They all wear uniforms issued by the University as they walk off the field after a rigorous practice. They are an amazing team -- efficient, hardworking and dedicated, but they aren't an athletic team. They are the team behind football at the University. They are the student managers.
After practice last Tuesday, some of them stood around a table, fixing the hardware on the glistening orange and blue helmets. The girls had to be careful to face a certain direction, away from the open window that looks into the locker room beyond. Others were busy scrubbing the unusually large shoes until they looked new, vacuuming the floor or sorting through equipment. Regardless of which task they were completing at that specific moment, they were all busy, as they are accustomed to being during football season.
Head Equipment Manager Matt Althoff directly oversees his two full-time assistants in addition to eight student managers. Althoff said he begins recruiting managers each year by sending letters to high school guidance counselors and football coaches throughout Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Maryland.
He said he generally has about 25 applications each year, but only two or three of the applicants are usually accepted to the University, making his selection process much easier.
In choosing the new managers each year, Althoff said he primarily looks for dedication rather than actual football knowledge.
"I tell them they'll be here 12 hours a day picking up jocks and towels," he said. "I'm not just looking for someone who wants to hang around the football team because it's cool. They're providing customer service to the football team which entails any and everything."
The managers agreed participating in the program is time-consuming, but said the benefits outweigh the sacrifices.
Third-year College student Aaron Schmidt is the head student manager for defense. Schmidt said he had played football since fifth grade and saw this position as a good way to continue his participation with the sport.
According to Schmidt, job experience is the number one benefit of being a manager.
Schmidt said he gains additional experience by working in the coaches' offices and helping with personnel changes. He said he hopes to eventually become a coach after graduation.
"It's just learning more about the game," he said. "This has become my hobby and my job. I wouldn't change much about it at all."
Second-year College student Kaylee White agreed that being a manager is a huge time commitment.
She said she usually dedicates 30 hours per week to the team for home games and 60 hours per week for away games, adding that she wanted to be a manager after hearing about it from her guidance counselor at Princess Anne High School and from third-year College student Kristen Knott, who was participating in the program at the time and who also graduated from PAHS.
White also worked with her high school football team. She said she hopes to pursue sports related physical therapy in the future, a career she thinks will be aided by her current position as a manager.
Also progressing from being a high school student trainer at PAHS to a student manager at the University is second-year College student John Wass, or as he is known by the other managers, "the Wass."
Wass said he also heard about the program through Knott and other sources at PAHS, "where Kai Parham, the star recruit, came from."
Wass said he planned to pursue biochemistry as the other managers laughed and said, "boring."
However, Wass said he thought being a manager could help a student entering any field because it teaches business skills and provides helpful contacts, an advantage many other managers also mentioned.
Wass said that the main responsibility of the managers is "to make sure everything is fast pace because that's how coach Groh likes it."
Unlike White and Wass, third-year College student Kara Holland said she heard about the program from Schmidt during her first year, and she decided to become a manager as a second year.
"I thought it was kind of just a boys' job, but I tried it in the spring and I really liked it," Holland said. "Now I even impress my dad."
She said that being a manager has given her a greater appreciation for the athletes.
First-year College student Thurston Childrey said he loved football long before he became a manager. He played football in high school and heard about the manager positions from his coach.
Like Schmidt, Childrey said he would enjoy coaching in the future.
Along with experience, he said that as a first year, he has encountered other benefits.
"Being up here August first for practice helped me adjust early to what it's like in college," he said. "It's made the transition very easy."
Holland also enjoyed her early move-in despite the additional summer tasks.
"We tuck them in bed at night," she said smiling. "We give them a snack and enforce curfew. We're like their mommy."
However, being a manager does have its drawbacks.
The managers explained that they have to be free after 2 p.m. every day for practice and risk missing classes if they are scheduled on Fridays.
"I spent many an hour on ISIS making sure I didn't have anything that conflicted with practice," Childrey said.
White and Holland said they have to plan their entire schedules around football practice and they lose their entire afternoons during football season, but they don't mind.
"I never have any free time," Holland said. "But if you like what you do, it is sort of your break from classes."
Holland also said she is better at time management now that she has made such a huge time commitment.
Schmidt said he agreed that being a manager helped him use his time more efficiently.
"It's just like one more subject to study," he said.
Knott said she decided not to be a manager anymore after spending two years in the program because of the huge time commitment.
"It's a really fun job and that part is awesome, but it's so time consuming," Knott said. "You don't have time to do anything else."
She said she currently enjoys the ability to take afternoon classes and still participates with the football team as a student helper to the offensive secretary.
In this role, Knott said her position is limited to about 20 hours per week, far less time than was necessary as a manager. She also said her current role relates more to her future goal of a career in sports marketing.
Despite the sacrifices made, most managers said they enjoy their work for both monetary and experiential reasons.
Wass said as a manager, he receives a lot of free clothing, a free meal plan, free travel and discounted tuition. He said tuition is reduced 25 percent the first year, then 40 percent, 70 percent and finally 100 percent for fourth years.
Most of the managers agreed that game day is the most exciting aspect of their job.
"The games as a general rule are the highlight, but I like the whole thing," Childrey said.
Holland agreed.
"We have the best seat in the entire house," Holland said.
She also said the other managers are one of her main incentives to continue with the program.
"I'm going to be close to these people forever," she said.
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