FAQ

The Scouting Academy is an online learning management system, so you can move through the course from the comfort of your home.

The Scouting Academy is a 16-week online program that is offered in the Fall, Spring, and Summer each year. Each semester has the same content.

You can learn more about our semesters here.

We fully understand that mastering the evaluation techniques of every position is a longer process. Our course focuses on learning the fundamentals of at least 4 positions within the semester.

Everything for us focuses on quality as opposed to quantity. We do not believe you can learn a position per week and want to work through the process with you to ensure you maximize your skillset.

• Passionate fans who want to learn more about the game
• Individuals who have been evaluating players outside of the NFL
• Current and former coaches who are looking to transition into scouting
• Former players who want to stay engaged in the game
• Coaches and recruiters who want to beef up their skill set
• Media personnel who want to enhance their ability to generate content
• Agents who want to be more prepared to recruit the right players

We have had members from each of these groups participate and thoroughly enjoy the process.

The Scouting Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, socioeconomic status, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, or marital status.

The Scouting Academy has worked with a large variety of ages, backgrounds, and experiences and does not have a set of prerequisites. We have had the 18 year old freshman in college who wants to explore this career path, the 62 year old doctor who wants to be the smartest person in the room on Sundays, or the 35 year old former NFL player who wants to build off an NFL internship.

Our recommendation is that students be at least 18 years of age. That is not mandatory and we have successfully worked with students as young as 15. If you are under 18, please have a parent or guardian contact us so we can explain the course and you can decide if now is the best time to join.

Scouting Academy students gain access to NFL tested curriculum, written materials, report templates, and videos from the instructors.  Academy administrators will work on grading student reports, providing feedback, and teaching the necessary fundamentals for player evaluation at the NFL level.

What you will learn:

• Why learning a stable process for player evaluation is critical.
• How to properly watch film, work through your mental checklist, and generate notes for an evaluation.
• How to conduct trait by trait evaluation that will improve your football acumen.
• The language that scouts use to refer to traits and how to talk about the game.
• The correct way to write a scouting report that will communicate with key decision-makers.
• Handcrafted strategies on how to maximize this course and leverage it in your career.

1. Integration with NFL coaches as this is a critical aspect of evaluating for an individual NFL team
2. Program length and depth.  We don’t brush by a position a week.  We do a deep dive over 16 weeks.
3. Feedback loop.  We are the only program to customize feedback in both written and verbal manners from those with decades of experience, doing more than giving thumbs up or thumbs down on your work. We will push you to be the best version of yourself.

We structured the class such that you can work around your existing schedule. The Classroom functions like a gym membership and you pick when you come to class. The curriculum materials and instructor teaching videos will be available whenever you need access, 24 hours a day, and if you do miss a live speaker, we will post those videos afterwards for students to look through. We ask that you set aside at least 10 hours per week for the curriculum. Some people tackle all those hours in one day, some split them up and tackle a few hours each day, that piece is 100% up to you.

The Scouting Academy cannot promise that the course will lead to direct employment. However, NFL jobs are based on WHO KNOWS YOU. Students that have completed all 8 modules will have put in many hours to the process and been certified at each position, as such, we work to match their efforts with our own. Searching for job openings, sharing them with candidates, aiding with portfolio/resume review, interview preparations, and career/networking strategies. In order to give students the best odds possible, we have connected with liaisons from many NFL teams and will work to advocate for those who excel in the program.

Enhancing a student's skills and network is critically important so NFL teams know who they are. If students are serious about a career in evaluation (whether that be on the professional level, collegiate level, or media industry), we promise you there is no better place to prepare for that process.  We work as a meritocracy and want you to focus on the football as we work on creating opportunities for your future in football.

Currently, the Scouting Academy is using PayPal's checkout process to collect the registration fee. If you have an existing PayPal account you will need to use that account to complete the transaction. If not, please feel free to checkout using your favorite credit card.

The registration link for the active semester will always be in the navigation bar above, so check it out.

Please contact director@scoutingacademy.com for more information about discounted group rates or if you have any other questions. We will contact you back within 24 hours.

Payment plans and discounts are available! Learn more.

We do not. We work with you to rank the 8 core positions and then start with your most comfortable position. This is critical as it builds your own confidence and allows you to trust your eyes as you move to positions that you are less familiar with.

So, if you are a DL guy and the passing game is not something you have studied in-depth, we are not going to throw you into QBs day 1.

Yes, the course is structured to allow you to attack positions based on your preferences and you can move through at your own pace.

Everyone enters the Academy with a different background and we want to leverage that to maximize your time here.  The first 2 weeks are structured with daily assignments to teach the Why's and How's of football evaluation.  Beginning in Week 3, we shift to the position modules where you are tasked with creating scouting reports for review. This phase is flexible in terms of timeline so you can move at a pace that works for you.

This really depends on you. We cannot force anyone to master these fundamentals in a specific timeline. We recommend you push yourself through a position within a month. It could be 2 weeks or 6 weeks. When you have learned the material, written reports, received feedback, and submitted your grades we will evaluate your progress and recommend for you to either move onto another position or to spend a bit more time on the current one.

The rights to NFL film are owned by the National Football League and as such, the best source for All-22 game film will be NFL Game Pass.

Access to Game Pass is not provided in the registration fee. You can order this service here: NFL Game Pass.

Other than NFL Game Pass, the only other thing you will need is internet access to gain entry to our online learning management system.

The Scouting Academy functions like an educational workshop at the present time. We are continuing our pursuit of an educational partner who will offer college credit for the course.

In terms of certification, there is no official NFL scouting certification on any level, but we do certify your mastery of the position modules you complete successfully. We have the certification process as a quality assurance measure so we can stand behind our students in the job search process.

Yes, we have had students who got a professor at their school to sponsor an independent study, and we verify the hours spent and assignments completed, allowing the student to earn credit during one of our semesters.

We can provide the course syllabus and our instructors' CVs for your school to review.

Yes, students are more than welcome to enroll in two or more semesters of the Academy. In order to maximize your knowledge of all eight positions, we recommend that a student enrolls in at least two semesters.

The 16-week semester is $950 USD.

Returning students are eligible for a $200 off discount.

Yes, registration for a full 16-week semester at The Scouting Academy is a great gift for anyone who has the passion and desire to become a high-quality evaluator. Once the semester begins, weeks cannot be transferred or gifted to another student.

Absolutely. We have had students from Brazil, Mexico, Hungary, Denmark, England, Canada, Australia, Germany, and others thus far. As long as you can get NFL Game Pass, you can stay engaged with the class.

We understand that unexpected events can occur that would impact your involvement in the program. If you need to withdraw after a semester has begun, send an email to director@scoutingacademy.com during the first 14 days of the semester. Once week 3 begins (which occurs on Monday at 12am EST), we can no longer provide credits or refunds. You can either choose to hold a full credit with us good for a later semester for one year OR you can opt for a refund less a $50 administrative fee and a $50 fee for each week you were enrolled ($100 total if you withdraw in Week 1, $150 total if you withdraw in Week 2). Other notes:

• Simply not attending or changing your payment status on PayPal does not mean you have officially withdrawn
• Credits are valid for one year and cannot be changed into refunds down the road
• Some exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis for medical emergencies with proper documentation
• Refunds will take time to process through PayPal (typically 2 weeks or less)
• Full refunds cannot be issued after the semester has started (which occurs on Monday at 12am EST)

We don’t know, but register here.