Road trips are nothing new for USF's football program. Its 53-foot semi-truck carries a payload of up to 12,000 pounds. In the last seven seasons alone, it has gone as far north as Massachusetts and as far west as California and Utah.

Now comes a different challenge.

The Hawaii Bowl.

"Turns out, you can't drive a truck from here to Honolulu,'' head coach Alex Golesh said.

So how do you get an entire college-football operation — jerseys (white roadies with the Hawai'i Bowl patch), pants, cleats, helmets, pads, practice gear, footballs, equipment and medical supplies, plus coaches, players, administrators, support staff, boosters, spouses and children, plus everyone's luggage — some 4,700 miles away, from Tampa to Honolulu and back for a seven-day stay?

"Not an easy task by any means,'' said Jeremy Lees, USF's assistant athletic director of equipment operations. "But we're striving to make it as seamless and natural as possible.

"You've got to do it with a clear head and as fast as possible, but you also need to be as patient as possible. Some things are out of your control. One of my favorite quotes is 'Always account for variable change.' And that's what we do — constantly.''

When the Bulls (6-6) arrive to prepare for the Dec. 24 Hawai'i Bowl meeting against the San Jose State Spartans (7-5), everything should be on a clockwork pace. Buses will be waiting to whisk everyone to the team headquarters, the Sheraton Waikiki. The hotel rooms, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, will be ready. Team meals will be prepared. The practice site, at a local high school, will be lined properly with all of the equipment and training materials in place.

"We're moving our entire operation out for a week … and we're putting it on an island in the middle of the ocean,'' Golesh said.

"It has been an interesting process. As coaches, you're so used to certain things. I want our three JUGS guns. I want our ladders and our sleds. Well, it's a little harder to ship that stuff out there. So, we inventoried everything. What do we have? We're practicing at a high school and what do they have? What does the University of Hawai'i have that we can use and they'd be willing to share. 

"Then there's the bowl gear for everyone. Everybody's looking at Jeremy Lees, making sure they got the right sizes. Bottom line, we want our players to go to their meetings and walk out there to practice, not feeling like it's crazy in any way. Jeremy does an incredible job. He has a couple of full-time guys, a graduate assistant and about 15 students who work their tails off. We're super grateful for all of them and all the work they put in.''

The work actually began in November. Lees and his staff began studying bowl-site possibilities. They knew the Hawai'i and Bahamas bowls were options. Lees called around to his colleagues at other schools who had made the Honolulu trip, including the University of Hawaii equipment manager, an old friend.

Once the USF-to-Hawai'i Bowl news was official, the heavy lifting began.

"So many questions as you begin the process,'' Lees said. "How do we get everything there? How do we make it as efficient as possible? How do we make it as normal as possible for everyone involved?

"Look, we knew it was going to be a lot of work. We knew it was going to create a lot of stress. Those things naturally come with it. But we chose to see this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. I mean, our football program was going to Hawai'i. How cool is that?''

Putting The Plan Together

In early December, Lees, Director of Football Operations Zach Cole and Associate Athletic Director/Football Chief of Staff Andrew Warsaw went on a site visit to Honolulu — 13 hours out (including a connection through Denver), a full day on the ground, a red-eye flight back — so they could inspect every aspect of the trip.

"That was actually my first trip to Hawai'i,'' Lees said with a smile. "When I got back, some people asked if I enjoyed the vacation. I'm not sure I would call it that.

"You feel better about it by putting your eyes on everything, walking around, taking videos, snapping pictures, then relaying it to everybody else so they can be prepared as well. How's the traffic from the airport to the hotel? How close are the hotel rooms to the meeting rooms? Where's the freight elevator? Are the hash-marks painted correctly on the practice field? Where do the buses come in? Where does the team dress? Where do the coaches dress? How does it all flow? Does anything look out of place? Again, you're in Hawai'i, which is distraction enough, but you're trying to make everything as normal as possible.''

