NFL Player Jeff Driskel Teaches on Fortitude in Business, Life, and Sports

what are some of the things that you really want to focus on yeah I think just building out the right teams right like most most head coaches in the NFL they're not calling the offensive and defensive plays right there's there's guidelines in place that the head coach gives to those coordinators um you know and he can make some you know high level decisions during a game or during the week or whatever but it goes back to who you're hiring you know in in March or February or whenever it is and uh you know I've just seen the benefits of having really good people and the fallbacks of maybe not making the right decision Beyond The Blueprint podcast welcome back I'm your host Branson Bowen and today we're sitting down with Jeff Driscoll Jeff thanks for joining me man yeah thanks for having me happy to be here and uh looking forward to diving in yeah no so I'll let you introduce yourself um know you got a lot of things going on um not only in your professional career but also just career in business so I'll let you kind of dive in and then we can kind of go into your story yeah so uh live here in Orlando in the off Seasons um live with my wife Taran and our three kids you know before the before the uh we got on air we started talking about challenges that come with a 53 and one year old and you know how how awesome it is but but the challenges behind it so uh we got our hands full with that um just finished up my eighth year in the NFL um having a blast playing football um I've been on you know six teams in eight years so I've bounced around got you know really really cool exposure to a bunch of you know teammates uh coaches support staff over the years and uh it's been a great experience and uh you know I hope to I hope to be able to do it for years to come um but you know like I like I mentioned you know being on six teams in eight years you know you get cut you know so many times and you start to think about you know what's going to be next whenever that time comes and uh you know that's kind of what brought us here today is you know balancing um you playing NFL football and competing at the highest level but also setting yourself up for a smooth transition after ball so um you know we'll dive into that in a little bit but but yeah a lot of lot of balls in the air um having a blast using both sides of my brain there you go and uh and yeah en enjoying the offseason as much as possible while also trying to uh you know Advance my my future career sure so let's talk a little bit about your football career so how'd that start let's go let's go back all the way from peeee or High School and what's that look like so yeah growing up I was a baseball player you know I I go back and look at the home videos that are uh you know on VHS now and you know you know you see I see myself in the backyard playing baseball baseball baseball only and uh you know I played strictly baseball until I think it was seventh grade um you know the the kids the cool kids at school would wear their Pop Warner jerseys to school on Friday yeah and I was like why don't we do that in baseball you know I want to be cool I want every way smaller that's exactly exactly so that was kind of what got me into to playing football was like I want to be in The In Crowd you know so I wanted to wear my jersey on Friday um started playing in seventh grade there was a weight limit I was too heavy in seventh grade for the eighth grade team so I had a cut weight to make the eighth grade team when I was in seventh grade and I started out as number 44 playing defensive line and fullback and uh a few games in a couple quarterbacks got hurt and uh you know had a good enough arm to to stand back there and figure it out so that's what that's what launched me into uh playing quarterback so football and so then you go to high school you went to Hagerty went to Hagerty High School yep it was a brand new school at the time um in a tough division or conference or you know however it's labeled in high school and uh my freshman year was there was only freshman sophomore and Junior so we got just work that year we lost every game and uh I was the starting quarterback on varsity and really a you know eye openening experience for man these guys are talented they're big strong and fast and uh really really good exposure at a young age but uh but eye opening yeah and then you go to Florida right and so how what's that transition like yeah so you know go going back to high school you know took some bumps and bruises early on um you know was basically the same size that I am now you know when I graduated high school I was 64 225 you know ran a ran a 4540 not many people can say that no no no you know it's you know it's it's definitely god-given ability yeah which has uh you know gotten me into the position uh where I'm at today um but I say all that to say I was the number one recruited you know quarterback coming out of high school you know five star I wish there was nil money back then you know that that would have been a cool deal but uh but yeah I ended up choosing Florida over you know a bunch of other Marquee programs and uh really really loved my time there and you know spent four years there and uh ended up transferring to Louisiana Tech my fifth year what was your reasoning for choosing Florida I mean they were Fresh Off winning national championships you know it's an hour and a half down the road um you know the the depth chart at the time you know I could see myself getting getting thrown in there pretty early you know some guys you go to these big programs