Scout Team Players Carry Important Role on Football Team

Hillsdale College Release

Oct. 11, 2005 - They don’t get the stats their teammates do. Their gamedays occur during the week, not on Saturdays. And they rarely get to practice their own team’s offensive or defensive plays.
The life of a scout team player is a lot of guts and very little glory. But their role on the team is just as important as that of many of the starters. It’s a role fans in the stands never get to see, but coaches and fellow players deeply appreciate the effort scout team players give every day in practice.

Scout team players are primarily made up of players who are either freshmen, or redshirt freshmen who likely won’t crack the starting lineup this season, unless an injury occurs. They have the responsibility of running the upcoming opponent’s offensive and defensive sets so the first-team players can practice against it and get a look for what the upcoming opponent is like, man-on-man, on the field.

It can be a thankless job, that of a scout team player, but one highly valued by the coaching staff and other players.

“It’s a very different role, because they have to be able to do a lot of different things,” said Hillsdale head coach Keith Otterbein. “They are the unsung heroes. The people in the stands just don’t get to see all the hard work they put in to prepare the starters to play on Saturdays. They aren’t motivated by the glory of stepping out on the field for gamedays. What they do is all effort.”

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