Lees began the process last Wednesday when a 53-foot semi-truck picked up 14 pallets of carefully arranged equipment and materials — all of the things that could be sent ahead — keeping in mind that some things couldn't be sent because the Bulls still have a few on-campus practices to go before taking off for Honolulu. The truck was driven to Miami, where the USF materials were loaded onto a non-passenger air-freight cargo plane, which stopped in Dallas before heading to Honolulu. The USF materials were then put in the hands of a logistics company.

With that hurdle cleared, Lees turned his attention to what could be taken underneath the team's 300-seat charter plane on Wednesday (normal USF road trips use a 190-seat plane). He said the plane could accept up to a 100,000-pound payload — including the weight of passengers and luggage — so he constantly searched for an easier way to pack. Could it go in a bag or tote? Shrink wrap? A trunk? Can it fit through the airplane door? Did it need to be taken at all?

"You've got a finite space and a finite weight limit,'' Lees said. "Anything unnecessary you can eliminate is a plus. On the cargo plane, it was how do you get the most on a pallet instead of stringing it onto several pallets? You don't want to forget anything, but you want to get rid of the excess.''

Second Plane Was Added

Meanwhile, Cole has been coordinating all the transportation needs, everything from the American Airlines flight to bus travel to hotel meeting space to meals to … ahem, the biggest category of all.

Outside of coaches, players and other essential staff, who actually gets to make the Hawai'i trip with USF football?

Difficult decisions were at hand. That nervous phrase — "Hope I make the cut'' — was heard around the halls of USF Athletics.

Then Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly and Deputy Athletics Director Kris Pierce, after carefully studying the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, made an executive decision.

A second plane, which leaves Thursday for Honolulu, was added for staff and others hanging in the balance as well as members of the USF spirit squads and Herd of Thunder band. 

"We want things to be wonderful and comfortable,'' Cole said. "We'll probably be talking about this trip for the rest of our lives. It's going to become our home away from home. We're there for such a long time.

"The real trick is you want to make it as seamless as possible for the staff and players, so they don't skip a beat and we can rock-and-roll right through to a successful game day.''

Part of Cole's charge is to regulate the luggage. It has to be reasonable, nothing larger than the size of normal checked item.

For coaching families with small children — accustomed to traveling with a stroller, car seat or pack-and-play — options were explored through the hotel or other venues.

The biggest priority, though, is making sure the players are properly accommodated for the 12-hour flight.

Conner Blake, senior director of football sports nutrition, said the initial day will include a four-meal plan for the players — a meal when they arrive at the USF facility, a meal before getting on the plane, a meal midway through the flight and meal shortly after arriving in Hawai'i.

"We're looking for ways to combat the jet lag, fight the time change and keep them hydrated while they're cooped up for more than 10 hours on that plane,'' Blake said.

Bulls' athletic trainer Scott Wood will provide specialized supplements that minimize body inflammation and other side effects from jet lag. Compression socks will be used to help with circulation and swelling. Also, players will be asked to wear special glasses that block the blue light from laptops and phones because odds are great that players will use lots of screen time.

There will be lots and lots of available fluids. Dehydration is a concern.

Once safely on the ground, the USF players will have a team breakfast each morning and a team lunch after practice. The evenings are more flexible, but there are some bowl sponsored events with local cuisine along with a team dinner off-site.

At the game site, Lees and his staff will work to divest and strip down as much material as possible in the final days, so it can be sent home on an air-freight cargo plane, hoping to make for quick breakdown work after the game.

"We'll need to load some things onto the plane, but let's make it smooth and efficient, so we can get the heck out of there to come home and enjoy Christmas,'' Lees said.

The planes will depart a few hours after the game's end — typical of a USF road trip — and the traveling party is due back in Tampa mid-afternoon on Christmas Day. (There's a rumor that Santa Claus might make an early appearance in Honolulu or stick around later than usual in Tampa, so the children of coaches and staff needn't worry about missing out).

"Our staff has left nothing to chance,'' Kelly said. "The plans have been well thought-out and I think it's going to make for an awesome experience for everyone. The level of detail has been enormous and we think it's going to pay off with a great trip.''

–#GoBulls–