TWITTER:
@DannyPayneGATA
Began at GS: March, 2021
Danny Payne, who is no stranger to the talent-rich area of Georgia, joined the Georgia Southern football program in 2021 and serves as the Director of Player Personnel for the Eagles. In his role, Payne works with head coach Chad Lunsford and recruiting coordinator Victor Cabral in several areas pertaining to recruiting, including the coordination of the recruit evaluation procedure, prospect identification and evaluations and the assistance with on-campus recruiting.
Payne also oversees the communication and building of relationships with high school coaches and continues to build the database of GS alumni that are high school coaches and/or high school administrators.
Payne came to Statesboro after four years at Army West Point as the Director of Scouting. There, he was responsible for identifying prospective cadet-athletes and assisting assigned coaches with recruiting duties. Payne also created content for recruiting purposes, while maintaining the gameday analytics as well. He also worked closely with the Director of Football Operations to handle logistics for the team. While working for the program, the Black Knights competed in three bowl games and also beat Navy three times.
Payne came to Army West Point after four years at Kennesaw State University. He was a defensive and recruiting assistant from 2013 to 2015 and then was named a graduate assistant for his final two seasons. He assisted the No. 14 defense in the Football Championship Subdivison and helped the staff with all recruiting matters, including high school player evaluation, scout team and camp director.
Prior to Kennesaw State, Payne work as the general manager and defensive line coach for the Georgia Panthers. He was also the personnel director for 125 players.
He graduated from Kennesaw State in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in sport management and then later earned his Master’s in applied exercise & health science in 2017 from there. While at Kennesaw State he founded the club football team and oversaw all facets of that program from 2011 to 2013.
