Equipping The Dawgs
September 30, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
Take a quick look at how the equipment staff gets MSU ready to go on Saturdays.
STARKVILLE – It's Saturday. You're walking out of Davis Wade Stadium celebrating yet another big Bulldog win.
While you're clanging your cowbell and replaying the victory in your mind, Mississippi State director of football equipment David Case is already thinking a week ahead. One gameday might be over, but in the blink of an eye, another will arrive.
"Basically, once the game is over on Saturday, we start getting ready for the next week," Case explains.
Gearing up the Dawgs then turns into a week-long process where, little by little, things are put in order for State to be ready to go when it's time to play again.
Case, as well as assistant director of football equipment Tyler Fondren, equipment fellow Charlie Latham and a team of students all work tirelessly. And again, it's noteworthy that the process for the next contest begins basically as soon as the clock runs out in the previous one.
"Saturday night after the game, we'll set out [the helmets] and we'll dry them," Case said. "Then we'll spray them down with sanitizer and stuff. It's the same with the shoulder pads. Then Tyler will go through and clean all of the helmets, re-decal them, change out any facemasks that are bent up or change any hardware that might need changing. He usually does that Monday and Tuesday. I'm working on the uniforms and Charlie's working on the coaches' clothes. So, we kind of each have our set things we get ready. There are a few things we have the students do – packing equipment trunks and everything. Really everyone has their own piece in the system, and it just goes throughout the week."
In between all the game prep, don't forget there are team weightlifting sessions. There are practices. So, there's plenty to do and get ready for, not even considering the games themselves. The washing machines at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex are pretty much constantly spinning.
"They're running all the day and after the games, they're running all night," Case said. "It's kind of a nonstop thing."
On Thursday evenings, Case and the rest get the MSU equipment truck loaded and prepped to take to Davis Wade Stadium when the Bulldogs are at home. It's a similar process for road games, the truck simply has a different destination.
At home, the truck brings the equipment to the stadium on Friday and Case and his staff begin putting out pads, jerseys and the rest in players' lockers starting at around 10 a.m. Case emphasizes it's a big group effort to get the job done week after week.
"Obviously, the students and our full-time guys are huge because you've got 115 players," Case said. "We only travel about 72, so that helps, but with the scale of things, we couldn't get our stuff done without the kids and Charlie and Tyler. They do a lot leading the kids and getting the kids to do things. So, I wouldn't be able to do what I do unless we had them. Having a solid crew like we have, it makes it easy. Everybody kind of falls into their little groove for the season and we just kind of go."
When the players arrive to play on Saturday, their lockers are all set up, ready to go with that day's uniform. And how is it decided what the Bulldogs will wear?
"It's all planned out back in the summer usually," Case said. "We may tweak things here and there as we go. We might change up a pant or a helmet last minute or something, but we usually go into the year with a baseline of what we plan to wear."
Of course, anything State puts on looks good when the Air Raid offense is rolling, and the Dawg defense is dominating. And it's Case and company that make sure MSU is fully equipped to do just that.
There's not much glory to all the laundry and all the sanitizing and all the rest, but these guys wouldn't have it any other way. It's all about getting the job done right.
"We don't need the attention," Case said. "If we're getting attention, it means we've messed something up. So, we try to stay behind the scenes and people just see the guys out there playing. As long as there aren't any issues, we're good."
