Jackson Francois interned at Creative Artist Agency where he built databases and expanded his research skills while learning the inner-workings of college coaching representation.
What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?
I spent most of my time building Excel spreadsheets to track college coaches and their contracts. This meant researching when coaches' deals expired, what they were paid, and schools may be looking to hire new coaches. I also sat in on client calls, helped prepare materials for meetings, and learned how to verify information from news reports. By the end, I was creating comparison charts for coaching opportunities and even presenting my research to the team.
What new knowledge and skills did you develop?
My Excel skills got way better. I went from struggling with navigating basic spreadsheets to creating complex databases with more advanced functionality. I learned how to research contracts and verify information from multiple sources before relying on it to inform my reports. The business side of college sports was completely new to me. I had no idea how complicated the hiring process could be and how much money was involved prior to this experience. I also got better at asking questions when I needed clarity instead of feeling like I needed to pretend I understood everything.
What was the most satisfying part of your internship?
The “coaching carousel” season was crazy, but really exciting. I loved updating my databases in real time as news broke about coaching changes. It felt like being a detective, trying to figure out which programs would need new coaches. By the end, when my site supervisor started asking for my input during client calls, I felt like I actually contributed something useful instead of just watching from the sidelines.
What did you find most challenging about your internship?
The first few weeks were pretty overwhelming. Everyone was using terms and acronyms I didn't understand, and I felt a little lost in team meetings. Navigating Excel was much harder than I expected, and I had to learn fast and under pressure during busy periods. The hardest part was probably realizing that coaching changes affect real families and have real impact on their lives-- it's not just numbers on a spreadsheet.
What was the most significant contribution you made?
My site supervisor Jake and the team said my research work would actually be helpful for future coaching searches. I think creating those organized databases and tracking systems made their jobs easier. Even though it seemed like just data entry to me, having everything the data organized and available to be sorted by different factors like conference or contact end date saved them a lot of time.
How has your internship experience influenced your plans for your future?
I learned about career paths in sports representation and what it takes to become an agent. The sports business is way more complex than I thought, but that’s also what makes it really interesting. I'm definitely going to miss this work, and now I'm considering whether this could be a career path for me. No matter what my plans are, I know my research and organizational skills are stronger than I realized.