With Super Bowl Win in the Bag, NSU Alum and Bucs Scout Donovan Cotton Keeps Striving for Greatness

Winning the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of achievement for anyone involved with an NFL franchise. That includes the college scouts, who often toil in anonymity behind the scenes looking for the next great player to help push their team over the top.

Norfolk State alumnus and former Spartan running back Donovan Cotton is one such scout. He is in his ninth year as Southwest area scout for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And while the joy of seeing his team win Super Bowl LV in their home stadium in February is still fresh in his mind, there was little time to relax and enjoy the moment. With the NFL Draft just two days away, the former Spartan answered the following questions about his time with Tampa Bay, his job and his time at NSU.

Q: What areas do you cover in your scouting role?
A: My title is Southwest area scout, so I am responsible for every college player from the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas. There is a plethora of great talent in this area to evaluate every year so it makes for a great challenge I enjoy.  

Q: How did you form your love for and desire to get into scouting?
A: I have always had a strong passion for football since the third grade. Over the years I knew it was the career I wanted to pursue in some fashion. More specifically scouting and team-building came onto my radar with more clarity from a book I read called “The Draft” by Pete Williams. The book followed a NFL scout through a full season. After reading it there was no doubt that is what I would put all my effort into- becoming a NFL scout. 

Q: You had a memorable story of how you overcame personal hardship to walk on to the team at NSU and then earn a scholarship. How did your experiences impact how you scout players?
A: It definitely influences the lens with which I view players in terms of their level of resilience, ability to overcoming adversity or how much they really love the process that it takes to be consistently good in football. These are foundational traits that in my experiences in life, or football, play a part in a prospects chances of being successful in their NFL careers.

Q: Coming from an HBCU, do you take pride in looking for the less-heralded players?
A: We certainly do not leave any stone unturned. I treat the player from LSU the same as the player from Grambling in terms of thorough evaluation to see if they can potentially help us win games. There is definitely a satisfaction in finding a “diamond in the rough” type player. We have a scout named Andre Ford who does that better than anyone. He is the scout who initially found and advocated for us to draft a player named Ali Marpet from Hobart College. I must admit I hadn’t heard of that school before, but now he is a Pro Bowl player and one of the best offensive guards in the NFL.

Q: Do you feel like recent attention being given to HBCUs will help those players get a better shot at being drafted or signed?

A: I think that is a misunderstood part of the NFL evaluation process. HBCUs along with every level of football from Division I, II and III and NAIA are looked at with a fine-tooth comb to see if they can help us win games. I could tell you countless players from HBCUs and lower levels that have been drafted or signed that have been successful. However, I do think from a fan perspective the recent attention is great for fan engagement and player exposure to the media. But if I could talk to every kid at an HBCU I would tell them you are being evaluated from the moment you step on campus. On our end, there’s a constant search for more qualified players so don’t think you are being overlooked in anyway.

Q: How do you help the team prepare for the upcoming draft?
A: The process of evaluating players starts from afar the moment they step of campus. But players really get in the crosshairs of NFL teams once they are eligible for the NFL Draft, which is three years after graduating from high school. That’s when we start gathering information and assessing their talent. I help prepare for the draft by having accurate information about the player from a personal and football talent perspective. I give my opinion on how I see each player fitting into our team from his rookie year and as he evolves as a professional. 

Q: What do you look for in a player, both on film and in person?
A: It’s really a combination of things. On film I am always looking through a lens of who is playing on our team currently at a certain position and does this prospect upgrade or compete with that. Let’s take wide receiver for example. First, on film I am looking at his size, quickness, speed, body control, catching ability, strength, how competitive is he, toughness, blocking, etc. When I see a player in person, whether at a practice or in a game, I am looking at all those aforementioned things as well as his body language when he makes a mistake or makes a big play. How does he go through practice, is he first in line in drills or does he lag in the back? Does coach have to constantly correct him or is he the one helping out other players? The goal is to compile as much information as possible to paint a picture of what that player will be like if he is on our team. 

Q: Which current Bucs were your primary responsibility to scout?
A: The most recent player drafted from my area is Devin White, a linebacker from LSU who has become a real impact player and leader for us in our Super Bowl run. Now I have to say, he is so talented, I can’t take much credit for “finding” him per se’. But it’s still satisfying when all the work that goes in to vetting a player and finding one that we as a staff have a high level of conviction in works out the way that he has. 

Q: What were some of your favorite moments from your time as a Spartan?
A: I would have to start with the walk-on tryouts as a freshman. I remember it was about 30 guys who showed up and we ran 40-yard dashes and did some drills. I don’t know what my time was but my name was on the list the next day. I could not imagine what I would have done otherwise. Also, my junior year beating Hampton University for the first time in a few years at home was a memorable moment. I mostly remember just being with my teammates on and off the field competing & being a part of the brotherhood that is formed through the years of hard work and ups and downs that come in sports.

Q: What was your Super Bowl experience like?
A: My Super Bowl experience was unlike any feeling I have ever had. It started on the drive to the game. I felt the weight of trying to mentally balance the reality that we were one game from finally realizing the joy of winning the Super Bowl, while also knowing that if we lost, we would just go home like nothing happened. 

Q: How did you watch the game?
A: All the scouts and our families were spread around the stadium due to COVID. I actually ended up being by one our other scouts, Andy Speyer, so we shared each moment, giving high fives and hugs throughout the game. And with about four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, we met as a staff to go on the field and that’s when the emotion rushed in – tears of joy thinking of the culmination of years and events both personally and as a staff that led us to the moment. Then holding that trophy with the confetti raining on my head was a euphoria that still is indescribable. 

Q: Did the college scouting department have any role in the lead-up to the game?
A: We as a college scouting department had just returned from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, evaluating players for the upcoming draft. We are always preparing for the future, so once players actually become Buccaneers they are turned over to the coaching staff. On game days, it’s totally out of our hands. 

Q: How much pressure does winning a Super Bowl add or remove from your shoulders and that of the scouts?
A: That is something I never thought about until after the fact. I have heard so many stories of scouts working 15, 20, 25 years without achieving a Super Bowl win. As far as the pressure goes, each year is a new year, so winning now does not change the burning desire to be the best each year. Fans have a very short memory anyway, so you have to keep winning or else you might not be around for long no matter what you did in the past.

Q: Do you have much interaction with the players, like Tom Brady? 
A: The first Tom Brady story that comes to mind is after the Super Bowl on the field. Things are moving so fast with people celebrating, but I just happened to catch Tom jogging back to the locker room as he was turning down media requests for pictures or comments. To this point, I had been around the team at practice and games but had not personally met Brady yet due to COVID; there were so many restrictions on who could be within 10 feet of any player. I approached him, congratulating him and introducing myself as one of the scouts. To my surprise he embraced me and we took a picture. It was a really cool moment.  

Q: What are your career goals from here?
A: The constant focus is on learning more and more each year on what makes a successful NFL player, team and organization. It’s really an endless pursuit each year, but it’s a process I truly love. My goal was always to become a well-respected evaluator who helps a team win Super Bowls. So wherever that takes me, I will be excited to go. But considering where I started, it’s been an amazing ride so far. 

A graduate of Hampton High, Donovan Cotton worked his way up from walk-on to one of the team’s most valuable weapons in his final years at NSU. He totaled 840 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and kick returns) and scored four times in his three years on the field (2008-10).