The Team Behind the Team: The UH Equipment Staff

When fans watch the University of Houston football team play in games each fall, they recognize them by their classic red and white uniforms and helmets. What people don’t usually think about is how those uniforms get to the players and the costs and labor that go into each uniform. The staff behind the uniforms and equipment: The UH Equipment department.

The UH Equipment department is responsible for ordering and managing thousands of pieces of clothing, equipment and uniforms for every sport UH has to offer. They order in bulk from Nike, UH’s official athletic provider, each year within a budget set forth by the athletic department. The costs get into the millions when it is all said and done. Each head coach or team operations head will get in contact with the equipment staff and give them an outline of what they would like for the upcoming year. The equipment staff then orders what they need and is responsible for keeping track of shipments and inventory as orders come in.

1) UH Equipment is responsible for many pieces of football equipment, one being game pants and jerseys. The uniforms are stored in the Athletic Alumni Center’s equipment room all year round where they are washed and stain treated; 2) Another large piece to the puzzle is shoulder pads. They are displayed on this rack for easy accessibility and come in various sizes for different athletes. Douglas Pads is a local supplier that provides them; 3) Each helmet that is given out to players has a unique facemask depending on the player’s position and preference. They can come in all different shapes and sizes provided they are NCAA compliant.

4) The equipment room also houses shoes and cleats. They come in sizes ranging from women’s shoes (for women staffers) all the way to size 18 (the largest sized player on the team); 5) Once put together with the correct facemask, helmets are decaled with a white or red UH (depending on the color helmet) and are cleaned for a nice, shiny look for game day; 6) Any other accessories that players need such as waist towels, gloves, tights, shirts, arm bands and more are housed in the equipment room’s shelves that are made for convenient use with SpaceSaver’s rolling shelf technology.

During the busiest of days, shipments of over 200 boxes consisting of every sport can arrive at moments notice and the equipment staff has to be ready. Because of the untimely and unpredictable nature of the job, the staff must be prepared to live an unordinary lifestyle, with many hours that sometimes span the entire weekend.

This spring, the athletic department hired Dan Matthiesen away from the University of California-Berkeley to head up the equipment department at UH. When he arrived, he brought along former student of his, Adam Braun, from Army West Point’s equipment staff to be the head of football equipment. Together they are attempting to reshape the Houston equipment department one day at a time. As a full-time staff, they are assisted by only one intern and an Olympic Sports manager.

Four full-time staff members are not enough to run the day-to-day operations in an equipment department. Football is the main sport that is handled because it consists of the most athletes and in turn, the most equipment. Because of this, Braun dedicates his time to almost solely football. Additionally, he employs several “student managers” who are considered part-time but work many hours, especially during the football season. There are typically 10–12 students on staff each season. Pay for these students can range anywhere from just free meal offerings to a mere $700 a month, with most of the students making around $430. With the amount of hours demanded of these students, who are required to be full-time in the classroom, it is a job that only the toughest of tough can survive.

As for a day in the life of a football equipment manager during the season, the students come straight from their classes late in the afternoon and go straight to work. They are tasked with setting up the practice field so that practice is ready to begin at the start of the evening. Coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff walk out to the practice fields to find a field ready to go for the day. Over the course of practice, Braun and his students help out the coaching staff with whatever they may need, whether that be being the chain crew, spotting footballs, setting up drills, snapping balls, or any other miscellaneous tasks.

At the conclusion of practice, the football equipment staffers must collect the dirty laundry from the players. A select couple of students will stay a few hours after practice to do the laundry and pass it back out so that it’s ready for the next day.

At the end of a week of practice, the game is upon them. During the course of the week, the staff will do a number of things to start getting prepared for the game, like stain treating uniforms and decaling and assembling helmets with whatever they need for that week. For a Saturday game, on Thursday the equipment staff will pack individual bags containing each player’s equipment. They will also pack all coaches clothing, footballs and hundreds of other things that they need for the game. For a home game it is only a quick trip down Cullen Boulevard from the facility to the stadium, which makes life much easier. For road games, everything is packed into a semi-truck and driven to wherever the game is.

On Fridays, the staff will unpack everything they need either at TDECU Stadium or a visiting stadium so that the locker room, field and press boxes are all set for the team’s arrival to the stadium the next day. It is a long process but once it’s done, it is time for the game.

During the game the staff makes sure everything is running smoothly, whether that be with the footballs, player’s equipment, or coach’s headsets. The process of packing and then unpacking happens all over again after the game is over, and another long night begins for the UH Equipment staff.

There is a lot more that goes into the job, so much so that it is not possible to list everything. These are just some of the people behind the scenes of an athletic department. Most of them don’t do it for the money, or for the fame. The one true thing that is consistent across all these jobs is their love for the game.