By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Sun Devils football team arrived in San Antonio on Thursday afternoon for their Friday night tilt with Texas San Antonio at the Alamodome. While the Sun Devils were still practicing back in Arizona on Wednesday, however, a semi truck was packing up and departing Tempe to deliver everything the Devils would need in time for ASU's final nonconference game of the 2016 season.
"Ever since 9/11, virtually every Power 5 football team trucks their equipment to games, mainly due to the ease of operations," said longtime Sun Devils equipment manager Mark Zimmer. "When I got in this business 23 years ago, you could fit everything under a regular plane. You just can't do that now and with airline weight restrictions and heightened security, trucking makes more sense."
Fans and media rarely consider the logistics of planning and executing a road trip for college teams, but there are numerous behind-the-scenes challenges including moving the equipment, ensuring student-athletes can keep up with their studies while they are on the road, and getting a team acclimated to its new surroundings before the competition begins.
"It's just a different atmosphere; a different experience playing somewhere that's not Sun Devil Stadium with your fans, the people you're used to seeing and your surroundings," junior running back Kalen Ballage said. "Just being in a different place, we're going to have to adjust and focus and play football."
Senior golfer Monica Vaughn said she struggled most of her freshman year to balance the academic requirements of her life with the athletics demands of the road.
"I played volleyball in high school so we travelled all over the state, but they were only day trips," the Reedsport, Oregon native said. "At ASU, we're gone four to five days at a time which is a huge adjustment. I really struggled my first year with my time management.
"We usually leave on Thursday or Friday and then get back Monday or Tuesday so you have to make sure your professors know you'll be gone, take your work on the road and then figure out a time to do it, so I do a lot of reading on the plane."
Vaughn said academic advisors like the golf team's Shay Jewett play a critical role in keeping student-athletes on track.
"I go to her with any question I have about academics and she's always in touch with the professors," Vaughn said. "Our advisers are one of the best resources we have and they can definitely help alleviate a lot of the stress."
Arriving early on road trips allows teams to acclimate to new surroundings, whether its weather, altitude, playing on a non-traditional day or in the case of young players, being away from campus for the first, second or third time in their careers.
The Sun Devils football did a walk-through at the Alamodome on Friday morning to help prepare for a game that comes sooner than normal.
"It's a big challenge because it's new," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. "We haven't been on the road yet, this 2016 team, so it's something we're definitely excited about, but at the same time we want to make sure we prepare the right way. The week's a little shorter."
Having the right equipment on hand is something players take for granted, but the equipment managers do not take anything for granted.
"I pride myself on not leaving anything behind," said hockey equipment manager Joey Guilmet, who has 20 years of on-the-job experience in the NHL, AHL, IHL and with USA Hockey. "I told (ASU hockey coach) Greg Powers I don't even want the kids to pack their own bags. He said that's not really what college teams do but I told him I want the onus to be on me."
No team at ASU faces a greater road challenge the Sun Devils hockey teams. Guilmet is charged with moving between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds of equipment (closer to 4,500 on charter flights) for a team that still plays more road games than home games, with most of those road games played in distant cities due to the dearth of Division I programs in the West.
"We travelled 35,000 round trip miles last year," Powers said. "When you factor in that we travel with 33 total people it takes a lot of planning."
Powers said he sits down with his staff and maps out every detail of the team's itineraries for every road trip before the season begins. "There's a lot that goes into the planning and if you're not prepared you're in trouble," he said.
No matter how well teams, students or equipment staffs plan, there are hiccups along the way. Zimmer remembers getting left behind with several staff members at the football team's 1997 game against Miami in the Orange Bowl, then racing in the equipment truck and a buddy's car out onto the airport tarmac (pre-9/11) to make the flight.
There was also a 2009 snafu when the team's uniforms got loaded onto the semi heading back from a rain-soaked game in Athens, Georgia instead of the truck that was to be unloaded onto the flight. When the semi finally arrived in Tempe, the black dye from the pants had bled into the jerseys.
"Needless to say, we had to buy some new jerseys," Zimmer said.
Zimmer no longer travels with the football team but he still handles all arriving teams. When Texas Tech arrived for last Saturday's game at Sun Devil Stadium, they brought all their football equipment, all their medical equipment, food items and six giant Cool Zone fans for the sidelines in a tightly packed semi.
When the Sun Devils football team travels, it brings along all of the necessary equipment for its players and coaches -- everything from shoulder pads, thigh pads, helmets, jerseys, pants, cleats, kicking nets, tees, headsets to rain gear -- but it also brings backups in case something breaks or tears. In addition, the Devils haul the necessary equipment for the training and medical staffs and some personal items that add to what Zimmer estimates is about 20,000 pounds of weight.
The Devils bring their own drinks for everyone on the trip, meaning there has to be enough for between 120 and 130 people, and there is also a coaches trunk which caters to the particular palates of everyone on coach Todd Graham's staff.
"I'm told Todd likes Bit-O-Honeys," Zimmer said smiling. "(Football equipment coordinator) Jerry (Neilly) has a trunk with a plethora of hard candies, gum, candy bars -- whatever for everyone's tastes. He keeps everyone happy."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Sun Devils football team arrived in San Antonio on Thursday afternoon for their Friday night tilt with Texas San Antonio at the Alamodome. While the Sun Devils were still practicing back in Arizona on Wednesday, however, a semi truck was packing up and departing Tempe to deliver everything the Devils would need in time for ASU's final nonconference game of the 2016 season.