and you just get buried on the depth chart the way that the roster was built out you know I I had a legitimate chance to you know be the backup my freshman year and then take the Reigns over you know as a sophomore and in my head you know I'm going to win the Heisman as a sophomore Anna Junior and then get drafted first overall so you know it made sense to go to Florida and uh great school yeah got to sneak that in there great school as well um but yeah it was it was a no-brainer at the time yeah and so you go to Louisiana Tech for year five and then you know we were talking about having uh Jeff F on here and being first round draft pick after he finished the school and um so that process getting to the NFL it was it was a lot different than Jeff's um so what was that like for you yeah so like I mentioned I was the backup my freshman year uh my sophomore year I was the starting quarterback we were ranked number three in the country at the end of the season um you know I'm dating myself here but there was no college football playoff back then so um you know we ended up playing in the Sugar Bowl and we lost but we had a really nice year with some momentum going into year three and you know it was going to be the time for me to make a big jump after getting a full season of starting experience under my belt and uh you know it it didn't go well you know third game in I broke my ankle out for the year um which was a it was a major bummer you know I was borderline depressed you know am I done am I ever going to come back to how I was you know so it it was it was a tough year um you know I ended up growing as a Christian um growing as a person but uh it was it was tough it was really tough yeah and then you get drafted end up getting drafted yep so I'll answer your actual question here so the the next year I come back as a starter my fourth year um and and I don't play that good you know I play okay but uh you know not great end up getting benched at the end of the season I decided to transfer to Louisiana Tech um which is a great program we had some really good players players a ton of guys from my team ended up in the NFL and uh you know I was fortunate enough to get drafted in the sixth round um you know not not like Jeff in the first round where you know you're getting all this guaranteed money and you know they're expecting you to come in and start I was coming in like competing to make the roster sure right uh but you know doesn't matter when your name gets called that draft it's a it's a life-changing experience and uh it was it was an awesome day with my friends and family yeah you know I'm I'm sure you know you experienced a lot of obstacles you know getting to that right like you mentioned you know just getting drafted alone is a huge you know statement and testament to like what you've worked so hard to to get um how did you like overcome a lot of that and and what was that feeling was there like a huge weight lifted off or was like okay that's done I'm here now I got to prove myself even more yeah I mean going back to when I got injured right like you know there's a lot of it's there's a lot of Temptations at the University of Florida you know whether it's you know girls bars whatever it is and I fell into some of those Temptations you know as a as a young kid and uh there was this guy he his name was Don Malden he was the um I don't want to say it's not pastor but he was the chaplain of the football team and he kept pursuing me and you know I wouldn't give him the time of day Don go away I don't want to talk like and there was one day I was on a one leg scooter when I had my broken leg and I had to go all the way across campus and it was hot in the middle of the summer I was gassed so I stopped into the recruiting room um called the gator room to get some air conditioning and to take a load off and Don walks over sits sits down at the table next to me and uh you know he kind of had me trapped and he and he told me all about Jesus and I said all right man like you've been coming after me for a year and a half to tell me about this guy Jesus there must be something to him right let's hear it and right then and there I gave my life to Jesus and uh you know I think that was really you know the foundation of of how I overcame any and all obstacles in my life was was that day sure you know it's interesting are you still close with him I'm I'm not as close as I would like to be sure um you know life gets in the way I'm here half the year gone half the Year got you know three kids as I reference but uh you know every once in a while I'll check in with them and you know he he he doesn't know how big of an impact that he had on my life right um and I need to tell him more often today's episode is brought to you by Bryce can of insurance office of America as a contractor or real estate owner in Florida you've likely experienced the impact of rising insurance premiums year after year with the challenging Insurance Marketplace having a specialist who focuses on your industry is critical now more than ever before if you like a second set of eyes on your current insurance program or don't have a relationship with your current broker please contact Bryce canth at 407-697-6492 or text or email bryce. usa.com don't let Rising insurance calls catch you off guard reach out to Bryce today yeah well you know it's interesting whether it's you know sports or even in in business you know the impact that someone like that especially you know in the spiritual realm right when you you're giving your life to Christ but even having some someone in your life that's pursuing you that's you know