ASU relies on planning, consistency when taking football team on the road

Former Arizona State football coach Todd Graham liked to have reminders of home, even when on the road. So when it came time to pack for road trips, the Sun Devils equipment staff packed the usual things. But they also took air fresheners and signage from their locker room in Tempe.

Every head coach has his own preferences when it comes to travel. Getting 25,000 pounds of equipment from Tempe to the far reaches of the Pac-12 is a detailed and carefully planned out process. The Sun Devils (1-5, 0-3) are making their longest road trip in the conference this weekend, heading to Seattle for a 7:30 p.m. game against No. 5 Washington (6-0, 3-0) Saturday.

It is the second of just four road trips this season, with ones to Salt Lake City and Los Angeles looming later this season.

The team left Friday night on a charter flight but the 53-foot truck with the team's equipment left Tempe on Wednesday. The trek typically starts Thursday, as soon as the team finishes its final walk-through. But this is the longest trip of the season which meant getting an earlier start.

Dircks Moving & Logistics has been responsible for getting ASU's haul to each road game since 1991. Chip and Rick Dircks started the company back in 1990. Matt Dircks, a 2011 ASU graduate, now serves as president and CEO of the company started by his father and uncle.

"The process starts when the schedule comes out in the summer and that's when we start talking with our equipment staff. We’ll look at where we’re going, what travel looks like the day of the game," he said. "The goal is to get there as soon as possible. We don’t want to have the team with downtime without equipment, without certain comforts they have at home. We'd rather get there well ahead of time and wait on them rather than the other way around."

Dircks added that for longer trips his company will send two drivers so the truck does not have to stop except for refueling.

The closest stops aren't always the easiest. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, in which USC plays, presents a challenge because the visiting team truck has to park on a steep incline ramp which makes the loading and unloading processes difficult.

Other difficult trips are Oregon State and Cal-Berkeley. In Corvallis, there is no dock onsite and it’s a long push to the visiting team locker room. That stadium just had a major renovation and Dirks isn't sure if those issues were resolved with the upgrades. When it comes to Cal, the neighborhood has narrow and winding streets that are hard to navigate and the stadium is built into a hill.

The least stressful site is Utah, not just because it's the second-shortest at 670 or so miles but the dock is close to the locker room and there is room to get the truck in and out with relative ease.

Of course next season ASU will move to the Big 12 so that will mean assessing and planning for a lot of new venues. The trip to Lubbock, Texas to play Texas Tech is only the equivalent of going to Cal or Utah. But others will present challenges. It's 2,068 miles to Morgantown, West Virginia and 2,100 to Orlando where Central Florida is located. Cincinnati is 1,800 miles, also longer than the Seattle trip.

Dircks says he has exchanged ideas with contemporaries as to how to address future travel issues. He says since Cal and Stanford will be playing in the ACC and will have at least five East Coast games, they could rent a storage facility on that coast rather than have to bring it cross country so many times.

Not only does a team have to get equipment to a game, but it also needs to get it back just as quickly so the team has it for practice come Monday. Putting everything on the charter with the team is not an option since most things are stored in trunks which are too heavy for air travel.

"We all have been talking through some logistics. Lot of talk about is there a way to keep stuff on both sides of the country, to help assist so you’re not taking as much stuff. Maybe ship ahead alternate jerseys. Could be a way to take some on the plane so it's not all on the truck. Maybe teams can share some things. It's all in play," he said.

Dircks said there really haven't been any mishaps when it comes to the trucks getting to a destination in a timely manner. His company also handles equipment for the Diamondbacks and he once had to call an audible there. They don't have to get shipments all the way to opposing ballparks, they just have to get luggage and equipment to the airport. That all goes on the plane — less equipment, fewer players to accommodate.

The usual procedure calls for two trucks taking team luggage to the plane on the tarmac but for some reason, airport security didn't allow the second truck on the tarmac. Fortunately, it was only a road trip to Petco Park in San Diego so the company drove the truck there with the stuff that did not make the plane.

"That was one of the few times we really had to adjust on the fly," Dircks said.

While the trucking company plays a major role in the behind-the-scenes workings of the football program, so does the equipment staff. Ryan Barker oversees a group of 15 student managers who help with the packing process and also assist at daily practices. A few are on scholarship while others receive a small stipend. The newer additions are volunteers.

Barker, who came to ASU after working in the same capacity at Utah, said 10 of those will attend road games and help get the locker room set up by the time the team arrives Friday. The equipment staff typically arrives six hours before kickoff. That meant for ASU's game at Cal, they were on-site at 6 a.m. for a noon start after arriving in Berkeley at 9 p.m. the previous night.

"We have the upper tier GA's (graduate assistants) in charge of different areas, one in charge of coaches stuff, one in charge of field trunks, someone else handling locker room stuff. It doesn’t deviate too much," Barker said. "It helps to have some consistency in who is dealing with what."

Scouting report: Undefeated Washington up next for last-place Arizona State football

Of course, this trip being to the Pacific Northwest means extra rain gear and cold weather garb must be easily accessible.

Barker has only been with the program since March of 2022 and says there have been few incidences of things left behind.

Two years ago at Utah, the second set of game pants didn't get packed for a trip to San Diego State. Fortunately, no players ripped theirs or needed the backup pair. Last year the hand warmer pouches were left behind on a late October trip to Pullman.

He hasn't had anything left at another venue though. He says he will make two or three passes through both the sideline and the locker room to ensure that something isn't missed.

"I have one guy I know at another school and he told me they once forgot four trunks of stuff. I can't imagine leaving that much stuff behind" he laughed. "I have to think the coaches weren't very happy. I wouldn't have wanted to have to answer for that."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: When ASU football travels, so does all the equipment. Here's how