By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

Adam "Pacman" Jones approached David Hanna looking for advice on how to improve his playing on the field.

No one told him to do that, nothing aside from a desire to improve himself and his team prompted Jones to reach out to the new face at the Dallas Cowboys training camp.

Hanna was glad he did.

The 31-year-old Washington and Lee assistant coach recently spent more than three weeks working with the Cowboys during their training camp in California, culminating with the team's first preseason game. He was part of the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship program, which gives select coaches a chance to be a part of the inner circle in the big leagues. Most of the participants are current Division I coaches or players who recently retired.

"I was very fortunate to get it and very honored to get it," Hanna said. "Last year, there were about 84 (coaches) total, and maybe four or five were Division III."

Hanna applied to a handful of teams before getting on board with the Cowboys. The fellowship is not centrally administered by the NFL, so teams have all of the say over whom they accept. A resume and cover letter later, Hanna was one of four coaches invited to work with the Cowboys.

Hanna coaches the secondary and special teams for the Generals, and his time at the camp was focused heavily around working with Dave Campo, a former Cowboys head coach who now runs the secondary.

"It felt like a clinic every day," Hanna said.

He had a significant amount of freedom over how much he participated, and Hanna took it for the "phenomenal experience" it was. He dove into the nuts and bolts of working with the secondary -- running drills, throwing balls, organizing the scout team and sitting in on meetings.

But far more important for Hanna "was the learning. You're going there to assist them, in part, and that's part of what you're supposed to be doing, helping them to get prepared for their first preseason game and their season. But it's also for us. It's about us networking and about us learning as much as possible."

David Hanna, right, with Washington and Lee head coach Frank Miriello, got to take advantage of a rare opportunity this summer. Washington and Lee Sports Information

W&L and Dallas run similar defenses, and Hanna got to hear the team's stars get critiqued on their technique and on their individual drills. He also saw how players on defense and special teams were expected to improve. 

"I got to see how the special-teams coordinator breaks down his practices, how he organizes his practices, how he teaches different parts" of his lessons to the players, Hanna said.

Being the little fish in a big pond was intimidating at first, but Hanna quickly got past that.

"I think that's the only time I've been nervous throwing a football for individual drills," he said. "You hear someone complaining that they jammed their finger, and it's serious because they mean it. But you get over that quickly because Pacman and some of the other players start messing with you. They're only around so many people."

But if Hanna were a little nervous at times, it would have been justified: Much of what he did was caught on camera by HBO. The network filmed its Hard Knocks series at the Cowboys' camp this season, which means the lenses were trained on players and coaches no matter whether they were in the meeting room or on the field. Hanna said there was "definitely a presence."

But he said he tried to block out the cameras. "In some ways, it's true what they say, you forget. You don't entirely forget … but you forget for a little while."

In the end, though, having HBO there "was fun, it was a good experience to have them around."

Hanna said he was able to immerse himself in the program because many of the players and fellow coaches were so welcoming. His encounter with Jones, just a few days after Hanna arrived, helped the newcomer look past many popular notions about professional athletes.

Hanna had a similar experience with head coach Wade Phillips. Phillips sat with Hanna at one point and told him how much they appreciated have him there. Hanna was also asked his opinion about the Cowboys' special teams. He said he knows Phillips didn't have to reach out like that, but the fact he did made the time there that much more meaningful.

All of the coaches "were very approachable," Hanna said. "They all knew my name by the time I left."

When he did leave, there were several intangibles the W&L assistant took with him. He spoke with Campo about his rise from the Division III level all the way to NFL head coach. He learned about teaching progression and how to connect with people. Most of all, he learned how to be a better, more efficient coach.

"There is a different way to coach. … It doesn't have to be yelling and screaming. You can get on your players and expect discipline and hard playing in different ways," Hanna said.

Elements of humility, pressure and openness factor in as well, he said. It shows up especially when he can work individually with players -- all of which he will try to integrate into the Generals' defense.

"I got a lot more (out of the program) than I thought I would. You don't know what to expect, and you think you'll just be kind of a peon that is around the fringes of what's going on. And you realize that even though you're not there to help them because you're not officially a coach, per se, you get the opportunity to do a lot of the things the coaches are doing. They throw you in a little bit, but more so, you're part of the team, and the coaches, the players and the staff … respects you, teaches you and treats you like a part of the team."