Orlando Heggs II played football at Florida A&M and is now the Rattlers’ Head of Player of Development. His resume landed him an NFL Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship with the Raiders and Chargers.
Orlando Heggs II is going to the NFL.
Florida A&M’s Head of Football Player Personnel has landed a Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Last week, Heggs was in Los Angeles for the Chargers’ minicamp. He will rejoin the Chargers when they report for training camp on July 16.
The Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship provides Heggs a glimpse of NFL team’s player personnel through professional and college scouting.
“Just being a well-versed scout,” Heggs said of what the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship has taught him thus far.
“There’s a certain verbiage that GMs like to hear that area scouts like to talk. We sit in on any meetings and pick up the language and dialect scouts use to describe a player and break down film. Knowing how to go through a workout with a guy trying to make the team, filming practices, and report writing.”
Heggs is in his second summer as a Nunn-Wooten Scouting fellow. Last year, he was a Las Vegas Raiders’ staff member after the team’s assistant general manager, Champ Kelly, attended FAMU football’s 2023 Pro Day.
Little did Heggs know that his FAMU classmate, John Wilson, was Kelly’s brother-in-law. Wilson wrote Heggs a letter of recommendation for the Raiders job.
A year later, the Chargers’ Senior Director of Pro Personnel Louis Clark called Heggs to interview him for the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship. The Chargers’ Assistant General Manager Chad Alexander then phoned Heggs to offer him a fellowship spot.
Through the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, Heggs, a former FAMU football player (2019-2021), hopes to symbolize minorities getting into NFL staffing spaces.
“Being young and Black and trying to get in that realm is very important,” said Heggs, 24. “We need more Black men and young men in scouting and personnel, reaching out to be graduate assistants and coaches on any level.
“There’s multiple positions out there that we’re not really taught about as young black men playing this sport. Getting into scouting will be huge for us.”
Orlando Heggs II’s FAMU job leads to NFL Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship
Heggs, a Jacksonville native, started college playing football at Wake Forest before transferring to FAMU for the final two years of his career.
While playing football and earning his Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, Heggs often thought of what he would do once it was time to hang up the cleats.
After completing his college football career, Heggs worked under FAMU’s Director of Sports Performance, Cole Forney, as a strength and conditioning intern. Later, Forney recommended that Heggs pursue FAMU’s player development director role.
“There’s a life after football. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be around football,” Heggs said.
“I had a resume but didn’t know where to send it or what I wanted to do. So, I built my portfolio and my resume. I didn’t miss a beat in football. I was around the guys and football. Now, I’m still around football.
“Being the head of player development on my resume significantly helped me with my current personnel opportunity.”
At FAMU, Heggs ensures that Rattlers football positively impacts the community through service.
For example, Heggs orchestrated the FAMU football team beautifying R. Frank Nims Middle School’s campus last summer and serving Griffin Middle School students lunch.
Under Heggs, the Rattlers accumulated over 300 community service hours. All in a season that saw them win their first Celebration Bowl to claim FAMU’s 17th Black College Football National Championship.
“The Tallahassee community comes out and pays money to see our guys play. So, it’s huge for our guys to go into their spaces. It also lets the guys know that football isn’t the end-all-be-all. So, let’s find our identity outside of football,” Heggs said of his role at FAMU.
“Being outside the lines but still having a hand in it is enough to be me.”
Florida A&M Rattlers 2024 Football Schedule
- Aug. 24 vs. Norfolk State in MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Atlanta* at 7:30 p.m., ABC
- Aug. 31 vs. South Carolina State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
- Sept. 7 at Miami, 6 p.m., ACC Network
- Sept. 21 at Troy, 7 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
- Sept. 28 vs. Alabama A&M, 6 p.m., ESPN+
- Oct. 5 at Alabama State, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
- Oct. 19 at Jackson State, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN Network
- Oct. 26 vs. Southern, 7 p.m., ESPN Network
- Nov. 2 vs. Texas Southern (HOMECOMING), 4 p.m., ESPN+
- Nov. 9 at Prairie View A&M, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
- Nov. 16 vs. Mississippi Valley State, 1 p.m.
- Nov. 23 vs. Bethune-Cookman in Florida Classic, Orlando*, 3:30 p.m., ESPN Network
- Nov. 30: FCS Playoffs Begin
- Dec. 7: SWAC Championship, LOCATION/TEAMS TBA, ESPN2
- Dec. 14: Celebration Bowl, Atlanta*, TEAMS TBA, 12 p.m., ABC
BOLD = SWAC
* = Neutral Site
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
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