There was a moment as Tim Groseclose watched the George Mason University men’s basketball team face Northern Iowa that he believed he was about to cost the Patriots a point.
Standing from his seat at the end of the bench near the baseline to get a better look past also-standing 6-foot-7 forward Michael Rudy, the economics professor encroached several inches onto the EagleBank Arena court.
“It occurred to me this might be a technical foul, so I immediately backed up,” Groseclose recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, man, that would really be bad if I got a technical.’ "
Especially after coach Dave Paulsen gave Groseclose some pretty specific instructions as part of his Sideline Coaching program.
“I tell them,” Paulsen said, with a laugh, “their job during a game is the same as a corpse at an Irish wake – dress well and remain quiet.”
The Sideline Coaching Program allows one George Mason faculty or staff member per game to get an insiders view by attending team meetings, practices and team meals, having access to opponent scouting reports and being in the locker room before games and at halftime.
The topper, though, is being on the bench.
“One of the top-20 experiences in my lifetime,” Groseclose said.
“An incredible experience,” said Paul Liberty, Mason’s vice president of government and community relations, who watched the Patriots face St. Bonaventure.
Paulsen brought the program from Bucknell, his previous coaching stop. The idea, he said, is to “bridge any perceived divide between the athletic and academic world” by helping faculty and staff “gain a better appreciation for how hard the players work and appreciate that what we’re doing isn’t academic but unequivocally educational in terms of discipline, structure and focus and attention to detail.”
More than 80 people responded when the program was announced at Mason, but because the team plays just 15 home games an open practice was held for those who signed up and a lottery filled the coveted slots.
For participants, the trick is to observe but not intrude. That’s easy when watching practice or a meeting.
“But when it’s game time,” Groseclose said, “and we’re about to come out of the tunnel, you see the cheerleaders in front and the players and coaches, it’s kind of like a dream and I’m part of them.”
“You certainly get caught up in the emotions,” said Frank Strike, director of facilities management who watched the game against Wagner. “You find yourself much more engaged than if you’re in the stands (when you’re) giving high-fives to the players.”
The program has had its bottom-line effect, Liberty said: “I now understand when you see a game you only see a short window of all the work that goes into putting that game together and the incredible commitment these students give to the athletic department.”