Polk will serve as Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager, while Elsner will be the program’s Director of Football Strategy.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida football program announced the additions of Nick Polk and Benjamin Elsner to the program’s front office on Monday. Polk will serve as Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager, while Elsner was named the team’s Director of Football Strategy.
Polk will oversee the front office for the Gators and be responsible for revenue share and NIL allocation, student-athlete contract negotiations, football budgets, roster management and work with football personnel. Elsner will assist Polk with management of the salary cap and contracts, but will also lead the program’s efforts in analytics and A.I. for all parts of the organization.
“We are excited about moving forward with building out the front office concept with the addition of Nick Polk,” head coach Billy Napier said. “His leadership and experience will prove to be extremely valuable to the entire organization. Nick has a college football coaching background, as well as extensive NFL experience to go along with representing a number of clients that are in college football and the NFL. This is a huge step forward for the Gators.”
Polk comes to Gainesville with a tremendous amount of experience, including serving 17 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as Director of Football Administration and Director of Football Operations. Polk’s duties with the Falcons included salary cap management including draft negotiations, contract proposals, player contracts, coaches contracts, cross-check scouting assignments on both college and the NFL, trades and trade value analysis, CBA Compliance, football budgets, league liaison and daily cap monitoring and strategy.
“I am honored and privileged to have this incredible opportunity to be named Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager for the Florida Gators,” Polk remarked. “I’d like to give a special thank you to Scott Stricklin and Coach Napier for their trust in my abilities to take on this new role. Every successful program has alignment with its leadership and it was evident throughout this process that this is the case here. I am excited to work daily with this football program's great administrators, coaches, players and staff to build a championship program.”
For his first two years with Atlanta, Polk oversaw the Georgia Force (AFL) each spring, serving as Senior Director of Football Operations, handling all aspects of the Club's roster management, operations and financial management.
During his time with the Falcons, the team played in in 11 playoff games, advancing to the NFC Championship game on three occasions and making the Super Bowl in 2017.
Prior to arriving in Atlanta, Polk served five seasons in the NFL League offices from 2000-04. For three seasons, he was the NFL Europe Director of Football Administration and was the NFL Europe Senior Director of Football Operations for two.
Following his time at with the Falcons, Polk worked at Athletes First, where he served as an advisor, contract negotiator, search firm relations and professional development with players and coaches.
Polk also brings 13 seasons of college coaching experience to Gainesville, including four years as the head coach at Lock Haven University. He also was a member of coaching staffs at Delaware State, Brown, James Madison and Southern Connecticut State.
Elsner comes to the Gators after serving most recently as Chief of Staff of The 33rd Team, a football analysis platform that provides in-depth insights on NFL teams and players, for nearly five years.
“Ben Elsner is one of the bright, up-and-comers in our profession and has unique and valuable experience in his early career,” Napier said. “He will be working alongside Nick in the salary cap and contract space. He will also help us use analytics and A.I. to evaluate all the data relative to strategy throughout the organization. He will be working closely with me to make sure we are continuing to evolve and are using the best practices throughout our program at all levels.”
In that role, he was responsible for various tasks within the start-up/think-tank. . Elsner worked closely over the past two years with former executives and team presidents gaining insight on successful, sustainable and efficient team building philosophies. Prior to this position, Benjamin gained experience working with former head coaches and general managers as a head scout evaluating both NFL & CFB players.
“I am honored and excited to join the Florida Gators as the Director of Football Strategy,” Elsner remarked. “I want to thank Coach Napier for believing in me for this role, along with those at The 33rd Team who allowed me to grow and learn over the past five years. Throughout this process, I have been immensely impressed by the vision Coach Napier has set for the program and the alignment of the staff. I am excited to work with the coaches, players and staff to build a sustainable championship caliber program, on and off the field.”
After 12-straight sold-out games at The Swamp, fans can now secure season tickets for six games in 2025 with matchups against LIU (Aug. 30), South Florida (Sept. 6), Texas (Oct. 4), Mississippi State (Oct. 18), Tennessee (Nov. 22) and Florida State (Nov. 29).
