The USC football support staff puts in long days and nights during Fall Camp
By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
PeteCarroll.com
You know about the long days the USC players and coaches put in during Fall Camp.
From sunrise to sunset and then some, the Trojan players and coaches log quite a few hours during training camp every August.
But that’s just the start of it.
The under-the-radar support staff dutifully handles all the work that so few people see or appreciate, but it’s that work that makes the Trojan football machine run at such fine-tuned levels. From the athletic medicine staff to the food service staff and beyond, find out what it’s taking to make Fall Camp come together so smoothly — even if it takes 16-hour workdays.
Galen Center
Perhaps no group works longer hours than the food service staff at the Galen Center dining hall. Led by director Marlon Okamoto, who works 18-hour days himself during Fall Camp, the eight-person crew puts in 11 to 15 hours a day during the Trojans’ 18-day training camp to produce three meals a day for more than 150 players, coaches and staffers.
“They work harder than anyone around here,” director of player personnel Jared Blank said.
Athletic Training Room
The athletic medicine staff is typically the first in and the last to leave Heritage Hall each day.
Ankle-taping, treatment and rehab assignments often start before 7 a.m. each morning. Then, the four-man crew of Russ Romano, Paul Diaz, Chris Grosskopf and John Meyer is on duty all day, as they care for the 105 players who face the constant wear-and-tear of camp.
The day comes to a close several hours after the afternoon practice following doctor’s appointments, ice baths and taking care of whatever injuries accumulated that day.
All in all, it adds up to anywhere between 14 to 16 hours per day for the athletic trainers.
Equipment operations
The equipment room’s washers and dryers are going nonstop, as the players have two workouts a day that require clean and dry clothes each morning and afternoon. It adds up to more than 20 loads of laundry per day — and that’s in industrial-sized machines.
And the laundry’s just the half of it. Equipment staffers Dave Scott, Tino Dominguez, Seth Svendsen, Greg Allen, Tre Limbrick, Chris Dozal and Jim Davis are constantly fulfilling players’ and coaches’ equipment requests, whether it’s a helmet adjustment, cleat need or shoulder pad alteration.
When they finally call it a day, they’re putting in 14 to 16 hours of work each day.
Video operations
Director Eric Espinoza and assistant director Dave Scott have their own version of long days during Fall Camp.
On a daily basis, Espinoza and Scott, along with a staff of seven students, are editing film from the most recent practice or walk-thru whether it’s morning, noon or night. When the computers and editing equipment are shut down for the night, Espinoza and Scott have logged 16-hour days each day during Fall Camp.
Weight room
Though the players’ weightlifting workouts get less demanding during Fall Camp, the work for USC’s strength and conditioning staff sure doesn’t.
Coach Chris Carlisle and his staff — Jamie Yanchar, Bryan Bailey, Charr Gahagan, Ivan Lewis and Tatyana Obukhova — are there for the players stretching and conditioning needs. They’ve been especially instrumental in stretching the players during the strenuous training camp this month.
The strength and conditioning staff have 13-hour days throughout Fall Camp.
Football operations
Last but definitely not least, the football operations staff of Dennis Slutak, Jared Blank and Randall Green handle every logistical detail of camp. And that’s no small task.
From dorms to practices to meals to meetings and then some, the operations staffers are essentially on call 24 hours a day during Fall Camp. Slutak, Blank and Green even sleep in the dorms along with the players so they can be accessible for whatever comes up.
When the day is done, they’re lucky to get six hours of sleep after another 16- to 18-hour day.
“We’re entrenched with the team,” said Slutak, the Trojans’ masterful director of football operations.
• Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt/PeteCarroll.com. You can contact him at Ben@PeteCarroll.com.