asking are you okay how can I be of service how can I help that then becomes almost like a mentor right to you know it's it's a catalyst that kind of catapults you a little bit further in your life and then you know still to this day you remember that exact scenario that you were in um and I'm sure and you can speak to this but you know that scenario probably plays a lot in your head as you deal with other things absolutely I mean when I first got into the league you know I was shaking in my boots on the sixth round pick you know maybe I make the team maybe I don't I'm in the lock room with all these you know pro bowlers first round picks guys with all this money and I'm just nervous right like I don't know what to expect and uh you know I kind of just found somebody with a friendly face that was you know willing to pour into me and uh you know there's been a number of guys in my career that have kind of uh walked me through how do you stick around you know how do you add value even if you're not the starter and um you know that that that's helped a ton in my football career as well as you know as I uh you know try to try to play the business game as well there's there's so many people out there you know if you're willing to open your mouth and be vulnerable a little bit that are willing to pour back into you and uh I've been so surprised with uh with the amount of people that are willing to uh you know give you some advice and and help along the way so I want to touch on that a little bit of you know you mentioned the advice of how do you stick around right if you're not the starter right and I think there's a parallel there especially in business how do you provide value how do you stay consistent and how do you continue to work hard in business even if you're not the one crushing it right if you're not at the top level how do you keep doing that so what was some of the advice that you got from some of these guys yeah so you know in in football there's a very it's a laid path like you play well in high school you go to college you play good enough in college you go to the NFL if you can prove that you're you know worth keeping on the roster you'll stick around in the NFL for a couple years so it's a very late out path you know one thing that I've really come to learn over the past handful of years is you know business especially small small business where I'm playing it's there's a lot of ambiguity there's no one right way to do it sure um there's wrong ways to do it um but really it's it's what works best for you and your family at that time you know you you figure it out along the way and uh you do it with good people around you and um you know you'll come out better on the other side sure how has your relationship with Jesus changed over time it's gotten better you know like ideally that's that's the scenar yeah definitely better than where I started um like in anything though right like you look at somebody who's who's crushing crushing it in business and you know the first question I want to ask is well how do I do it you know and I want an answer that's a very linear path and that's not the case in 99.99% of the conversations that you have there's there's twists and turns and there's pivots and you know yeah 's luck there's you know right place at the right time and creating your own luck um you're really good at that by the way getting in front of the right people um but yeah there's it's it's twists and turns along the way and it's not linear and that can be frustrating sure um and that's how it's been in my walk with Jesus as well you know there's there's been points where I've been you know the highest of highs lowest of lows um straight away and he you know ropes me back in and uh yeah so it's it's trending up but not you know on the straight path sure sure well you know I think that's part of just life right it's it's and I think as Christians you know our walk with life is not always linear um you know we we we're humans we live in a very you know broken and Fallen World and there's things that happen in life that just happen you know and and we have rightful emotions towards them whether that be anger or fear or anxiety um you know but at the end of the day it is about continuing I guess to go back to that relationship point it's continuing that relationship continuing to progress no it doesn't have to be this this this straight shot um but staying consistent in your relationship and then kind of allowing that to grow as your life continues to progress yeah it's it's marginal growth right it's it's stacking one habit on another sure and uh and staying true to it and you look up 10 years down the line and you know next thing you know you're the guy that uh is pouring into the Next Generation so I hope to be in that seat right you know right 10 15 years I'm a little grayer and hopefully a little wiser we get we get wiser with experience yeah that's right you know so your your path in the NFL right so you're what six years in just finished up eight man I'm a graybeard in the league right like I come home and I'm this young guy in the in our neighborhood and trying to figure out the business world and I go back into the locker room and they're asking you got have many kids you know you've been around for how long so it's a weird dynamic but yeah eight eight years yeah so how has that been in NFL I mean you've jumped around a lot um you know I'm sure there's challenges along that path um how's that been it's been awesome yeah it's been awesome um you know I got drafted by the the 49ers in the sixth round was cut like three three months into my career I'm