Our 2023 College Recruiting course began April 4th. Contact Director@ScoutingAcademy.com if you wish to join late. The next semester is Spring 2024.
Course Overview
Schedule
Instructors
Course Overview
Objective
Building upon our Film Evaluation Course, the College Recruiting Course is an 8-week learning program that provides insight into what it takes to identify, qualify, and recruit High School prospects for Colleges and Universities. The CFB landscape is ever-changing and there are more jobs available in college football than the NFL and CFL put together. Furthermore, the NFL sees college recruiting positions as a developmental space for their future scouts and have been heavily hiring those with that background. As such, we are here to provide insight into what it takes to help a recruiting operations department from identifying prospects, getting them through the NCAA Clearinghouse, how to help a coaching staff, and recruiting players while maintaining compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.
We will teach you how to think about the process and pipeline, not what to think, and will give you the tools necessary to hit the ground running in your career. We will not be teaching individual CFB program recruiting processes as they vary greatly and this would not be a productive use of your time. Instead, we are going to focus on presenting you with the vantage points of those engaged in the process, from coaching to personnel to Athletic Directors to compliance, so you have a well-rounded view of everyone involved.

8-week course
Live weekly webinars
Stay on top of current trends
Hear from guest speakers currently working in the industry
Be prepared for your next opportunity
CFB is its own job market and a focus of NFL hiring
Tuition: $300
Discounts apply for past Scouting Academy students! Learn more.

8-week course
Live weekly webinars
Stay on top of current trends
Hear from guest speakers currently working in the industry
Be prepared for your next opportunity
CFB is its own job market and a focus of NFL hiring
Tuition: $300
Discounts apply for past Scouting Academy students and payment plans available! Learn more.
Course Overview
Objective
Building upon our Film Evaluation Course, the College Recruiting Course is an 8-week learning program that provides insight into what it takes to identify, qualify, and recruit High School prospects for Colleges and Universities. The CFB landscape is ever-changing and there are more jobs available in college football than the NFL and CFL put together. Furthermore, the NFL sees college recruiting positions as a developmental space for their future scouts and have been heavily hiring those with that background. As such, we are here to provide insight into what it takes to help a recruiting operations department from identifying prospects, getting them through the NCAA Clearinghouse, how to help a coaching staff, and recruiting players while maintaining compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.
We will teach you how to think about the process and pipeline, not what to think, and will give you the tools necessary to hit the ground running in your career. We will not be teaching individual CFB program recruiting processes as they vary greatly and this would not be a productive use of your time. Instead, we are going to focus on presenting you with the vantage points of those engaged in the process, from coaching to personnel to Athletic Directors to compliance, so you have a well-rounded view of everyone involved.
Logistics
The College Recruiting course is built off live, online webinars that occur weekly hearing from current and former CFB recruiting leaders and coaches. Each session allows for back and forth between the students and the instructors/guest speakers to maximize the learning experience.
Each session is taped so students can review them later on or catch up on any classes they need to miss (life happens!)
There are no assignments that students need to submit in the course. We ask that you prepare for each session by researching speakers/their areas of expertise and be prepared with questions to help you better understand the everchanging landscape.
Prerequisites
The College Recruiting course is available to everyone with no prerequisites. Come spend 8 weeks with us to invest in your football future.

