Registration is open for our 2026 College Recruiting Course. 8 sessions. 8 practitioners. Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout May. Course runs once a year.
Course Overview
Schedule
Instructors
Course Overview
Objective
Building upon our Film Evaluation Course, the College Recruiting Course is an 8-session 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 sessions, twice weekly in May
Live Tuesdays & Wednesdays,
May 5-27, 2026
Hear from those currently running personnel departments
Speakers come from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, and more
CFB has more jobs than the NFL - Learn from those filling them
No prerequisites required
Tuition: $300
Alumni discounts & group rates available Learn more.
Sessions begin May 5. Join before the first session to be part of the live cohort and get direct access to Q&A with each speaker.
This course runs once per year and the 2026 cohort is forming now.
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 NFL scout with experience at the Giants, Jets, and Eagles, including the Super Bowl XLVI front office. Now dedicated full-time to the professional development of the next generation of evaluators.
The evaluation methodology in this course is built around reducing human error in the subjective assessment of players, drawing from the military, data science, exercise physiology, and psychology in addition to 29 years of collective NFL scouting practice. These processes have trained 91 NFL scouts to date.
This curriculum also serves as the foundation of the Senior Bowl Scout School, where Dan has served as curriculum expert under two consecutive executive directors.
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
2026 course schedule – Tuesdays & Wednesdays in May – Sessions begin at 7:00 or 7:30pm ET
- Session 1 - Tue May 5
- Session 2 - Wed May 6
- Session 3 - Tue May 12
- Session 4 - Wed May 13
- Session 5 - Tue May 19
- Session 6 - Wed May 20
- Session 7 - Tue May 26
- Session 8 - Wed May 27
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 – Texas A&M University Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
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 targets 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? SpeakersVan Malone – Head Coach – Hampton University Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
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 are 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? SpeakersZach Gold – Director of Player Personnel – Army West Point Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
TopicHow to team build in the NIL era Material DiscussedWith 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. SpeakersSaeed Khalif – Former General Manager and Manager of NIL Collective – Michigan State University Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . .. . |
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 viewpoints, 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? SpeakersSean Magee – Former Chicago Bears Chief of Staff and former University of Michigan General Manager Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
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? SpeakerBobby Merritt – General Manager – University of Nevada Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
TopicMass Media and Graphic Design in the recruiting process Material DiscussedIn 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? SpeakerRobert Judin – Lecturer in PR and Sports Journalism – University of Florida (formerly of Oregon State and Miami) Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
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. SpeakerRicky Ciccone – General Manager – Iowa State University Speakers are set. Date of their specific session may adjust if needed. . . . |
Course Instructors
Jerry Angelo Louis Riddick Mike Martz Howard Mudd Chris Palmer John Peterson Mike Sullivan Robert Judin
Steve Fairchild Ken Flajole Steve Loney Bobby April Earnest Byner George Catavolos Van Malone Jerald Ingram
Charlie Coiner Matt Sheldon Dan Hatman Wade Phillips Derek Miller Tom Walsh Ed Marynowitz
Sean Magee Mike Riley Drew Hughes Brent Blaylock Ricky Ciccone Bobby Merritt Jeff Behrmann
Alex Brown Zach Gold Phil Hedrick Roger Marandino Maria Peden Saeed Khalif
Ready to perform?
Breaking into football means years of building the relationships that get you in the room. Networking, events, emails. Sometimes years of positioning before you get your shot. That work is real and it matters.
This course is for people doing that work who want to be ready to perform when the door opens.
The 2026 cohort is forming now. Sessions begin May 5.
Discounts
Previous Scouting Academy students receive $50 off registration. Previous Scouting Academy students can email Dan Hatman at [email protected] for the discount information.