like oh my gosh am I done before it started I'm fortunate enough to get picked up by Cincinnati um was there for you know just over three years uh kind of cut my teeth in the NFL there kind of figured it out a little bit was able to play um you know probably you know eight or nine games over the course of three years and uh you know bounced around since then I was in Detroit Denver Houston Arizona Cleveland Cleveland so I've I've been exposed to a bunch of different offenses a bunch of different people and uh it's been great obviously the the ideal scenario is to stick in one spot but the vast majority of the league isn't on you know 5year $100 million contracts right it's figure out a way to to stay alive and and add value while you can and uh just like in in the business world right like your reput your reputation precedes you sure you know I go from one team to another and they already know all about me because they have a buddy on another staff um so yeah just just try to add as much value as I can uh and most of the time it's not actually on the field which is which is kind of weird are you ready to go beyond the blueprint introducing Nexus the ultimate game changer for commercial real estate and development professionals Nexus revolutionizes how deals are made and projects come to life with our Cutting Edge SAS platform we're revolutionizing the built environment making your workflow seamless vendors gain instant access to Opportunities tailored to their needs while organizations find Consultants vendors and contractors with a click of a button our all-in-one mapping and deal making interface Powers municipal alties and site selectors to shape the future of cities Nationwide join Nexus today and be a part of the future of commercial real estate and construction visit our website now to pre-register and get immediate access to what is to come visit go nexus. us the power to transform your project starts here and so okay so I want to jump into that I guess the first question is so you've seen a lot of different you you've been with different teams obviously there's different leadership t tics and strategies what are some of the things you know as as far as a team perspective and and building a successful strategy and team to accomplish a goal what is some of the things that you've saw from some of these teams that you're like okay these guys are nailing it yeah again no one right way to do it like my assumption going into the league was that every building was going to look the exact same very cookie cutter all right we figured out what optimal looks like and everybody got the secret sauce but that's just not the case right like there's been teams where you know we would have an hour team meeting every day and then there's been teams where we have a five minute team meeting every two or three days so it's it's it's so different but I think the best staffs communicate very well and communicate efficiently and everybody knows you know where they stand you know on the depth chart what their role is and and what expectations are and however you have to communicate that you know go do it yeah and how have you learned from some of those and as you get into the business side of things how have you learned some of those strategies that those teams did successful and you're like okay I want to replicate that in into business and what are some of those things obviously communication's huge yeah um but you know you mentioned one thing is like figuring out who's good at what and who's not good at certain things you know making that team atmosphere kind of cap capable as you transition into business what are some of the things that you really want to focus on yeah I think just building out the right teams right like most most head coaches in the NFL they're not calling the offensive and defensive plays right there's there's guidelines in place that the head coach gives to those coordinators um you know and he can make some you know high level decisions during a game or during the week or whatever but it goes back to who you're hiring you know and in March or February or whenever it is and uh you know I've just seen the benefits of having really good people and the fallbacks of maybe not making the right decision and it's going to end up falling on the leader right that's his responsibility to build out the right team um but also the delegation piece right in a in a football organization it's very def it's very defined what the optimal or structure is right you have your your head coach and your GM that kind of work together um kind of checks and balances a little bit you have your coordinators and then you have position coaches under those coordinators and then their support staff under those guys then you have a whole another side you know that deals with nutrition strength um you know onboarding players um it's really just to keep you know each individual person's core Focus just dialed into what they're supposed to do right and not have so many uh you know balls in the air right and so going back to the second question you know that leadership portion of of you mentioned you know adding value even though sometimes it's not on the field yeah right and and becoming a leader in the locker room or to your team even though you're not the starter quarterback you know in business you know there are instances where you know we want to try to add value but either you know if you're young you don't have the experience you don't have the connections you don't have X Y and Z there's still an opportunity to add value yeah what are some of those things that you kind of really honed into I