By Brad Heineman
When it finally became a realization to 2015 Blissfield High School graduate Josh Hall that his four-year high school football career would be coming to a close at the conclusion of the fall 2014 season, it was a rough time for the then-honorable mention academic all-state lineman for the Blissfield Football Royals.
“It was tough,” he said. “Man, the thought of never playing football again really stung.”
Like many high school seniors braving the unexamined waters of post-secondary life, Hall was a bit taken by the options available to him, post-high school. Rather than attempting to play collegiate level football, Hall said he realized that he would realistically make it farther after college if he focused on his education, rather than trying to make a college’s football roster.
But football still remained a part of Hall’s being.
Ultimately, in order to get the best of both worlds, he decided to major in the study of sports administration with a focus in commerce. His next task was to figure out which institution he would attend. That’s when former Blissfield varsity football head Coach Adam Schiermeyer helped out with Hall’s decision-making process.
“A lot of where I am at right now, I owe to him,” Hall said of Schiermeyer. “He ended up talking with me about my future and then he pulled some strings for me.”
One of those pulled strings was having Hall enroll at Louisiana State University (LSU) in its sports administration program.
With his background in high school football and the ability to work college football into his studies, Hall jumped at the opportunity to serve as LSU football’s sideline equipment manager once he was accepted by the university. It is a job that requires nearly a full year of continuous service with its busiest time of the season beginning in the annual spring football scrimmage and running through Dec. 31 of bowl week.
For the rest of the story, including his Citrus Bowl experience with LSU, please see the Jan. 11, 2017, edition of The Advance. All right rights reserved.
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