Patten named director of on-campus recruiting
Aug. 10—LARAMIE — University of Wyoming head football coach Craig Bohl has announced earlier this week the hiring of Samantha Patten as Wyoming's new director of on-campus recruiting.
Patten comes to Wyoming after most recently serving as a recruiting intern for the University of Florida football program.
Patten's position at Florida was as a football intern and recruiting analyst. She assisted in planning official and unofficial recruiting visits for prospective student-athletes. She helped host recruits and their families while on campus, including conducting tours of the Florida campus and the athletics facilities. She was in that position from May to July of 2022 before accepting her full-time position at Wyoming.
Since graduating from Florida in August 2020, Patten also has gained valuable experience working in roles affiliated with the NFL. From September 2021 to April 2022, she worked as a coaching and personnel intern with Athletes First, which is one of the most prestigious agencies representing NFL players, coaches, administrative personnel and broadcasters. She attended the 2022 NFL Combine, assisting with setup of the venue and registration.
Patten also helped create personalized graphics and presentations for clients and was involved in data analysis and execution of other creative materials. She specifically assisted in planning and creating head-coaching interview presentations for current Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.
Patten's other NFL experience was working as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars' game-day event and entertainment staff from August 2021 to January 2022. She assisted with the Fan Entertainment Zone, coordinating with corporate sponsors on set up and breakdown. During home games, she served on the field as a liaison to pre-game and halftime performers. She also engaged with fans to help ensure their overall positive game-day experience.
From December 2020 to June 2021, Patten gained experience as a game operations and marketing intern with the Orlando Solar Bears, a minor-league hockey team affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL. She helped create and organize all in-game promotions and intermission contests, assisted in planning and implementation of other special events and promotions for the team and managed the Solar Bears' Twitter account during games.
As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, Patten was a recruiting and administrative assistant with Gator Football from January 2018 to May 2020. She assisted in updating information on prospective student-athletes for use by the Florida recruiting and coaching staffs as they evaluated potential recruits. She helped organize recruiting events for prospects and their families, and she helped design and create recruiting materials that focused on the various academic programs available at the University of Florida. She was also a Gator Football Ambassador from January 2017 to January 2018, helping host prospects and their families on game days.