guess especially in your your your football career of trying to add value to other people yeah I mean the obvious kpis in football are touchdown passes sure you know to interception ratio wins and losses as a quarterback and then in business it's it's dollars and cents right um but some some of the things that are really meaningful over the Long Haul for successful organizations aren't going to show up on the stat sheet right and I've I've always been one to really figure out you know a what is my role right is my role a backup quarterback is it a third string quarterback you know how do I take advantage of the meeting room and you know get my thoughts out there you know in a way that helps us on Sunday um and you have to be you have to get to a position in your career where your thoughts are listened to and you have to like be you you have to have a reputation that says this guy knows what he's talking about so I wasn't just in there as a rookie you know blabbing my mouth when I know what I was talking about right um but yeah just provide as much support to the quarterback as possible to the quarterback coach you know send some text messages to the coordinator hey what do you think about this play this defense um so yeah it's really just you know selfishly figuring out a way to stick but also you know how do I help our team win if I'm not out there throwing touchdowns right and correct me if I'm wrong it seems like it's mainly relational yeah it's people you know every organization is just a bunch of people you know hopefully rowing in the right direction and uh yeah it it it's people like you said yeah I mean we're all you know people is the hardest part of anything Wilds man it's always wild myself included you know and and like you'd mention getting everybody rowing in the same direction is often difficult especially as you venture into you know areas that you're not certain in or maybe you're outside your wheelhouse so it's a it's a great segue to what you're doing in business so explain a little bit about what you guys are focused on what you're trying to how you're trying to position yourself outside of your football career and and kind of how you're transitioning your company and doing that yeah so I'll kind of walk it back a little bit you know I mentioned I've been cut a a handful of times over the over the course of my career and there's always that you know that little voice in the back of your head saying hey like you need to figure it out for when you're done right you know there was people that would ask early in my career what are you going to do after football and I was kind of tired of saying I'll figure it out you know when that eight years in it's like I was I was tired of answering you know no plan B you know um so I you know I'm burning the boats this is it Hall of Fame I'm play till I'm 45 and uh you know hopefully I can walk but um but yeah so the lwh hanging fruit in the locker room was was real estate and Venture capitalism that's kind of what you know what guys were getting into off the field um you know you you try to position yourself to earn some passive income and I'm still not sure that that's realistic I don't think there's any actual passive but um you know I wasn't I didn't have a risk appetite for you know getting into the VC world you know didn't have a big enough wallet to do that um you know understood enough on the real estate side you know to kind of figure out if that's what I wanted to do uh you know you buy a building for x amount of dollars you put x amount of dollars into it and you sell it for more you rent it like I get that so I started off doing some some single family flips um you know figured out what taxes were pretty quickly and said hey like you know I don't think this is what I want to do it's it's not super scalable unless you have a really really large infrastructure so I said you know what I'm going to hold these things now so then I got into a handful of single family rentals again unit economics you have to have a ton of single family rentals if you want that to be your main gig I'm like okay I learned a couple things and you know doing both of these projects you know let's let's move up a level so um got in on the lp side on a handful of multif family deals with the thought that hey I'm gonna learn something in every deal that I do I'm gonna make some money along the way um but it's going to position me nicely when I'm done to get on the GP side and be a real estate professional and the more and more deals I did I just I didn't enjoy the operations as much as I thought I would um still love the asset class you know still still invest passively you know but uh you know kind of took a look in the mirror and said it's not what I want to do there's there's no true professional passion here um and at that point you know I was six seven years into the league um you know had a had a little bit of coin in my pocket and said you know what I I don't want to be a W2 employee I know that you know so I have to go be an entrepreneur you know what what does that look like do I start a gym do I you know do whatever I have to go zero to one and I came across this uh you know this opportunity to buy small businesses and operate them and and grow them and you know position yourself to either hold long-term for cash flow or or exit at some point and just fell in love with the idea um so yeah we're we're going after um you know small small businesses and you know trying to optimize them you know in the long term and uh just create really good culture within each individual business and uh you know hopefully over time create some