For the last two years, the NFL has attempted to position the East-West Shrine Bowl as a direct competitor to the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

In 2022, the league moved the Shrine Bowl to Las Vegas and scheduled it for the Thursday of the same week during which the Senior Bowl was held on Saturday in Mobile. Not only could the Senior Bowl no longer “call up” players who had excelled in the Shrine Bowl; but NFL teams had to split their talent-evaluation staffs to scout both games.

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Then, as of this year, the NFL will no longer provide full coaching staffs to just the Senior Bowl. The Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl will rotate that format on a yearly basis, with the Shrine Bowl getting full coaching staffs — in this case, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons — in 2023, the Senior Bowl in 2024.

It’s the latest challenge facing the Senior Bowl, which has been held in Mobile each year since 1951 and at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus since 2021. Executive director Jim Nagy said he’s become used to making adjustments on the fly during his tenure running the annual all-star game and NFL draft showcase.

“I was taken off guard a little bit, (but) you just deal with it,” Nagy said. “We’ve dealt with a lot in the last five years since I’ve been here — a stadium move, COVID, trying to pull a game off fully bubbled. But the coaching staff thing, it’s nothing we would have proactively done.”

For many years, the Senior Bowl coaching staffs came from teams eliminated during the wild-card weekend of the playoffs. Later, the teams with the highest pick in the draft who did not make a coaching change were given first right of refusal to spend the week in Mobile.

While Nagy admits the NFL’s move to give the Shrine Bowl full coaching staffs this year was an unexpected development, he said there might be a silver lining with the new setup. Players will be able to work directly with coaches from several teams that might considering drafting them in April, and it will serve as a developmental ground for future head coaches as well.

“But it’s not just a great opportunity for our players, I think it’s great for the coaches, too,” Nagy said. “We brought them in early, had a big dinner at the Royal Scam (restaurant) here in town across from the players’ hotel. It’s a great opportunity for them, because not only are the eyeballs of the key (NFL) decision-makers on the players, they’re also on those guys. There could be three or four (future) head coaches come out of that dinner in the next four or five years.”

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From a roster-construction standpoint at least, the 2023 Senior Bowl is as strong as ever. Though the proliferation of juniors into the NFL draft in the last two decades has keep much of the first-round talent away from the all-star game circuit, the Senior Bowl still appears to have its pick of the top seniors.

Comparing the rosters between this year’s Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl is no comparison at all. Outside of a few prospects like Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (who is a Las Vegas native) and LSU cornerback Mekhi Garner, there are few players in Las Vegas this week who would otherwise be in Mobile.

The Senior Bowl not only got the majority of eligible players that those who closely follow the NFL draft would know, but it has also kept hold of big-name state and local drawing cards. This year’s game includes six players from Alabama and two each from Auburn, Troy and South Alabama.

On Tuesday, Nagy noted that the Senior Bowl has had 181 first-round NFL draft picks since 2000. No other all-star game, including the Shrine Bowl, has had even one.

“It is gratifying,” Nagy said last week. “For those changes to be made and for our roster to look like it has always looked it really gratifying. It’s been a different year, a stressful year. But it speaks to the brand of the Senior Bowl. And then it speaks to relationships. I felt like the 32 NFL teams had our back, I felt like the agent community really had our back because we have treated them right over the years. The city of Mobile has treated them right. They like coming here. That decision was made — it wasn’t a vote of the 32 NFL general managers, I promise you. They feel strongly about the Senior Bowl.”

Check out the complete 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl event schedule

One key, Nagy said, has been engaging with Senior Bowl-eligible players early and often. By the time an official Senior Bowl invitation is extended, players will be familiar with the game and will be anticipating the opportunity to participate.

A large portion of that engagement comes through social media. It’s the best way to stay visible and competitive, Nagy said.

“I think everyone’s using social media more smartly,” Nagy said. “Our first year here we had 40 million (social media) impressions between what (marketing director Dave Rogers) does on the Senior Bowl site and in my own fledgling Twitter handle the first couple of years. And this year, were over 400 million. So we’ve used it. And I think (the Shrine Bowl is) starting to use it.

“But I think when you look at the rosters, the other game got two players we invited this year, I’ll just say that. So we’re going to keep doing what we do. And we’ve changed things up. … Every year we look to do things better. And we know we need to keep an eye on it every year. When we got here five years ago, I’d post stuff about the Senior Bowl (on social media). And I got every snarky response like ‘hey, who cares about your little game?’ Comments like that we don’t get that anymore.”

The 2023 Reese Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium, with television coverage via NFL Network. For ticket information, visit SeniorBowl.com/tickets.