ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox, kicker Jake Bates, and long snapper Hogan Hatten spend more time together during OTAs, training camp, and practices than any other position group on the team.
While the three forged a close-knit bond last year, this was their first full offseason as a unit. Fox has been with the Lions since 2019, Hatten signed as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho last April, and Bates joined the team that June after a strong stint with the UFL’s Michigan Panthers.
Wanting to strengthen their chemistry, the trio arranged a trip to San Diego this offseason for workouts ahead of training camp.
“We came up here and trained together,” Hatten told reporters after Monday’s practice. “We saw each other on eight different occasions in the off-season just to go train together. So I think that’s a really important thing. It’s a pretty key fundamental of staying fresh within the unit because at the end of the day, I have one holder and one kicker. They have one snapper, and it just makes it a little more uniform.”
Along with enjoying the weather, the group trained with former NFL and UFL kicker Nick Novak, now the head coach at San Diego’s Maranatha High School. Novak arranged for Hatten, Fox, Bates, and others to use the school’s field.
“There’s a big group of us, probably at least 40 other NFL specialists, who go down there,” Hatten said. “So we all go down together, go kick, snap, punt, and it’s just good to be around other guys to see, ‘Hey, how do you do that?’ This is how I compare doing this. You learn the tricks of the trade, and you can mold it into the way you want to adapt it, adapt their skills into your game.”
Hatten, who also played linebacker in college, said he was first invited to the training session last year. But with its growing popularity, it has become “a bit more of a selection thing now.”
As a rookie surrounded by specialists he looked up to, Hatten admitted he was a bit starstruck, with so much knowledge available from the many “teachers” in the room. He likened the experience to Tight End University, the offseason gathering hosted by San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Hatten added that Fox’s veteran presence and Bates’ UFL experience have helped the group gel in meaningful ways.
“It was very helpful for me personally to have somebody who was experienced in the league just because things operate a lot differently than you’d expect,” Hatten said. “We’ll go get our extra reps, maybe do a stretch or a lift, and then one of these days Jake will drag us out to hot yoga. It’s just the funny group activities where you’re spending time getting better, but also gaining trust and really becoming better friends.”
Much of their training comes down to the basics -- snap, hold, kick -- but Hatten said constant communication keeps the unit sharp.
“I just think it’s really cool to have a group of guys where we’re all one phone call or text away,” he said. “That’s the basis of what makes a group pretty good. It’s all trust.”
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