As Ohio kicker Matt Weller toed the ball deep into Utah State territory to start the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the event’s executive director let out a sigh of relief.
Kevin McDonald, a five-year veteran of the Potato Bowl (formerly the Humanitarian Bowl), had been working since last year’s trophy celebration to ensure that the game and festivities would go as smoothly as possible.
“It’s really a yearlong planning process getting to kickoff,” McDonald said. “We have a staff of three people, and it keeps us pretty busy year-round.”
From the minute the Bobcats touched down in Boise, free time was at a premium. The most sitting around any of the players did was on the plane ride west. From there, a detailed schedule greeted the team.
Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations Jason Grooms pointed out that he and his crew essentially morphed the team hotel into a command center similar to the one they frequent in Athens.
“Basically, we’ve got to conduct business as usual like we would be at home,” he said. “We have nine position meeting rooms (and) a team meeting room; we need to have a training room in the hotel to do treatment and taping, and we need to have a room to make copies and print things off. So we basically stuck up a football office in the hotel.”
Before sending the team off to the blue turf of Bronco Stadium, Grooms and Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations Dan Hauser took the journey west to scope things out.
Their goal was to see and test everything that the Bobcats would come in contact with during their trip, ranging from practice facilities and locker rooms to go-kart tracks and hotel lounges.
The initial trip to Boise was essential for Ohio’s success, both on and off the field.
“During the site visit we’re visiting with the bowl executive director, the people that are going to answer our questions the entire bowl trip,” Hauser said.
“We usually look at if there are any events along the trip, where will some of those events take place and just kind of answering questions. It’s very important to take a site visit. The decisions you’re able to make after a site visit and on the site visit are critical to whether you have a great trip.”
McDonald played a key role in bringing the Bobcats to Boise as he works as a part of the committee that invites teams to play in the annual bowl.
According to McDonald, there is no particular formula behind a team’s selection, just heavy monitoring of both teams’ progress and other bowls’ interest. He also looks at how well prospective teams match up with one another.
“We realize that teams we bring from the (Mid-American Conference) are not going to bring a lot of fans or sell a whole lot of tickets. We want to make sure the team we bring to Boise … is the best team available to us when it is our turn to select,” he said.
Once all the kinks have been worked out and the teams are in town, McDonald has the chance to take a step back and let the fruits of his labor unfold. Not everything always goes as planned, he said, but this season’s end result was a success.
“It’s definitely a mix between art and science to get it all handled,” McDonald said. “You can plan all year and you have a couple hiccups that really can throw you off.”
If there were any problems, they were not a sore subject with Bobcat personnel.
“The true credit goes to an organized bowl committee and organized bowl director,” Hauser said about the overall continuity of Ohio’s trip.
“Their staff was amazing. They had great, great people working there, and every time we turned around, they were overwhelmingly organized and had all their act together.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
