If you ask any Badger student what their favorite thing is about UW, there’s a pretty high chance they’ll say Game Day. For many, Game Day means starting off the morning with mimosas and kegs, getting decked out in red, and cheering on the football team in the best way possible. There’s nothing Badgers love more than bragging to friends (especially those who go to less fun schools like Michigan and Indiana) about having the best student section in the Big 10. But, some of the most dedicated Badger fans have never spent a single game in the stands, and that’s exactly the way they like it.
As the Head Student Manager of the University of Wisconsin football team, Joe Spiegelhoff, eats, sleeps, and breathes Badger football. Year round, Joe and the rest of the student managers take on a wide array of tasks to ensure that the entire football program runs perfectly.
Hometown: Burlington, WI
Year: Senior
Major: Journalism and Economics
Why were you interested in managing the football team?
I played football all through high school and grade school. I probably could have played at a small division three school in Wisconsin but I really wanted to go to Madison. I thought, if I can’t play this is the next best thing. It’s easily been the greatest college job I could have asked for.
What are your responsibilities as student manager?
That’s the toughest question we’re asked. It’s a lot of everything. Practice is really only half our job and a lot of what we do is off the field. We’ll touch on recruiting and we do a lot of out-of-office duties like campus tours [for recruits]. What I do now as Head Manager is help our Director of Football Operations with anything he needs in organizing the daily activities of the team, especially organizing road trips and making sure everything is running smoothly.
What’s the best part about being a student manager?
My favorite thing is being a part of the team. Everyone, even the actual players, sees us as part of the team. We’re just one big unit. It’s being part of something bigger than yourself.
What’s the most challenging part?
The most challenging part is managing your time. You get sleep, social life and study, and you have to pick two. It’s very scheduled out. You’re committed to working thirty or forty hours a week at the stadium and a lot more on away trips.
What’s your most memorable moment as a student manager?
There’s a lot, it’s been a blast. The Ohio State game when they were number one and ESPN Game Day was here. We got to be a part of the behind the scenes action and that was our first really big game. That kickoff and people storming the field afterwards was awesome. There are countless memories. Some of them are just Friday night in the hotel with our guys, hanging out.
What is the most valuable thing you have learned in this position?
Organization and communication are crucial in everything you do, especially in a Big 10 Division 1 football program. If the organization and communication aren’t there, it just doesn’t function. A football team works a lot like a big corporation or business. Those two tools are crucial and carry over to everything in life
What does a typical game day consist of for you?
The team stays in a hotel on Friday night [even for home games], just to stay focused, so I go to the hotel Saturday morning, eat with the team, make sure everything is on track and that we’re good to go. I check with our Director of Football Operations and all our coaches. Three hours before kickoff I go to the stadium and make sure I have my scripts ready and all the other managers show up at the stadium three hours ahead too. We start pushing carts, which is all the equipment on the sidelines. The team arrives around two hours in advance and we go through our pregame routine where every manager has their duty mapped out. When kickoff comes I script the entire offense, so I’m on a headset listening to what play is called on offense and I write it down. I write down what the situation is, the down, distance, hash, yard line, who’s in at wide receiver, the play call and what actually happens on the play. I write all that down in those brief few seconds so that the team can go back, watch it on film the next day and know what was called. Afterwards it’s clean up time. We clean the sidelines, make sure the helmets are done, hand out team snack, and then see the family.
What’s Coach Anderson like?
Coach Anderson is awesome. All the things you read about him, like people loving him, are true. He has such a good relationship with the players and his staff, and he treats everyone with respect. He’s a down-to-earth guy and the type of person you can get along with easily.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I would love to stick with football and do the next step, which is operations and the business side of football. I’d like to work my way up the ladder as an Assistant Director and then Director of Football.
Who is your biggest inspiration? (Ladies, get ready to melt at this answer!)
My biggest inspiration has always been my dad. He’s one of those guys that made me better in anything I did. I always looked up to him. He’s a hard working guy, smart and never took the easy way out. He’s worked for everything he has done in his life and he taught me how to be a man in my own way.
What are you going to miss most about being a student manager after graduation?
I’ll miss the road trips the most. I love traveling and seeing other campuses. It’s fun to get booed and heckled the whole time we are there and then so satisfying when we get back on the plane with a victory.