Dan Hatman
Lead Instructor | Director of Scouting Development
A former college coach and NFL scout who is now dedicated to the professional development of the evaluation community. Blending best practices from the core of the evaluation process with techniques leveraged by the military, business, data science, exercise physiology, psychology, and other disciplines to reduce opportunities for human error. These processes have trained 34 NFL scouts to date.
Skills in this class:
Player Identification | Player Qualification | Player Evaluation | Player Recruitment | Time Management | Staying in Compliance | Mass Media and Graphic Design | Process Efficiency | Major College Recruiting | Mid-Major College Recruiting | Small College Recruiting
course schedule
TopicIdentification, Qualification, and Evaluation Material DiscussedPlayer Personnel Philosophy, Duties and Responsibilities, Recruiting Calendars, Qualifying Rules, On and Off Campus Recruiting Rules, Home Visitation, International Recruiting, Walk on Programs SpeakersJohn Peterson and Dan Hatman . . . |
TopicRole of Design/Mass Media in the Recruiting Process & How Recruiting Staffers Can Remain in Compliance Material Discussed(Speaker 1) In an ever changing landscape of graphic design, still and video based media, how can a program build a brand while working to stand out to recruits? (Speaker 2) With new rules/regulations entering the space annually, how can staffers remain in compliance while working through the transfer portal, NIL, and traditional recruiting pipelines? Tools/processes used by teams to stay compliant. How to avoid common pitfalls. SpeakersRobert Judin – Director of Creative & Digital Media (The Draft Network) . . . |
TopicRelationship Between the Recruiting Staff and the Position Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Material DiscussedAs the depth and scope of recruiting and scouting staffs increase, how do the relationships between those staffs and on field coaches stay in balance and work together towards a common goal? How can evaluators and recruiters work with coaches to establish who they want to target in the recruiting process? SpeakersScott Vestal – 20 year veteran Coach/Recruiting Coordinator and Bobby Merritt – Assistant Director Player Personnel, Scouting (Texas) . . . |
TopicGroup of 5 recruiting: Importance of Scouting and How to Overcome Challenges Material DiscussedWhile attention is more heavily skewed towards a small number of Power 5 programs, there more programs working with smaller staffs and resources, trying to accomplish the same goal. How do those constraints spark creativity and push the hard and soft skills of recruiting staff? SpeakersMarco Regalado – Executive Director of Player Personnel & Recruiting Innovation (Rice) and Ricky Ciccone – Director of Player Personnel/Recruiting Coordinator (Toledo) . .. . |
TopicPower 5 recruiting: Development of ‘Pro Style’ structures, Advance Scouting, Impact of Portal on HS/Transfer Ratios in Recruiting Classes Material DiscussedThe team building strategy employed even 2 years ago is probably out of date due to new rules/opportunities. So how do staffs work to identify competitive advantages and work to maintain a cohesive operation while scaling up the scouting operation both on the roster building but also the advance scouting side? SpeakersDerek Miller – Recruiting General Manager (Duke) and Ethan Young – Director, Player Personnel (UCLA) . . . |
TopicWhat is next?: How to ADs see the Recruiting Landscape and How Can Staffs Stay Ahead of the Curve? Material DiscussedViewing the recruiting process through the lens of the Coaching staff and even the Personnel staff are more known view points, but how is the recruiting process viewed through the lens of the Athletic Department? How is the landscape viewed and what may be on the horizon? SpeakerAustin Thomas – Football Chief of Staff (Ole Miss) . . . |
TopicManaging Up (and Down): What Strategies Can Staffers Employ to Best Serve the Team? How Should They Approach Decision Makers? Material DiscussedHow can evaluators and recruiters work with coaches to establish who they want to target in the recruiting process? How can staffers at lower levels ‘manage up’ as they filter prospects and work to advance those they feel are best equipped to make an impact? What do recruiting staffers need to understand about how decision makers view the process? SpeakerVan Malone – Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks (Kansas State) . . . |
TopicBuilding a Recruiting Class: How does the Head Coach view the Calendar? What Does He Need During Each Period? Material DiscussedThe recruiting calendar has distinct periods that come with different levels of interaction/work/decision making. How does the Head Coach view the calendar and what do they need during each period of the calendar to be prepared to make decisions? How each aspect of the program interacts, how to delegate/integrate, how staff can best make their lives easier. SpeakerMike Riley – Former Head Coach, Nebraska and Oregon State . . . |
Course Instructors
Jerry Angelo Louis Riddick Mike Martz Howard Mudd Chris Palmer John Peterson Mike Sullivan
Steve Fairchild Ken Flajole Steve Loney Bobby April Earnest Byner George Catavolos Jerald Ingram
Charlie Coiner Matt Sheldon Dan Hatman Robert Judin Wade Phillips Tom Walsh Ed Marynowitz
Mike Riley Drew Hughes Brent Blaylock Ricky Ciccone Scott Vestal Bobby Merritt Jeff Behrmann
Alex Brown Phil Hedrick Roger Marandino Maria Peden Saeed Khalif Colby Carthal
Ready to signup?
Register for the next semester of our College Recruiting course.
Discounts
Previous Scouting Academy students receive $50 off registration. Previous Scouting Academy students can email Dan Hatman at Director@ScoutingAcademy.com for the discount information.