synergies and uh yeah make make them better for for all stakeholders sure so last question we'll wrap up episode one what is something as you transition out of football I mean you're still in football but you you're really you focusing on the business side of things you know you've kind of you dabbled in the real estate stuff you're getting into the business stuff what's something that you've learned along the way that's really like stuck you don't have to have it all figured out yeah you know I was always one you know I have to have everything you know every minute detail figured out in order to jump in and that's just not the case especially at a young age like I'm 30 almost 31 now um still have a you know a long time in my professional career and still definitely figuring it out but definitely don't be scared to jump in and take a couple calculated risks to figure out what it is exactly you want to do yeah execution y yeah yeah a lot of the business side of things calculated risk is calculated in the risk is is very is underlying bolded um but you have to be able to execute um and I think that execution is what most people do struggle with because you know for me I was definitely the person I've got to have all my ducks in a row I've got to have it all figured out and you realize very quickly that the longer you try to figure it out the more opportunities you miss out on analysis by paralysis and let's be honest we're never going to have it all figured out no no yeah so you know going back to what are those puzzle pieces you know and people you can figure out X Y and Z but then have somebody else with you to figure out a b and c right and and so there's a ton of value there of Who You partner with who you decide to do business with how you connect with people um has there been anybody that's been impactful to your business side of things that's helped you along that way oh man there's been so many people that I'm not even going to start to you know try to try to name names but like I like I mentioned earlier just the the amount of people that are willing to pour into you and grab coffee and and go to lunch and check in periodically is it's incredible sure but I've also found like nobody's going to go out and do it for you yeah like they're not going to just say do this this and that and next thing you know you're sipping my Ties on the beach right like and they're not going to pour into you unless they notice you you know taking their advice or moving in the right direction or doing it for themselves right they're not just just going to pour into you if they don't think there's going to be any action taken um so there's it's mostly on your shoulders um but yeah create create creating a network getting it out there what you want to do what direction you want to go in and uh as you know the network just expands pretty rapidly yeah I would definitely say in my life you know having that initiative has been huge um because there's a ton of people especially if they're more senior in this industry and they've got you know decades worth of experience they're probably willing to meet with you right if if you if you have the initiative just to ask for the meeting they probably will whether or not you have a second one or you build a relationship in my opinion is solely on you yeah show up with something to talk about right have a plan don't just be like hey how do I do it what do I do tell me what to do yeah how do I become you how do I be successful because time is very sensitive you know we only have a limited amount and a lot of these guys who who've been in the industry for so long and are so successful they don't have a lot of time but they are willing to help people who will help themselves to put it on in quotations um you know so you have to take that initiative you got to show up with something to talk about you've got to recognize you know what you're good at what your passion is and where you want to go and you got to put that out there y um and which is not comfortable especially when you don't have all your ducks in a row right yeah and then being vulnerable to say I don't know like you know I you know if if someone gives you adice advice to do this stopping the the conversation say I don't really know what you just said yeah what does that word mean you know I've had a really catch myself you know years ago of just really doing that and saying okay I don't really know because you there is a little bit of Pride there you don't want to be vulnerable you don't want to almost expose yourself as you know you you don't know but you're young you don't know which is okay yeah which is okay they've been exactly where you're at um there's a guy as a mentor of mine that you know what he does is when people ask for a meeting he'll tell them to read a book yep and if they come back read the book and they have questions on the book he'll take the meeting Y and if they don't he said often times I never hear it from him again because there's a level of initiative that has to be taken in order for someone of that caliber to actually end up pouring into you yep you know yeah I mean it's it just shows that like you said you're willing to invest in yourself why would someone in else invest in you AB if you're willing to read 200 pages right over the course of or listen to three hours of aever yeah yeah very very easy um but yeah it's people weed themselves out yeah no absolutely so we'll wrap up episode one we'll jump in episode two so beyond the blueprint this has been episode one with Jeff Driscoll make sure you stay tuned for the next one I'm your host Branson Bowen see you soon