Naval Academy Athletics

Danny Payne is in his fifth year at the Naval Academy and his second as the Executive Director of Football Recruiting and Analytics. 

    Payne came to Navy from Georgia Southern where he served as the Director of Player Personnel for one year. He worked alongside 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.

    Prior to Georgia Southern, Payne spent four years at Army 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 and maintained the game day analytics. He also worked closely with the Director of Football Operations to handle logistics for the team. 

    Payne came to Army after four years at Kennesaw State. He served as a defensive and recruiting assistant from 2013-15 and as a graduate assistant for his final two years (2016-17). He assisted the No. 14 defense in the FCS and helped the staff with all recruiting matters, including high school player evaluation, scout team and camp director.

    Prior to Kennesaw State, Payne worked as the general manager, player personnel director and defensive line coach for the Georgia Panthers semi-pro team.

    Payne graduated from Kennesaw State in 2013 with a bachelor’s in sport management and earned his master’s in applied exercise & health science in 2017. While at Kennesaw State, he founded the club football team and oversaw all facets of that program from 2011-13.

    Payne, his wife, Ally, and daughter, Evelyn, reside in Annapolis.