About Us

The Why

I was 19 when I knew I wanted to be an NFL scout. It was important to have that focus and goal in mind and to know what I wanted to do. The question was: How do I get in? I assume this is the same question running through your mind. How do I become an NFL scout? Well, let me tell you that I only wish I knew then what I know now.

I have been fortunate to work with incredible people and great organizations from the New York Giants, to the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and the University of Massachusetts. Each place brought unique perspectives, challenges, and learning opportunities. I learned what can work, what never will, and picked up best practices from each organization.

The biggest hurdle was the fact that there is not enough time for executives to do all of what their job entails and as such, the development of the lowest man on the totem pole is not high on the priority list.  Teams have the goal of hiring the best they can, but those hired as scouting assistants or interns typically are left to sink or swim, and I for one, spent the first couple years just trying to keep my head above water.

I always wished that I could have earned my Bachelors in Football instead of Psychology and that I would have had all the tools necessary to execute well in my job from day one, instead of having to piece them together.  You do not learn football through osmosis and only those who have done the job before can truly build the skill sets of the next generation.

This is the reason we have built the Scouting Academy.  The team of Executives and Coaches gathered here understand the difficulties of mastering every aspect of the evaluation process and have built a curriculum that is geared toward leveraging your current knowledge base and expanding upon it until you have the requisite skills needed to walk into an NFL front office and not just survive, but thrive.

I hope you understand how unique of an opportunity this will be for those in the Academy and that you take a few minutes to look through the website and ask yourself: Do I want to be a part of the evaluation community?  If so, let’s get to work! If you have any questions, you can contact me here.

All the best –

– Dan Hatman

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