The Marathon Journey of Bull 1, the USF equipment truck, to Provo
By Joey Johnston
When USF's football players arrive at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah for Saturday night's game against the No. 15-ranked BYU Cougars, their uniforms and equipment will be neatly displayed and arranged in front of their stalls in the visiting locker room.
"It will all be there in the right places, like we snapped our fingers and it magically appeared,'' said Jeremy Lees, USF's assistant athletic director for equipment operations.
Hardly.
Getting USF football to BYU is a massive operation, requiring months of planning and precise execution to transport players, coaches, support staff, game-day uniforms, equipment and supplies across the country.
"It's our business to check out every detail, confirm every detail and double-check every detail to make sure there are no unnecessary distractions and things are smooth for the team,'' said Albert Boone, USF's director of football operations, who coordinates all areas of team travel, including the charter flights, hotels, buses and team meals. "No detail is too small.''
It's one thing to efficiently transport USF's players and coaches to BYU. But the helmets, uniforms and equipment? How did they get to Provo? (Hint: They weren't stashed in the overhead bin).
While you were sleeping — also while you were waking up, having breakfast, going to work or school, doing your normal weekday routine, winding down, then getting back in bed — USF football's packed-to-the-brim, 53-foot semi-trailer truck was on a relentless cross-country march.
Carrying about 12,000 pounds of payload — including about 75 full USF football uniforms, helmets, shoulder pads, cleats, practice and cold-weather gear, sports-medicine supplies, video equipment, a radio broadcasting setup, computers, headsets, miscellaneous office supplies and maybe a packed suitcase or two — the truck completed a Tampa-to-Provo journey of about 2,350 miles (and approximately 36 hours of straight-through driving).
USF owns the truck, which was donated by Oscar Horton, a longtime contributor to the school and athletic program. It's managed by ReedTMS Logistics, a company that is owned by former USF baseball pitcher Mark Reed and provides the drivers.
Drivers Ronnell Callahan and Ronald Knight, who alternated on 10-hour shifts, left the Selmon Athletics Center parking lot Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. With a multiple-hour cushion to account for fueling, bathroom breaks, quick meals and potential weather delays.
"This is a lot different than your typical day-to-day freight,'' said Callahan, in his fifth season of driving for USF football. "This isn't, 'Here's your stuff, sign the paperwork and let me get out the door.' We are dedicated to the people we're serving and taking care of. Me personally, I feel part of the team.
"I feel like we have a role to play (in the team's success). It's very important to meet our deadlines and time slots.''
Callahan and Knight headed north on Interstate 75 to Atlanta, then cut over on I-20 to Birmingham. Then back north on I-65 to Nashville where they hung a left on I-24, which winds its way north before connecting with I-64 west to St. Louis. There, Bull 1 connected with I-70 and began the long straight shot west through Missouri, passing Kansas City, the open plains of Kansas and western Colorado, and Denver before eventually entering the mammoth Rocky Mountains. The last leg followed U.S. Route 6 on a straight shot to Provo, reaching their destination in the pre-sunrise hours of Friday.
"I love the scenery,'' Callahan said. "I have my music, but sometimes, I'll just stay quiet and drive. It gives me time to think. You could drive these highways for years and years, but every time you drive, you're going to find something new. It's amazing.
"We get a lot of people honking at us. We run into USF fans and people who went to school there. We get a lot of questions at the truck stops. For the most part, most people have no idea that teams transport their football equipment on semi-trucks. They don't realize what's entailed in putting on these games.''
When Callahan and Knight arrived in Provo, Lees' staff of 14 (two full-timers, two graduate assistants, 10 students) swung into action. The payload was carefully packed, front to back, with hotel stuff coming off first, followed by stadium essentials.
"It's not random,'' Lees said. "Everything has a specific place. It's like playing Jenga with a Rubik's Cube thrown in.''
Things will really accelerate following the conclusion of Saturday night's game, which could end at close to midnight, Provo time (2 a.m. ET). There will be a scramble to get everything quickly broken down and packed up. Once again, Callahan and Knight will be on the clock.
The truck is expected back in Tampa by Monday night, perhaps late afternoon. "That's if everything is clockwork,'' Lees said.
USF's staff will spend all of Tuesday and Wednesday unpacking, cleaning and adjusting all the uniforms and equipment. By Thursday morning, it's packed back up and on the road again, this time Tampa to Dallas, so USF can take on SMU in its American Athletic Conference opener on Oct. 2.
"It's one of the tightest turnarounds we've had — Tampa to Utah, Utah back to Tampa, then Tampa to Dallas … bang, bang, bang,'' Lees said. "Once we get through the SMU game, it's the bye week, then we can reset and get ready for the rest of the season.
"It's not the easiest thing, having the back-to-back road games in Provo and Dallas. But we've known the schedule for a while. We've gotten our game plan together. Then just like the coaches and players, it's up to us to build a great plan and execute it.''
Lees said there haven't been many false starts in his two decades on the job. There was a harrowing late December trip to Toronto's International Bowl with icy roads and snowy conditions. On the way to Reno, Nevada for a 2012 game, there was a tire blowout, causing a delay. Before Lees' tenure, there was the legendary evening at Baylor in 2000, where USF's fourth-year program nearly pulled the upset. The Bulls headed to the airport … and their charter aircraft was gone. It had been taken to pick up another team, leaving USF's players and coaches stewing and waiting for a replacement ride.
"When you're dealing with team travel, you realize that things are changing all the time,'' Boone said. "You like to think that when you close your eyes to sleep, you can catch your breath and relax, but you still keep the phone nearby. Anything can go wrong. At the end of the day, it's all about keeping to your schedule and making sure it's a great experience for the players.''
Bulls coach Jeff Scott said USF's travel has been relatively seamless in his two seasons.
"I appreciate the efforts of everyone who puts in so much work to keep it well organized and professional,'' Scott said. "As a coach, the closer you get to game day, you want to avoid distractions and stay in a routine. With our road trips, we've been able to do just that.''
