Behind the Scenes with Wes French, General Manager of Teamworks Personnel
Wes French, General Manager of Teamworks Personnel, discusses what it means to build innovative solutions for collegiate athletics in an era defined by NIL and, soon, cap management. He shares how Teamworks is tackling the unique challenges of the collegiate environment while staying true to the mission of developing student-athletes as both athletes and individuals.
Q: You’ve been at the forefront of building Teamworks General Manager. What sparked the need for a purpose-built solution in college sports right now?
Wes: The last few years have brought seismic shifts to collegiate athletics—NIL, House settlements, and the looming introduction of cap management policies. Many universities and conferences are scrambling to find their footing as these changes unfold. Unlike professional leagues, which have decades of experience refining systems around player compensation and league operations, college athletics is just now figuring it all out. We realized that the market needed a solution designed from the ground up for these unique challenges rather than a one-size-fits-all tool borrowed from the pros.
Q: College sports isn’t just about managing rosters and budgets—it’s also about supporting young athletes as students and future professionals. How does that shape your approach?
Wes: That’s what sets college athletics apart. These athletes are still growing into adults, balancing rigorous academic schedules with the demands of their sport. Our approach keeps this student-development angle front and center. We’re not just helping institutions manage NIL compensation or plan for cap management; we’re supporting a shared mission of preparing student-athletes for life after sports. The tools we build must reflect that purpose—helping universities equip their athletes with education, resources, and transparency.
Q: You’ve said there’s “no easy button” for the path ahead. What do you mean by that?
Wes: It’s tempting to look for a quick fix—something you can copy and paste from professional leagues. But that’s not how this is going to play out. College sports are navigating complexities unlike any other environment. Integrating recruiting data, compliance metrics, scholarships, stipends, NIL deals, and potential cap structures is incredibly intricate. On top of that, we’re dealing with hundreds of athletes across multiple sports, different levels of oversight, and multiple stakeholders with their own priorities. There’s no shortcut. We have to embrace a more holistic, long-term strategy.
Q: How are you approaching developing software for a market when it is still changing so quickly and there are so many unknowns?
Wes: It’s the old adage that the only certainty is change, right? That means we must bake flexibility into our design. And not just because the requirements are still fluid, but because each conference and school will want to do things a bit differently to meet their unique requirements, cultures, and philosophies. Even after the market matures, that will still be the case. So flexibility is at the core of what we’re building.
Q: If there was one thing you could “lift and shift” from the pros, what would that be?
Wes: The “moneyball” approach – using advanced analytics and AI to help teams hit on more talent, find those undervalued players, and reduce the number of busts. Because those models are sport- and position-specific, like arm strength or pocket awareness, it’s easier to repurpose those for collegiate. And you’d want to do that because there’s no way you could build those same models yourself quickly enough to see the value from it. By the time you did, you’d be millions of dollars in but still years behind. This is what motivated us to acquire Zelus Analytics – now Teamworks Intelligence. We wanted to help our collegiate customers get there faster by standing on the shoulders of these sports analytics giants.
Q: Looking ahead, what do you hope to achieve with Teamworks Personnel?
Wes: Our ultimate goal is to provide a sustainable path for college athletics in this new era. By helping universities efficiently manage all aspects of athlete compensation and operations, we’re enabling them to uphold their dual commitment to education and competition. We want to see departments thrive—not merely survive—through these changes. If we can play a role in making that happen, and if our solutions help student-athletes build successful futures, then we’ve done our job.
Q: Any final advice for administrators facing these changes head-on?
Wes: Embrace complexity and think long-term. Don’t look for a silver bullet. Instead, invest in solutions tailored to your environment, learn from the past without being bound by it, and keep the student-athlete at the heart of every decision. By doing that, you’ll set a trajectory that not only navigates the current storm but also positions your program for a brighter, more sustainable future.
In closing, we believe that institutions will find greater success by moving away from solving individual challenges with isolated, one-off solutions. Standalone tools for payments, contracts, or recruiting often fall short when addressing the interconnected complexities of a team’s personnel journey. Instead, a more holistic approach could offer significant advantages—such as a recruiting pipeline that seamlessly integrates with forward-looking roster projections, flexible contracting solutions paired with secure, purpose-built payment systems, and tools for modeling athlete earnings year over year. Bringing these elements together within a unified system provides the clarity and cohesion needed to make informed decisions and build the strongest teams. An end-to-end solution offers a more sustainable and effective path than relying on a patchwork of distinct tools.