Athletes First said yesterday that it had hired coaches agent and former NFLer Trace Armstrong as VP & Dir of Coaching, but CAA said Armstrong is still employed at CAA Sports. "While we do not comment on personnel matters, I can confirm that Trace Armstrong remains an employee of CAA Sports," an agency spokesperson said in an email. Jeffrey Kessler, partner at Winston & Strawn, is representing Armstrong and disputed the agency's contention that Armstrong still works at CAA Sports. "He has resigned and is working for A-1," Kessler wrote in an email. "CAA has been sent a resignation letter. If CAA is contending something else, it is incorrect." Armstrong was hired by CAA Sports in '07 to develop a coaches representation practice. His clients have included several top college football coaches, including Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, in addition to Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Indiana men's basketball coach Tom Crean. Armstrong and Athletes First President Brian Murphy yesterday said the agency had hired Armstrong to help build a powerful coaches and broadcasting division. Armstrong said, "I left CAA last week. My contract was coming up and I had the opportunity to think about my future and really about what was going to be the best thing for my clients going forward. I have been really impressed by Athletes First and their vision. We both together have a strong appetite to put resources into this and really do this better than anybody has ever done it." Athletes First's coaching clients include 49ers coach Chip Kelly and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, as well as college football coaches Bobby Petrino (Louisville), Paul Cryst (Wisconsin) and Kalani Sitake (BYU). Its broadcasting clients include ESPN's Steve Young and Matt Hasselbeck, Fox' John Lynch and NFL Network's Reggie Wayne. Athletes First was founded in '01 by Murphy and David Dunn and it represents more than 100 NFL players.
STRETCH ARMSTRONG: Athletes First's coaches and broadcasters division grew organically, but Armstrong will oversee the business, Murphy said. "He will come in with a director role and he will come in and make those departments his own. And, as Trace said, we will use all our resources and experience and combine it with what Trace has brought to the business and create a coaching and broadcasting representation practice that really hasn't been done before." Athletes First sold a 33% interest in its firm to Tokyo-based advertising agency Dentsu Inc. in '15, and Murphy has previously said the California-based agency plans to use some of the proceeds of that investment to expand the agency. Armstrong's hiring was the first of those steps, he said.
