Several NFL alumni are serving as coaches and mentors at the new NFLA Player Development Academy inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village in Canton.
The Academy is an invitation-only training program designed to prepare top free agent prospects for promotion to NFL team rosters or practice squads. The inaugural class of free agents includes players who were waived by NFL teams during final cutdowns last summer.
The roster of professional coaches who are working with these young players includes:
- Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz (who played in NFL from 1980-92)
- Veteran TE & NFL Coach Mike Tice (1981-95)
- All-Pro Falcons DE & College Coach Chuck Smith (1992-2000)
- Pro Bowl & Super Bowl Champion G Jermon Bushrod (2007-18)
- Ten-year veteran Vikings RB Moe Williams (1996-2005)
“The NFL Alumni Academy is designed to develop NFL-ready talent to become complete professionals,” says NFLA Academy Executive Director Dean Dalton. “We want to give these players exposure so they can be signed by any one of the NFL franchises. All the coaches and NFL alumni engaged with the Academy and working with these players bring tremendous knowledge based off their previous NFL successes.”
The Academy includes a Football Diversity Development Program which works to advance minority NFL player alumni who plan to transition to coaching and other careers in our great sport. This program is expected to create a number of professional opportunities for NFLA members.
The Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton currently is serving as the Academy’s headquarters and training facility. Plans are that the Academy will move to the Village’s Center for Performance when it is completed on the campus in 2022.
