The Kings of Swag: Life as a College Football Equipment Manager

By Simon Carroll

I love college football. The excitement. The pageantry. Tailgating. Fight songs. Rivalry games and competing for a roaster, an axe or a barrel. Mascots. Marching bands. Triple option offenses. Enter Sandman at Virginia Tech. House of Pain at Wisconsin. Waving to the children’s hospital at Iowa. Back Yard Brawls and Old Fashioned Hate. Army versus Navy. White-Outs at Penn State. Bowl games and their outrageous trophies. Throwing tortillas at Texas Tech. Auburn covering a tree in toilet paper. Tennessee stealing the goalposts and throwing them into the river. All of the slightly weird things Texas A&M do on gameday. And, of course, all the glorious apparel that fans and players wear on and off the field.

College Football, in every way you can think of, is a spectacle. And when 22 gladiators step out onto the gridiron on any given play, they are dressed for the part. Getting them ready for gameday is an operation that requires a staff of its own, with all 138 FBS programs having a team dedicated purely to making sure the coaching staff and roster have all the clothing and equipment needed each day. I had the opportunity to sit down with Kansas’ Head Football Equipment Manager Darren Hain to learn about his career, the logistics of kitting out a college football team, and making sure the Jayhawks are fully equipped when they head over to London in September:

A Team Effort

When Darren Hain was named Kansas’ Head Football Equipment Manager after the 2021 season, he was coming home. A KU alum, Hain became a student manager with the football team as an undergraduate after a chance conversation with a friend about career ambitions. After graduating, he turned this passion into a career, going from Northern Colorado to New Haven, Air Force and Pitt over the course of nine seasons. After one year with the Panthers, Hain returned to Lawrence, something he describes as ‘both a life move and a career move’. A Sunflower State native, it’s clear he considers this his home, and is proud to have been a part of the renaissance of Jayhawk football:

“I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about this place. It’s a proper college town and you get the authentic college experience here, a formative time for young people. And it’s so special that many graduates choose to stay or come back here. It has the traditional values of supporting your school and that direct link between the teams and the community. Football has always been important at KU, but when I was a student here the team was going through some lean years. So to be able to come back and support the program, and to see it have success, has been incredible. When sports teams do well it has a huge impact on the students and the city that we serve.”

Serving a football team is an operation too big for just one man, and Darren leads a strong team dedicated to making sure the Kansas football team has everything they require. In what feels like a nice touch of symmetry, he works with volunteers in roles much like the one that started his own career:

“Equipment management is a thousand little things that add up to one big job. Myself and [assistant] Seth Holiday are the full-time members of the team, and we have an army of students who help us up to thirty hours a week alongside their studies, and they’re super committed. They’re working late Sunday night, early Monday morning, basically around the clock to support the team. It’s a seven-day-a-week job, we take a lot of pride in it, and we couldn’t do it without them.”

Being Prepared

Having had the privilege of visiting Lawrence last season, I was able to experience first-hand just how structured the operation of a football program is. There is very little time wasted between meetings and practices, with each group of players and coaches dovetailing with each other as they flit between individual drills and full team exercises. Watching it unfold in front of me was enough to make my head spin, but for Darren and his team they have to be prepared for each stage of the day – and be ready to offer immediate support when needed.

“After more than a decade in this job, I think knowing the rhythm of the college football schedule throughout the 12-month calendar is key to delivering a high-level service to the team. Ultimately we want to be prepared for any activity the team is doing, and the various equipment or apparel required. And obviously in football the protective equipment is pretty substantial, and each player has their own bespoke needs and preferences which is a big piece of it. If I took a quiz I wouldn’t get a perfect score but I’d be close – my team prides itself on knowing the small details; what size cleats, what style of glove each guy likes to wear. We want them as comfortable as possible to maximise themselves, on and off the field.”

As with most careers in sport, a 9-5 working week does not exist for Hain and his team. The hours worked revolve around the football calendar and needs of the operation on any given day and week. And surprisingly, despite everything designed to build up to when the Jayhawks take the field, gameday might be the least intense part of the role:

“Saturday, weirdly, is usually one of the lightest days. Honestly a good chunk of the day is waiting for the game to end, because that’s when our working week really starts. But our student crew will be hard at work, running game balls, liaising with the officials and making sure all the coach-to-coach technology is working fine. They’ll keep themselves busy with odd jobs throughout the game, but we really kick into gear afterwards, resetting the locker room and getting all the helmets, protective gear and jerseys back and set out for the next week. Everything is about being prepared for what’s coming next.”

London Calling

As with any behind-the-scenes role, Darren Hain’s work only really manifests itself in the public eye when staff and players take to the sidelines and the field decked out in a Jayhawks uniform or athletic wear. The culture of college football has become obsessed with ‘swag’ – as my bank account can testify – with fans filling their own wardrobes with merch from their favourite teams. Similarly, teams have leant into this new focus on fashion with various alternative uniforms that have driven the college football world crazy. Kansas have embraced this movement – and when the Jayhawks run out to Hells Bells by AC:DC, they might be wearing royal blue, crimson, white or even black – adding an extra element of intrigue to gameday:

“I’m a traditionalist. I like the blue uniforms myself, but the portfolio and various combinations of helmets, jerseys and pants adds real value to our football program. We can tweak our look in a lot of different ways, and the fans and players enjoy it. The decision is collaborative; Coach [Lance Leipold] likes to be involved, might consult key players and see if they’re liking a mojo for a particular week. So there’s a conversation each game, and we stay ready and prepared for what they want us to deliver. The uniforms we wore against K-State last year, the red pants with the blue jersey, that was a throwback from the 90’s and 2000’s and was the first time we wore that combo since I returned. Then we have the all-black ‘Blackhawk’ uniforms that Coach Leaper [Todd Williams, former Equipment Manager] helped introduce that are a real favourite. There’s the standard font and the circus font; we can spice each game up in different ways.”

On September 19th, the Kansas Jayhawks will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in London for the inaugural Union Jack Classic – the first college football game to be played at Wembley Stadium. Darren and other KU staff members have already begun making plans for the trip, with a mid-season international game adding to an operation that is already a 24/7 endeavour. Despite the headache of bringing over 200 staff and players and all the equipment that goes along with them, there is genuine enthusiasm for the game, and with a similar colour scheme to the Union Jack itself, I’m excited to see what touches they can come up with when the Jayhawks take the field:

“It’s a special occasion, a very cool moment to be part of, so hopefully we can incorporate some cool UK elements into the uniform look for that game. Bringing all the gear over to London will be a big operation, and we’ve already been over there thinking about the extra logistics involved. Obviously the transport will be the tricky bit, both across the Atlantic and then to and from the stadium. There’s some additional hoops to jump through but we’re excited! I’m still waiting for someone to tell me the payload for the plane so I can start calculating how much swag we can bring over… …we’ve got support staff that might be a size 5 shoe, and players who wear a size 17, so we’ve got to be prepared for a wide variety of needs! So we’ll be bringing a lot, and hopefully do our part to help the team head back home with a win.”

 

Kansas will host the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 2026 Union Jack Classic. Tickets can be purchased now on the Union Jack Classic website.

Mock Draft

SIMON CARROLL

HEAD OF CFB/NFL DRAFT CONTENT

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST, IS A COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER FOR DAZN AND COVERS THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS FOR SB NATION.

Twitter Envelope Linkedin Spotify Apple
Rated 5 out of 5