"Ever since 9/11, virtually every Power 5 football team trucks their equipment to games, mainly due to the ease of operations," said longtime Sun Devils equipment manager Mark Zimmer. "When I got in this business 23 years ago, you could fit everything under a regular plane. You just can't do that now and with airline weight restrictions and heightened security, trucking makes more sense."
Fans and media rarely consider the logistics of planning and executing a road trip for college teams, but there are numerous behind-the-scenes challenges including moving the equipment, ensuring student-athletes can keep up with their studies while they are on the road, and getting a team acclimated to its new surroundings before the competition begins.
"It's just a different atmosphere; a different experience playing somewhere that's not Sun Devil Stadium with your fans, the people you're used to seeing and your surroundings," junior running back Kalen Ballage said. "Just being in a different place, we're going to have to adjust and focus and play football."
Senior golfer Monica Vaughn said she struggled most of her freshman year to balance the academic requirements of her life with the athletics demands of the road.
"I played volleyball in high school so we travelled all over the state, but they were only day trips," the Reedsport, Oregon native said. "At ASU, we're gone four to five days at a time which is a huge adjustment. I really struggled my first year with my time management.
"We usually leave on Thursday or Friday and then get back Monday or Tuesday so you have to make sure your professors know you'll be gone, take your work on the road and then figure out a time to do it, so I do a lot of reading on the plane."
Vaughn said academic advisors like the golf team's Shay Jewett play a critical role in keeping student-athletes on track.
"I go to her with any question I have about academics and she's always in touch with the professors," Vaughn said. "Our advisers are one of the best resources we have and they can definitely help alleviate a lot of the stress."
Arriving early on road trips allows teams to acclimate to new surroundings, whether its weather, altitude, playing on a non-traditional day or in the case of young players, being away from campus for the first, second or third time in their careers.
The Sun Devils football did a walk-through at the Alamodome on Friday morning to help prepare for a game that comes sooner than normal.
Remember the Alamo...dome!
— Sun Devil Football (@FootballASU) September 16, 2016
Devils in the house for a pre-game walk through. pic.twitter.com/i3XlIfTMQf
"It's a big challenge because it's new," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. "We haven't been on the road yet, this 2016 team, so it's something we're definitely excited about, but at the same time we want to make sure we prepare the right way. The week's a little shorter."
Having the right equipment on hand is something players take for granted, but the equipment managers do not take anything for granted.
"I pride myself on not leaving anything behind," said hockey equipment manager Joey Guilmet, who has 20 years of on-the-job experience in the NHL, AHL, IHL and with USA Hockey. "I told (ASU hockey coach) Greg Powers I don't even want the kids to pack their own bags. He said that's not really what college teams do but I told him I want the onus to be on me."
No team at ASU faces a greater road challenge the Sun Devils hockey teams. Guilmet is charged with moving between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds of equipment (closer to 4,500 on charter flights) for a team that still plays more road games than home games, with most of those road games played in distant cities due to the dearth of Division I programs in the West.
"We travelled 35,000 round trip miles last year," Powers said. "When you factor in that we travel with 33 total people it takes a lot of planning."
Powers said he sits down with his staff and maps out every detail of the team's itineraries for every road trip before the season begins. "There's a lot that goes into the planning and if you're not prepared you're in trouble," he said.
No matter how well teams, students or equipment staffs plan, there are hiccups along the way. Zimmer remembers getting left behind with several staff members at the football team's 1997 game against Miami in the Orange Bowl, then racing in the equipment truck and a buddy's car out onto the airport tarmac (pre-9/11) to make the flight.
There was also a 2009 snafu when the team's uniforms got loaded onto the semi heading back from a rain-soaked game in Athens, Georgia instead of the truck that was to be unloaded onto the flight. When the semi finally arrived in Tempe, the black dye from the pants had bled into the jerseys.
"Needless to say, we had to buy some new jerseys," Zimmer said.
Zimmer no longer travels with the football team but he still handles all arriving teams. When Texas Tech arrived for last Saturday's game at Sun Devil Stadium, they brought all their football equipment, all their medical equipment, food items and six giant Cool Zone fans for the sidelines in a tightly packed semi.
When the Sun Devils football team travels, it brings along all of the necessary equipment for its players and coaches -- everything from shoulder pads, thigh pads, helmets, jerseys, pants, cleats, kicking nets, tees, headsets to rain gear -- but it also brings backups in case something breaks or tears. In addition, the Devils haul the necessary equipment for the training and medical staffs and some personal items that add to what Zimmer estimates is about 20,000 pounds of weight.
The Devils bring their own drinks for everyone on the trip, meaning there has to be enough for between 120 and 130 people, and there is also a coaches trunk which caters to the particular palates of everyone on coach Todd Graham's staff.
"I'm told Todd likes Bit-O-Honeys," Zimmer said smiling. "(Football equipment coordinator) Jerry (Neilly) has a trunk with a plethora of hard candies, gum, candy bars -- whatever for everyone's tastes. He keeps everyone happy."