Office upgrades and the 7th annual OL Masterminds summit

Outlining some of my new home office setup and announcing the annual giveaway to the OL Masterminds summit in Frisco, Texas

Upgrades!

When I made the leap into football scouting, writing and analysis full-time in 2014, I built my career on a then-newly purchased Mac i5 desktop computer. The lone upgrade I’ve made over the last decade was having a 1 TB SSD installed in order to handle the thousands of video clips in my ever-expanding library (which is now full).

Over this last football season, it became obvious that I needed more than a hard drive upgrade to my home office setup, both in terms of aesthetics and efficiency. This led to a full reboot of my equipment over these last couple of weeks. I did this as a way of increasing the quality of my content and production efficiency and to ensure that you feel that your support is being rewarded with the highest caliber of content that I can possibly produce.

Here is a brief overview of some of the new bells and whistles that I will be implementing beginning next week that you will notice in the audio/video quality of my work.

• First, a new computer. In the constantly evolving world of technology, the computer that I have been operating on over the last decade essentially became a dinosaur. My new setup will be using an Apple M3 Pro chip with 36GB of unified memory and 1 TB SSD storage (along with a new external 2 TB SSD drive). For those unfamiliar with the details, this means that my storage space triples while my processing speed will be roughly like going from Isaiah Thompson running the 40-yard dash to John Ross.

• My ability to maintain my quality of work on the go will be unlocked since this new computer will be a laptop instead of a desktop. This also means a smaller screen, but I will be hooking the laptop up to a 27” Dell UltraSharp U2723QE 4k screen.

• Next, going from the standard Mac webcam to a Sony x6100 camera that will record my videos in 4k resolution (goodbye grainy videos).

• Mic upgrade from a Fifine to a Shure MV7+.

• Lighting upgrades from standard room lighting to two NEEWER Upgraded 660 PRO II RGB LED Video Lights.

• A friend and I are installing a new white brick background as a backdrop this weekend that I will be able to display some unique apparel on rather than the Trench Warfare image.

You can expect a new film room later next week with a special guest breaking it all down once I have all of this new equipment in place .

I wanted to extend a special thank you to EJ Snyder from the Bootleg Football podcast for being a sounding board in this decision-making process. EJ’s knowledge and time was invaluable, helping me select many of the items for my new home office setup.

2024 OL Masterminds summit

Have you ever wanted to be inside an NFL offensive line room listening to the inner-workings and strategy of how a unit operates? Does learning how offensive linemen study film, what they look for when preparing for games and how they work together to create a plan of attack interest you? What if that offensive line room was expanded from the typical seven or eight members to hundreds representing different eras, including several Hall of Famers?

For the fourth consecutive year, that experience is available for ‘founding members’ of the Trench Warfare newsletter. In a partnership with Duke Manyweather and OL Masterminds, when you sign up as a founding member to the Trench Warfare newsletter, you will automatically be entered into a randomized drawing. Two winners will be selected to receive invitations for the 2024 Masterminds summit at The Sports Academy at the Star in Frisco, Texas. The summit starts on Friday July 12th and goes through Saturday July 13th.

Winners will gain full access to the invite-only event along with some exclusive OL Masterminds swag upon arrival (ex: shirts, hoodies and/or crocs, etc.).

Here is an outline of topics for the summit:

• Living the offensive linemen lifestyle & brotherhood

• Position tips, knowledge share

• Hearing from Pros, Hall of Famers

• Technique, skill, drills

• Film breakdown

• Product giveaways & associated sponsor talks

The drawing will take place two weeks from today on Wednesday June 5th with winners being notified via email. To sign up simply click the ‘Subscribe Now’ button below and subscribe as a ‘Founding Member.’ The deadline to enter is Monday June 3rd.

More than 200 current and former NFL and college players and about 75 coaches and select media members are expected to attend the event. Here are some of the attendees and speakers we have had over the last couple of years:

• Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson (Seahawks, Vikings, Titans)

• Hall of Famer Willie Roaf (Saints, Chiefs)

• Hall of Famer Will Shields (Chiefs)

• Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews (Oilers, Titans)

• 4x All-Pro Willie Anderson (Bengals, Ravens)

• 3x All-Pro & Super Bowl Champion Andrew Whitworth (Rams, Bengals)

• 3x Super Bowl Champion Mark Schlereth (Redskins, Broncos)

• 2x Super Bowl Champion Damien Woody (Jets, Patriots, Lions)

• 2000s All-Decade team member Olin Kreutz (Bears, Saints)

• Pro Bowler Robbie Tobeck (Falcons, Seahawks)

• Pro Bowler Ben Grubbs (Ravens, Saints, Chiefs)

• 176 game starter Roberto Garza (Falcons, Bears)

• All-Pro & Super Bowl Champion Lane Johnson (Eagles)

• All-Pro Terron Armstead (Dolphins)

• Pro Bowler & Super Bowl Champion Ryan Jensen (Bucs)

• Pro Bowler & 2x Super Bowl Champion Shaq Mason (Texans)

• All-Pro & Super Bowl Champion Creed Humphrey (Chiefs)

• Super Bowl Champion Trey Smith (Chiefs)

• All-Pro Rashawn Slater (Chargers)

• All-Pro Chris Lindstrom (Falcons)

• All-Pro Andrew Thomas (Giants)

• NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger

You can download the new OL Masterminds app for Apple and Android to access training programs, videos and past OL Masterminds footage.

I have been a part of this summit since its inception in 2018. The knowledge and insight gained from being in attendance each year grows exponentially. I am thrilled to offer this opportunity for supporters and subscribers of this newsletter in a cumulative effort to shine a light on the offensive line and grow the appreciation and understanding of the trenches. There is no better place to join in that effort than the OL Masterminds summit. I look forward to meeting two of you there!