Courtney Weiner Abby Alonzo interview on Navy pro day and Patriots

The Courtney Weiner Abby Alonzo interview traces a connection made during Navy’s pro day that helped Weiner reach the New England Patriots. Weiner told Alonzo how recruiting at Navy prepared her for the scouting department’s travel and paperwork, why the job means so much to her as a lifelong Patriots fan, and what she tells women hoping to work in the National Football League.

What did Courtney Weiner do in Navy football recruiting?

Courtney Weiner spent three full football seasons at Navy, first as director of on-campus recruiting. She was promoted to director of football and recruiting operations in the offseason before leaving for the Patriots, so she never worked a season in the new position. The experience taught her to build relationships while managing demanding logistics.

Getting from Columbia to Annapolis

Weiner had decided before college that she wanted to work in football, although she initially pictured herself as a reporter. After working with football teams as an undergraduate and while in graduate school at Columbia, she reached Navy through a mutual friend of her former boss. Moving from New York City to Annapolis, Maryland, took adjustment: she described having her dream job somewhere that was not her dream place.

Recruiting players and their families

At Navy, recruiting also meant asking prospective players to consider a service academy. Weiner worked to make players, families and everyone else visiting feel comfortable and important. She planned and ran events, tracked schedules and handled travel problems while forming relationships she still maintains with players and parents. She said those three seasons clarified her career goals and the value of relationships in football.

How did Courtney Weiner manage work-life balance at Navy?

Courtney Weiner said her first year at Navy was difficult because she was giving considerable energy to recruits, families and coaches without finding enough time for herself. A reliable Sunday routine helped her reset. She credited Coach Newberry with protecting Sundays away from the office, while acknowledging that a routine did not erase harder periods.

On those days off, Weiner went to a coffee shop by the water, read a book and got a bagel. She also went to the gym and bought groceries. Having that time to look forward to mattered when work had required her to stay available and solve problems for other people.

She was careful not to present a coffee-shop visit as a complete answer to exhaustion. At times, she said, things in her own life made caring for everyone else especially draining. Finding a routine within the time off she had was one way to reconnect with herself.

How did Courtney Weiner get a job with the Patriots?

Courtney Weiner connected with New England Patriots assistant director of college scouting Matt Evans during Navy’s pro day. As Navy’s NFL liaison, she was coordinating scout access amid security concerns. Evans later told her a Patriots position would open when Nancy retired, and he passed along Weiner’s name after seeing her handle the complicated logistics.

Getting 21 NFL teams onto campus

Weiner expected scouts from 21 teams—about 23 scouts in all—for pro day. Access requirements were changing, and visitors needed background checks. To keep everyone informed, she put the scouts in a group chat. She already knew many from earlier visits, but the volume of last-minute requests made the event unusually difficult to coordinate.

Meeting Matt Evans

Evans was among those who asked about access late. Weiner told him she could put him on a list but could not promise he would get in under the security requirements. The requests ultimately worked out. She said March and April brought more logistical work than she had ever faced, including processing information needed for recruits and their families to visit.

Evans told her Nancy was retiring after 51 years. Weiner said she was honored to take a position previously held only by Nancy. The demanding spring, she felt, had given Evans a direct view of the skills she could bring to New England.

What does Courtney Weiner do in her Patriots job?

Courtney Weiner handles operations for the Patriots’ scouting department, including booking scouts’ flights and hotels and submitting paperwork for contracts, injured reserve and player terminations. The work is often administrative rather than glamorous. She described it as the support that lets scouts travel and the department complete its required transactions.

Scouting travel and upcoming events

On the day she spoke with Alonzo, Weiner had booked flights for scouts making advance trips. She was also beginning plans for the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl trips in January. The work draws on the scheduling and travel experience she gained while running recruiting events at Navy.

Contracts, injured reserve and termination paperwork

Weiner works with medical staff on injured-reserve submissions and handles paperwork for contracts and terminations. She said sending termination papers is an unpleasant part of the job, particularly when a rookie asks why she needs to confirm an address. That same day also brought a new contract to submit—a more welcome task amid the paperwork.

What advice did Courtney Weiner give about working in the NFL?

Courtney Weiner advised people seeking NFL operations or administration jobs to work hard, ask questions and take opportunities to learn unfamiliar tasks. She said college recruiting can be particularly useful preparation because schedules, visitor lists and travel plans change quickly. Her own Navy work taught her to make decisions and keep events running when plans shifted.

Weiner told Alonzo she still asks many questions with the Patriots because NFL work differs from what she knew in college. At each earlier stop, she tried to learn something new and put herself in situations where she could understand another part of the job. Weiner put her central advice plainly:

And if you're not learning, you're not working hard.

At Navy, she also helped with team travel and operations, but recruiting gave her another view of how an event comes together. Visitor additions could arrive at the last minute, and difficult weather could disrupt travel. She said running weekend-long recruiting events helped prepare her for the Patriots work she does now.

Weiner offered similar advice to a former Navy intern who was hesitant to remain in recruiting while pursuing an operations career. That intern later joined the Baltimore Ravens travel operations department as an intern. For Weiner, learning how to adjust a recruit list and draw on working relationships was practical operations training.

What did Courtney Weiner say about Drake May and the Buffalo Bills?

Courtney Weiner did not offer a detailed football prediction when Alonzo asked about doubters ahead of a Patriots game against the Buffalo Bills. Asked what she would say to people questioning Drake May and New England, she gave a brief reply and tied it to her longstanding support for the team.

“Haters gone hate.” Weiner said that was all she had to say on the subject. She added that she grew up in New England as a diehard Patriots fan and remains one while working for the organization.

That history shapes how she views the job beyond its daily tasks. Driving to work can still feel unreal to her, she said, because the team she now works for is the one she followed growing up.

What has been most rewarding about Courtney Weiner’s Patriots career?

Courtney Weiner said reaching the Patriots has made the long nights, low pay and difficult moments along her career path feel worthwhile. She is proud both to contribute to an organization she followed as a child and to show other women that they can pursue work like hers in football.

From her office, with West Stadium behind her, Weiner reflected on how hard she had worked to reach the position. The setting made the years of recruiting events, travel problems and changing plans feel connected to where she had arrived.

She also wants to help other women along. Being an example to someone considering a similar career, she told Alonzo, is part of what makes the work rewarding.