People's ideas about Division 1 football players are that they live a life separate from the general student population–that their lives are full of glamor and that achievement on the field takes precedence over all. But the fact is that D1 football players live the life of any other college student…save for excitement on Saturdays. In fact, each day is filled with a general routine that takes up far more time than the average student. Being a football player at the University of San Diego myself, I thought detailing a day in my life might provide some transparency as to what actually goes on.

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5:30 AM

This is my wake up time. It's a little later than my teammates but I try to get as much rest as I can so I can work better throughout the day. I hop out of bed and throw on clothes that I laid out from the previous night, grab my bags for the day, scarf down some yogurt and a banana, and head to campus.

5:55 AM

I arrive at the weightroom five minutes early so I can get a good foam roll in and be properly warmed up for weights. Some of my teammates take pre-workout and things like that to get themselves up so early in the morning, but I prefer to work without it.

6AM-7:15 AM

Our workout regimine depends on the day and what the lifting coach wants. Being in season, we're working on maintaining strength and health so that means a lot of our lifts at the moment aren't exceedingly strenuous to not tire us out.

7:15- 8 AM

I go to the locker room, shower, and get ready for classes. I bring a change of clothes from my apartment because the clothes in my locker are strictly for working out. I run down to the campus cafeteria and get an athlete's breakfast which means eggs, bacon, some sort of fruit, and oatmeal. It's tough eating the same thing every day, but what matters most is that it's nutritious. If I can, I try to get some studying done before class. 

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8 AM-12:15PM

I structure my class schedule for everything to be in the morning. It's tough getting everything assigned that way but it makes a huge difference when accounting for athletics. I take anywhere from 16-18 units a semester, so it's nice to have classes done early in the day so I have time to get assignments done later on.

12:15-12:45 PM

After my last class, I head over to the campus cafeteria and grab lunch–whichever food station line is the shortest that day, is the one I go to. My next stop is the training room to get taped, and I eat my lunch on the way. If I'm able to do all that before 12:45, I go to the lockeroom to get my equipment ready for practice. If I'm running late, I go straight to meetings.

12:45-2:15 PM

This is essentially class time but for football: we put in our game plans for the week, analyze film as a group, and go over our practice plan for the day. It's a good opportunity to get in-depth coaching and really improve our mental side of the game.

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2:25-4:45 PM

We practice midday because nothing can beat the San Diego weather. I realize other schools practice in the morning or at night, and we do as well depending on the week, but we practice midday for the most part. Practice is physical and competitive, but I would say that the most important part about it all is knowing what you're doing. I try to go into every practice with one thing that I can focus on in order to get a little better each day.

4:45-5:15 PM

After practice, I run up to the locker room, throw all of my practice clothes onto a loop for laundry, shower, and get ready to go to work. On the days I don't work after practice, I take an ice bath to heal my body.

5:15-9 PM

I work just off campus at a local retail store. Myself and my teammates try to get small jobs during the season because it gives us some extra spending money and a chance to save. It's a great deal because the store works with my schedule to give me hours despite my shifts not being too long.

9-11PM

After work, I get home and try to work through my assignments in a streamlined manner. I like to attack the bigger things first, so that way the smaller pieces of homework can get done when I'm more tired. I try to make my cutoff time around 10:30 for homework, and use whatever time I have left to maybe watch a show or do something fun. 

As one can see, there is not a lot of open time during my day. Compared to the average student, I need a much stronger hold on my time-management to stay afloat. But in all honesty, I wouldn't have it any other way. My days are full and busy, and I know I'm developing skills that will carry on and make me successful down the road in life.

What's a day in your life like? Share your Daily Grind at [email protected]

* Originally published on August 31, 2022, by Isaac Haney