Cal (Pa.)'s Barry McGlumphy tunes into Super Bowl LVII with unique perspective

When the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles face off Sunday evening in Super Bowl LVII, Barry McGlumphy will tune in from an intriguing vantage point.

McGlumphy, a professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Sports Studies at Cal (Pa.), has ties to Chiefs coach Andy Reid that go back nearly two decades.

For 15 straight NFL seasons, McGlumphy has assisted Reid’s teams — first in Philadelphia and now in Kansas City — during preseason training camp, where his duties are extensive.

“My main responsibilities are everything from doing your typical athletic training activities — rehab of injuries, evaluation, all those types of things — but a big part of what I do is taking the players to their diagnostics exams, whether that be MRIs, X-rays (and) any of their physicals that need to be done at the hospital,” he said.

“I’m also responsible for their medicines, as well … and then I’m on the field every day doing everything from running water, running injured players up to the training facilities and all those types of things.”

He’s also been on the sidelines for countless NFL games, as well as rookie and minicamps.

McGlumphy routinely turns in 14- to 16-hour days during training camp, but playing a key day-to-day role in the lives of NFL athletes, who, in the case of the Chiefs, have won seven consecutive AFC West Division titles and are playing in their third Super Bowl in four years, is rewarding.

“Every year it’s kind of like boot camp for me,” McGlumphy said. “It’s a grind and at the end, I say, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can do this another year,’ but come the end of the season, especially when you make five AFC Championships in a row, you’re psyched up to get back there again.”

McGlumphy first came into Reid’s orbit in Philadelphia through Rick Burkholder, now the Chiefs’ vice president of sports medicine and performance.

Burkholder, a Carlisle native, and McGlumphy were roommates at Arizona during their graduate studies.

Reid’s entire tenure as coach in Philadelphia (1999-2012) featured Burkholder and, in time, McGlumphy became part of the Eagles’ sports medicine and performance operation.

In 2020, during the thick of the covid-19 pandemic, McGlumphy assumed the role of protocol coordinator with the Chiefs, helping the franchise adhere to NFL policy and navigate through the crisis.

“(Reid) wants you to do the best you can do every single moment that you’re there,” McGlumphy said. “Don’t stray from what the protocols and processes are. If that’s rehabbing a high ankle sprain for Patrick Mahomes, you as an athletic trainer need to make sure you do the best job you can do and that you’re following processes about strength.

“Absolutely, the environment there is one that would probably apply to any business in the country.”

On the academic side, McGlumphy is a national leader in preparing the next generations of sports medicine and exercise science professionals.

Since 2002, he has coordinated the Exercise Science and Health Promotion Masters Program at Cal (Pa.) — having developed and put it into place — which is 100% online.

In 20 years, McGlumphy’s master’s programs has pumped out a robust list of professionals across sports.

For example, the 2008-09 sports season saw his alumni working on sports medicine and strength and conditioning staffs of teams that competed in the MLS Cup, Stanley Cup, World Series and Super Bowl.

“My goal there was to create a program that was going to be 100% online, very flexible for professionals to enroll in and a challenging experience but not an overwhelming experience,” he said.

Two current students of McGlumphy’s are in Phoenix working on the training staffs of the Eagles and Chiefs.

Xochitl Alvarado is a seasonal assistant athletic trainer for the Eagles.

Kelly Weller, a graduate of Ohio State, is working toward her master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion.

Weller, 22, works with the Chiefs as a seasonal intern, having started with the team as an athletic trainer last May. In December of 2024, she will have earned her degree from Cal (Pa.).

For Weller, pulling off the balancing act of a master’s program and an intensive, hands-on internship is stressful, but the long hours on the gridiron and in the (virtual) classroom are reaping her immense rewards.

“I’m able to learn from all the other athletic trainers that I work with every single day in the clinic setting,” she said. “They’re all so smart, so educated and so good at their craft that I get to see that all day long, and then at night I get to hit the books, go through my curriculum and learn from my professors and in turn be able to apply all that to what I’m doing in clinic.”

Weller hails from the greater Chicago area and previously worked with the New York Giants. Ahead of Sunday, she likes Kansas City’s prospects.

“I’m feeling great about this weekend,” she said. “I think we’ll have a lot of success, and our guys really deserve it. … I am looking forward to seeing what our guys can do this weekend.”

McGlumphy predictably is pulling for the Chiefs. Having relationships with many of the Chiefs players off the field makes it all the more fun to root for them.

“When you live with the players for a month out of the year and then hang around them for games the rest of the year, you get to know them really well, so you view the game as a fan in a much different way,” McGlumphy said.

“You know them so well and their personalities, so I’m certainly rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs.”