By Chase Austin

For The Newberry Observer

NEWBERRY — Are you seeing what looks like a professor on the sidelines while the Newberry Wolves are on the field?

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. That’s a professor who has the honor of being the week’s “Guest Coach.”

The “Guest Coach” program was developed in a partnership between Newberry College’s academic and athletics programs. It is designed to give professors a firsthand view into the lives of students during a week of preparation before a game.

The idea for the program came from Center for Student Success director Jessie Long, who was inspired after attending a Hall of Fame banquet at the University of South Carolina.

“What really stuck with me the most was when a former baseball player was speaking,” Long said. “He said, ‘We learn more on the field than we ever learn off the field.’”

Long developed the idea in hopes of bridging a gap between athletics and academics, and said that other colleges have adopted similar programs.

“It only makes sense for us to do it too, due to the extremely high number of student athletes we have,” Long said.

Players choose the week’s “guest coach,” and thus far have selected Associate Professor of Business Gerald Seals, Associate Professor of Mathematics Dr. Naser al-Hasan, and Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Valarie Burnett.

During the week they served as “guest coach,” each attended practice, meetings, and film sessions, then stood on the sidelines during that week’s game.

Burnett said she most enjoyed “getting on the field and being able to see what they do and go through every day, and seeing them in action. Although she had heard accounts from student-athletes about what they go through, Burnett said, “It was nice to actually experience it firsthand and see the amount of time it actually takes up.”

Although the program has only involved the football team, Long said the “guest coach” program will involve other teams as well.

Chase Austin is a student at Newberry College.