at the university of Chicago to get his second MBA and continue to delve deeper into his passion for football and analytics.
He does all this while contributing to RosterWatch, one of the most highly regarded websites and young businesses on the Market. Roster Watch is changing the way of how we look at players, the draft process, and the game of football it self with new technology and systemization tools that we’ve never seen.
Just what exactly does Band have up his sleeve this time? Check out Arif Hasan and I’s one-on-one sit down with him from the Senior Bowl to find out.
