By Elizabeth Stuart
LSU Sports Information
Walking into their hotel rooms at the Hilton in New Orleans on Friday night, the LSU football team had no idea that come Monday morning, they would be the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Something that also might surprise the Tigers is that their hotel rooms were planned out more than six months in advance. In fact, each detail is squared away beginning in March: every hotel room, airplane and bus is hand picked. The coordination of these events falls upon the shoulders of one man, LSU Associate Athletics Director Mark Ewing.
While looking for hotels, there are a number of qualities a hotel must exhibit to host the top team in the nation. The number of rooms and bed combinations are carefully scrutinized as well as the hotels’ flexibility with check-in and check-out services. Manifests for travel lists are constantly being updated.
”We work on the manifest the entire week before the game because players (on the travel roster) can change the night before,” Ewing said.
As for air travel, the planes are secured during the same time as the hotel. Security screening is done the week of the game for those flying.
While making travel plans for LSU’s football team, Ewing must take several things into consideration, with the most important aspect being the time of the game. Game time can affect every aspect of travel, and typically, he doesn’t know the kickoff time until 10 days out.
“We didn’t know that the Tulane game was going to be at 11 a.m.,” Ewing said. “We only had a hundred rooms. In that case, we were only able to bring those that we would bring for an SEC game.”
Only 70 players are allowed for SEC road games, but for non-conference play others on the 125-man roster are allowed to go for sideline support.
For the Tulane game, LSU had 100 rooms reserved at the Hilton Riverside. Some staff were set to arrive early Saturday morning, but when Ewing learned kickoff was set for 11 a.m. some last minute changes were necessary. The early game time meant all of the staff needed to stay overnight in New Orleans to help the team prepare.
Ewing is no stranger to last minute changes. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita threatened to disrupt the 2005 football schedule, Ewing tried to keep the hurricanes from knocking the football team too far off track.
While the season opener against North Texas was postponed until later in the season, it was decided the week of the Arizona State contest that the game would be played on the date scheduled, but the venue would now be Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Learning of the venue change the Sunday before, Ewing immediately began to work his magic. What usually takes six months to accomplish now had to be accomplished in only a week. Working with the Fiesta Bowl, Ewing booked a hotel in Tempe early in the week but was unable to secure a plane for the Tiger team until Thursday for departure time set for Friday.
“We just had to hope that everything would come through. Amazingly, everything worked out,” Ewing said.
The clash between the Bayou Bengals and Sun Devils was successful on both fronts as the Tigers were victorious on the field, 35-31, and Ewing accomplished the enormous task of getting the Tigers to Tempe and back without a glitch.
In addition to travel expenses, more than $14 million is budgeted for the weight rooms and equipment rooms, assuring that the Tigers have all the tools necessary to give them every advantage on their way to becoming dominating student-athletes.
The University’s contract with Nike allows for $300,000?$400,000 worth of equipment. Anything in excess of that amount, LSU Athletics must provide from its budget. Through this budget that Ewing delegates to football, the team can purchase helmets, cleats, shoulder pads and other equipment necessary to play NCAA football.
The dedication to the LSU Athletics program that Ewing has is something that developed while he was a LSU student nearly three decades ago. Ewing considered himself a sports fanatic while he was studying to earn his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1978 and master’s degree in public administration in 1995. Ewing never dreamed the hard work he put in during his time as an LSU student would have him in the position he is in today.
”I’d be lying if I said that when I was a student this wouldn’t have been my dream job,” Ewing said.
Whether hitting the gridiron on the road or in Tiger Stadium, Mark Ewing has a crucial behind-the-scenes role for the top team in the nation. In addition to traveling accommodations, the helmets and shoulder pads that adorn the Fighting Tigers could not be provided for were it not for Mark Ewing.
As the Tigers head on the road to Kentucky next weekend, know that every departure time, bus, plane and hotel has been planned and executed down to the last detail by Ewing and his staff.