Contract Negotiation

Coaches Inc. founder Dennis Cordell spent six years as the only attorney for the NFL Coaches Association and advocated for coaches' legal rights against both individual teams and the league. Through this experience, he developed an expertise in coaching contracts unmatched in professional football. During this time, he also designed the database used by the NFLCA to share salary information among coaches that coaches have used to command dramatically higher salaries from even just a few years ago. Based on this background, CI does not merely focus on salary in negotiations, although CI knows all the numbers, but works on contract language to try to prevent the many problems that its founder attempted to fix while working at the NFLCA.

Career Planning

Although CI cannot "get a coach a job", CI works with each client to place its client in the best position possible when the next opportunity arises. CI helps with advising clients of available positions, establishing and utilizing each client's network, as well as sending letters, resumes and making calls to appropriate teams. CI provides a sounding board for its clients to assess their careers and goals and tries to implement strategies for their success.

Marketing and Promotional Opportunities

CI also works to secure marketing and promotional opportunities for its clients. Among other accomplishments at the NFLCA, Cordell sought out EA Sports and negotiated a deal to put assistant coaches in its Madden game and initiated trading card companies to use a select group of coaches in their products. He also negotiated a trademark settlement with the league and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenue for the NFLCA. Through these efforts, he established a number of contacts in the sports marketing industry and CI actively promotes its clients in these circles.