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University of Minnesota Athletics
More Than 18 Wheels
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
On Oct. 4, 1986 the Gophers traveled to West Lafayette, Ind., and rolled to a 36-9 victory over Purdue. That win had more importance on the history of Minnesota football than any fan would ever realize.
Up until that point, the program had different people move their equipment each week. The football equipment manager at the time called Berger Transfer Company and asked if they would drive the equipment to Purdue. Owner Bill Dircks said if the Gophers won then his company would start doing the hauling every week.
"I have been doing the driving ever since," Paul Luxem said.
Luxem started working for the company in 1962 and has been driving the Gopher football truck for 30 years.
I have joked from time-to-time that Paul has been the most consistent part of the Gopher football team over the past 30 years," Don Anderson, Luxem's driving partner the past 12 years, said.
The truck and trailer have been donated by the Dircks family. They also volunteer the time of their employees each year. The hours are not easy and because of that not many stepped up when Luxem needed a new person to start driving with him.
"They rounded up a bunch of us drivers, brought us into a room and put our names into a hat," Anderson said. "When they pulled my name out I just went, `whatever that is fine.' I found out later that my name was the only name in the hat. Paul loves that story."
Luxem and Anderson go above and beyond their job responsibilities in helping out the Gopher football program. They both help load and unload the semi, help setup misting fans, heated benches and road locker rooms and test headsets, among many other things.
They both make Minnesota shine in a positive light when on the road. Children have walked up fascinated by the truck. The two of them will let them up in the truck and show them around. The company has received emails from thankful parents.
Student equipment managers are also very thankful for the duo. Director of football operations Adam Clark had some extra money and bought a hot dog roller a number of years ago. Ever since, Luxem picks up hot dogs each week and cooks them up during the games.
"Paul takes it upon himself to feed our student managers," director of equipment operations Kyle Gergely said. "In the morning if we have say an 11 a.m. kick at home he brings breakfast sandwiches. Right before the half he comes up and cooks hot dogs for home and road games."
It is those small things that add up to make a huge difference behind the scenes for the Gopher football program.
"I never knew what it took to put a game on," Anderson said. "The first couple years I was just astounded by the behind-the-scenes activity and what it took to put the game on the field. I never had a clue and I honest to God think the public would be astounded if they knew what it took."
It's the details viewers at home take for granted. Details like who is behind making sure all the headsets work. Kevin Hinze is the lead headset technician and has been working with Gopher football for 27 years. His partner Dan Lehman has helped for 20 of those years.
"People just think they come down, throw their headset on and it works," Hinze said. "We take what could be a tough job and make it fun."
The duo gets to the field five hours before kickoff to make sure all the equipment is working. They set up all the headsets from on the field to the press box, coaches box, and work with the visiting coaches and their coaches box as well. Over the years Lehman realized it is always good to have a spare headset handy.
"When the game starts going bad, you keep an eye on the coaches in the front to the point where I have actually seen pieces of the headset go up in the air from them throwing the headset down," he explained. "So that would mean that I have to run around and grab a new headset to replace the one he just broke. The coach looks at you like 'what are you doing here?'"
Lehman is located down on the field right at the 50-yard line. Two years ago that location put him in the spotlight. He started trending on Twitter when the camera caught him eating a Dilly Bar on a snowy November day at TCF Bank Stadium. Ever since he has donned the nickname "Dilly Bar Dan." According to Lehman, if not for his wife the legend could have been even greater.
"My wife yelled at me as I was leaving the house because I wear shorts to every game," he explained. "She said 'you will not wear shorts to this game. You will put on pants.' I split the difference with her and put on pants over them. So thankfully I wasn't in shorts when they did that too."
Soon after, Lehman came home to a box of Dilly Bars at his door step. He is a crowd favorite at the yearly conference that he attends with Hinze, Gergely and assistant equipment manager Andy Harris to get up to date on the latest headset technology.
The four, Luxem, Anderson, Hinze and Lehman, are full of stories with a combined 89 years working behind the scenes for Gopher football.
"These guys are awesome. We could not do our jobs without their help. I brag on them anytime I can," Gergely said. "The number of years they have put in shows they truly love Gopher football. It's clear they enjoy what they do and enjoy being around the people they work with."
Their dedication to the program is unmatched. Just ask their families.
"The only game I have missed in 30 years was when my son decided to get married on a football weekend," Luxem said. "My wife said, `You are going to the wedding.'"
Lehman missed one second half of a game to get back for his niece's reception when she got married on a football Saturday. He already warned another member of his family not to make the same mistake.
"My youngest daughter, who is 20, is dating a nice young man and they started talking about weddings," he said. "She asked if I would be willing to take a Saturday off and I said no. You need to look for the bye week to get married."
