Pirates Behind The Scene: Steve Hinrichs

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – When Steve Hinrichs was hired at ECU to be the director of athletic equipment operations, not only was it a career-boost, it also meant he would get to work in better facilities.

Hinrichs' arrival roughly coincided with the unveiling of the improved football locker room, training room and equipment room in the Ward Sports Medicine Building. He said he would've taken the job at ECU regardless, but having the facility he has now is a nice perk.

"I knew during my interview it was being renovated," Hinrichs said. "I was able to come in and see the space. Obviously, the design was already in place, it's very effective and it's working out well."

The improvements are a part of the Southside Renovation Project. They were officially opened on Aug. 2, a little more than three weeks after Hinrichs reported for his first day.

"I remember seeing the old equipment room one time," he said. "What it was to what it is now, this is immaculate. It's just outstanding. It's a new facility, and it's obviously better than what I had at the Naval Academy. I knew we were outgrowing our space at the Naval Academy. We were making rooms work at that point. Here we're able to control that a lot better."

Personally, the timing of the move to ECU couldn't have been much better for Hinrichs. Earlier this summer, he and his wife, Christina, had their house on the market in Annapolis, Md. With twin 7-year-old daughters, they were looking to move into a nicer house in a better school district. There were no plans for that house to be in Greenville.

But Hinrichs, who had been the associate director for equipment operations at the Naval Academy for 11 years, learned of the opportunity at ECU and applied for the job. The family was on vacation visiting in-laws in late June when Hinrichs had a phone interview on a Thursday, followed by a trip to Greenville and an in-person interview and tour of facilities on Friday. Three days later, he was offered the job.

His first day was July 9, and he's been busy since, working seven days a week.

"I barely even know what day it is," Hinrichs said. "Once you develop a routine, a pattern, you're good to go. Starting when I did, it's a lot harder because everything's happening at one time. It's been a challenge, but I feel confident in what I do."

The family already was in contract on the sale of their house in Maryland and had two weeks to find a new home. The house in Maryland closed on a Friday, and they completed the purchase of their new home in North Carolina on the following Monday.

"It was just one of those things where, this happened and it's one of those opportunities that I can't miss," Hinrichs said. "This is a program where I can prove myself and show that I'm ready for something like this. I feel this is the right job."

Though his first passion was coaching, Hinrichs got his start in equipment operations while still a student at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. He worked there all four years as an undergraduate, and during the same time did an internship and a couple of training camps with the Carolina Panthers.

After earning his degree in 2003 he went to work full-time with the Panthers, then three years later he went to the Naval Academy.

"My boss at Sacred Heart got the job at the Naval Academy pretty much the same day I was driving down to Charlotte to start working with Carolina," Hinrichs said. "Obviously I declined at that point to go to Navy. But later there was a full-time opportunity, and I wasn't going to get past a certain point (with Carolina) so I knew it was one of those things for my career that I had to go take."

Right now, is his busiest time of the year. A typical day at work starts around 6:30 a.m. and runs until 7:30 or 8 p.m., depending on what's going on. Along with the ordering, keeping up with inventory and managing contracts, budgets and personnel, this is also the time when adidas starts shipping out its products.

"All the sports items are coming in at the same time," Hinrichs said. "A lot of it has to be sent out to get printed, or stuff has to be logged into the computer so we can get it checked out properly to everybody. It's just pretty much chaos, and now that all the students are back, it's the extra push to get everyone ready to go and not skip a beat anywhere."

Part of getting everybody ready to go is making sure they have the equipment they need and that the equipment and uniform are the right size.

"Using football as an example, player safety is a critical part of it," Hinrichs said. "You have to make sure (student-athletes) are in the proper equipment, it fits properly and they're not wearing something that's ill-fitting or something that's deemed not safe. It's a pet peeve of mine. If I can't get someone fitted properly, then I know I'm doing something wrong, and I wouldn't feel comfortable having him out there."

There are many moving parts to being in equipment operations, and perhaps the best example of that is getting everything together for a football road trip. Hinrichs has to help coordinate everything that can go on the truck early and everything that makes the trip with the team, and he has to make sure it's all loaded properly.

"The most rewarding thing for me is for teams to be successful and not have any issues at all with equipment," he said. "I guess the motto is, you look good, you play good. If everyone's out there looking good, comfortable, then they're probably going to play well and hopefully win games. If everybody's happy and not having any problems, I know I've done my job.

"I'm not front and center, I'm just there to make sure things go smoothly from my vantage point."

- Joe Corley

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