In this episode of Next Up with Adam Breneman, Vanderbilt general manager Barton Simmons joins the show to discuss what it takes to build a college football roster in 2025. From the chaos of the transfer portal to the complexity of NIL (name, image, and likeness), Barton explains how his role has evolved into one of the most important front office jobs in the sport.
Barton shares how he went from being the director of scouting at 247Sports to running roster strategy in the SEC, why evaluating talent is more about minimizing misses than maximizing hits, and what it feels like to build a program from the ground up alongside lifelong friend Clark Lea. Barton also opens up about the future of NIL and what college football looks like when a salary cap becomes real.
This conversation is part of a larger look—presented by our partners at Teamworks—at how NFL-style general managers are changing college football. Teamworks’ end-to-end solution, Teamworks GM, is purpose-built for this new era.
