Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/216396
Under the Dome Five Questions With … Notre Dame Football Senior Student Manager Dan Byrne Dan Byrne is one of three senior student managers for the Notre Dame football team. As the student manager of football operations, his main job is to serve as a liaison between players and coaches, plus he assists the equipment manager. The Bettendorf, Iowa, native started in the program as a freshman and will be graduating this year with a management entrepreneurship degree. Blue & Gold Illustrated: What does a typical day during the week entail? Byrne: "I get to the Gug [the Guglielmino Athletic Complex] around 2:00 p.m. and begin taking attendance, making sure the players get there on time from class. Once I know everyone is here, I will go set up the field. I'll go get the lights on, set up our official clock, set up the practice music, making sure all of those things are ready to go. "I also will run any errands that the staff has. Then during practice, I run the clock, music and blow the horn at the end of each period to keep practice running efficiently. Then after practice, we have mandatory training table where I take attendance and relay any messages the coaches and staff have for any of the players." ▼ Blue & Gold Illustrated: What about on game day? Byrne: "On game day, we knock on everybody's doors as a second wakeup call, take attendance at breakfast, then bus attendance when we leave the hotel. Then we are at the back of the player walk to make sure everyone is moving forward and getting to the stadium. "Then I help out in the equipment room: issuing out gloves, making sure everyone has the right type of shoes. After the game, we pick up all the laundry in the locker room and get all of the equipment from the stadium to the Gug." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What has been the most interesting aspect of being a student manager for four years? Byrne: "Everyone knows about 'Trick Shot Monday.' BYRNE The players are under a lot of stress throughout the year, and there are certain guys who try to make things fun. "One day, there was a baseball game in the locker room. They made a tape ball and I can't remember what they used as a bat, but it was a five-on-five baseball game with the other 100 guys cheering them on. It was pretty entertaining to watch." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How will this position help you in the future? Byrne: "Notre Dame is such an influential organization that really does things right. I feel like the last two years working as a student manager, I've been working for a small/mid-size corporation with how efficiently everything runs, the level that people communicate at and the high expectations. "It's been very relevant experience in terms of being responsible, learning how to communicate with others and being clear on that communication." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How is the student manager program beneficial to Notre Dame football? Byrne: "[Head football equipment manager] Ryan Grooms does a great job of getting student managers to work hard and realize the importance of working for Notre Dame football. "It's definitely a more complex program, but it allows us to better serve Notre Dame football and helps take some of the burdens off of the support staff." — Staci Gasser Click here to listen to Blue & Gold Illustrated's complete interview with Byrne.