Zilm, a 2019 business management graduate, was a quarterback for the Blugolds and is now a personnel assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL.
“I work in the scouting department,” Zilm says. “I do a little bit of everything. I help out with the pro and college side. It’s been fun so far. I’m just trying to learn as much as I possibly can.”
Zilm, a Madison native, made the move to the Raiders after spending 2 1/2 years with the Wisconsin Badgers football program. He began as a player personnel intern and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the assistant director of player personnel.
“It was kind of like the perfect storm,” Zilm says of his time with the Badgers. “And it just all came together really well. Being born and raised in Madison, it was a dream come true to really be able to work for the Badgers.”
Prior to his position at Wisconsin, Zilm was a staff member at the U.S. Naval Academy and Western Illinois University.
Needless to say, his ascension up the coaching ranks has been fast.
How his Blugold experience helped with the journey
Zilm credits those he came in contact with both on the football field and in the classroom with helping him prepare for his career path.
“A lot of it was just being able to network with people and be comfortable coming out of my shell. Just really building those relationships with people and being able to relate with all different walks of life,” Zilm says. “There are people from all over that come to UW-Eau Claire to play football, and I learned a lot during my time there, both from a football standpoint and how to be a good teammate.”
Zilm says it wasn’t just his student peers who made a difference. Academic mentors helped guide him to success.
“Dennis Beale was really big for me,” Zilm recalls. “He was my mentor. He worked with Blugold Beginnings and is now doing his own thing with [his nonprofit group] Power of Perception. I really leaned on him heavily. Cindy Hofacker in the College of Business — I learned a lot from her. There were so many people who gave me the right ideas and showed me the right way to do things and how to work hard. It was obviously a great experience, and I learned a lot during my time at UW-Eau Claire.”
Those experiences in the past at UW-Eau Claire are now helping pave the way for future growth in the NFL.
A front office future is the ultimate goal
Zilm says he had a dream of playing in the NFL as he was growing up. He says as he got older, he realized the dream of playing on Sundays in the NFL wasn’t going to happen. But he set a new goal that could keep his dream alive.
“I started researching NFL general managers and just kind of seeing what the process was, how they got to where they were, and I just kind of fell in love with the idea of being in an NFL front office,” Zilm says. “I’d love to be a general manager one day. That would be the long-term goal.”
Zilm says, while his focus is on long-term success in the NFL, his immediate concern is learning as much as he can in his new position with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Right now, I just really want to be in the scouting department and work my way up,” he says. “I’m very excited for this step in the journey of my life. I’m just going to work hard and make Madison, Eau Claire and Wisconsin proud.”