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida football program announced the additions of Nick Polk and Benjamin Elsner to the program’s front office on Monday. Polk will serve as Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager, while Elsner was named the team’s Director of Football Strategy.
Polk will oversee the front office for the Gators and be responsible for revenue share and NIL allocation, student-athlete contract negotiations, football budgets, roster management and work with football personnel. Elsner will assist Polk with management of the salary cap and contracts, but will also lead the program’s efforts in analytics and A.I. for all parts of the organization.
“We are excited about moving forward with building out the front office concept with the addition of Nick Polk,” head coach Billy Napier said. “His leadership and experience will prove to be extremely valuable to the entire organization. Nick has a college football coaching background, as well as extensive NFL experience to go along with representing a number of clients that are in college football and the NFL. This is a huge step forward for the Gators.”
Polk comes to Gainesville with a tremendous amount of experience, including serving 17 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as Director of Football Administration and Director of Football Operations. Polk’s duties with the Falcons included salary cap management including draft negotiations, contract proposals, player contracts, coaches contracts, cross-check scouting assignments on both college and the NFL, trades and trade value analysis, CBA Compliance, football budgets, league liaison and daily cap monitoring and strategy.
“I am honored and privileged to have this incredible opportunity to be named Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager for the Florida Gators,” Polk remarked. “I’d like to give a special thank you to Scott Stricklin and Coach Napier for their trust in my abilities to take on this new role. Every successful program has alignment with its leadership and it was evident throughout this process that this is the case here. I am excited to work daily with this football program's great administrators, coaches, players and staff to build a championship program.”
For his first two years with Atlanta, Polk oversaw the Georgia Force (AFL) each spring, serving as Senior Director of Football Operations, handling all aspects of the Club's roster management, operations and financial management.
During his time with the Falcons, the team played in in 11 playoff games, advancing to the NFC Championship game on three occasions and making the Super Bowl in 2017.
Prior to arriving in Atlanta, Polk served five seasons in the NFL League offices from 2000-04. For three seasons, he was the NFL Europe Director of Football Administration and was the NFL Europe Senior Director of Football Operations for two.
Following his time at with the Falcons, Polk worked at Athletes First, where he served as an advisor, contract negotiator, search firm relations and professional development with players and coaches.
Polk also brings 13 seasons of college coaching experience to Gainesville, including four years as the head coach at Lock Haven University. He also was a member of coaching staffs at Delaware State, Brown, James Madison and Southern Connecticut State.
Elsner comes to the Gators after serving most recently as Chief of Staff of The 33rd Team, a football analysis platform that provides in-depth insights on NFL teams and players, for nearly five years.
“Ben Elsner is one of the bright, up-and-comers in our profession and has unique and valuable experience in his early career,” Napier said. “He will be working alongside Nick in the salary cap and contract space. He will also help us use analytics and A.I. to evaluate all the data relative to strategy throughout the organization. He will be working closely with me to make sure we are continuing to evolve and are using the best practices throughout our program at all levels.”
In that role, he was responsible for various tasks within the start-up/think-tank. . Elsner worked closely over the past two years with former executives and team presidents gaining insight on successful, sustainable and efficient team building philosophies. Prior to this position, Benjamin gained experience working with former head coaches and general managers as a head scout evaluating both NFL & CFB players.
“I am honored and excited to join the Florida Gators as the Director of Football Strategy,” Elsner remarked. “I want to thank Coach Napier for believing in me for this role, along with those at The 33rd Team who allowed me to grow and learn over the past five years. Throughout this process, I have been immensely impressed by the vision Coach Napier has set for the program and the alignment of the staff. I am excited to work with the coaches, players and staff to build a sustainable championship caliber program, on and off the field.”
After 12-straight sold-out games at The Swamp, fans can now secure season tickets for six games in 2025 with matchups against LIU (Aug. 30), South Florida (Sept. 6), Texas (Oct. 4), Mississippi State (Oct. 18), Tennessee (Nov. 22) and Florida State (Nov. 29).
