July 20, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
With nearly 100 players on a roster and pounds and pounds of pads and helmets, the football equipment manager is a key contributor on a team and that's why Illinois State head coach Denver Johnson is pleased with the addition of Jay Bailey to the Redbird staff.
"Jay is going to bring a great work history, tremendous experience and professionalism to our program," Johnson said. "We are really excited about having him on board."
Although hired from the corporate world, Bailey brings 15 years of experience managing and maintaining football equipment at the collegiate level to Illinois State. Prior to joining the Redbirds, Bailey worked as the inventory control manager at Kattus Pro Team Sports and served 10 years as the athletic equipment supervisor at Cincinnati. With the Bearcats, he developed and implemented equipment budgets for 16 varsity sports and worked directly with the football program.
"Illinois State is a program that has always had a great tradition," Bailey said. "I'm just looking forward to contributing to coach Johnson's program and taking the equipment part of it to a higher level."
Before Cincinnati, Bailey worked two seasons at Georgia Tech as the assistant athletic equipment manager. He assisted in the daily operation of Yellow Jacket football, while coordinating the transportation of equipment for road games.
He landed his first full-time position in intercollegiate athletics at Southeast Missouri State as the athletic equipment manager in 1990. He worked at SEMO for two and half years, while again working directly with football. During his career, Bailey has worked in 10 college bowl games.
As an undergraduate at Auburn, Bailey worked all four years with the Tiger football team, after beginning his collegiate career as a walk-on. He injured his knee as a freshman and continued to help the team as a student equipment manager.
Bailey earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Auburn in 1988. He and his wife, Melissa, have two children, Justin (6) and Travis (4).
