The Ohio State football season starts in August and finishes in January, but for the dedicated athletic trainers of the OSU Medical Services and Training Department, these datelines are a bit more blurred.

“The football season comes and goes, but the work never ends,” said Doug Calland, head athletic trainer at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Calland is OSU football’s head athletic trainer but he also organizes and coordinates all of the athletic training throughout the year at OSU.

There are 36 varsity sports at OSU, and Calland and his 12 member training staff work hard to keep each athlete healthy and on the field.

“He is our fearless leader and we go to him with any questions or concerns that we have,” said Kristin Bretz, an assistant athletic trainer.

The staff meets with individual players as well as team physicians and coaches from each of the 36 varsity sports.

With all the interaction, it takes a lot of coordination and organization for players to receive the right care.

“One of our missions is to work together as a team, and Doug works to foster that attitude,” Bretz said.

The focus of the training staff is injury prevention, and they speak with players constantly about avoiding situations where small injuries turn into serious ones.

“Athletic training is constantly changing, we have to be very current. There are always new modalities and research that comes out on how we treat injuries,” Calland said.

He helped oversee the finishing touches of the new $19 million renovation to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. These renovations have helped the training staff stay current in its treatment of injuries.

For Calland, the most important thing is keeping the players healthy, but through his experiences he has developed a special relationship with the athletes.

“Really what I enjoy is the fact that you are here with players. They come in as freshmen, they do not know what to expect and to see them grow over that time is special,” Calland said.

The training staff not only treats injuries, but is also responsible for instructing students at OSU’s School of Allied Medical Professions.

His staff treats injuries as simple as bruises and sprains, and as serious as bone fractures. The worst injury Calland has seen in his 31 years of athletic training was OSU wide receiver Tyson Gentry, who injured his spinal cord and was severely paralyzed after spring practice in 2006.

His staff responded to the injury, treated Gentry on the field and stayed with him in the hospital.

“It’s the last thing you want to see in a healthy athlete, an injury that changes his life forever and I have to think about it every day, and it really is the worst thing,” Calland said.

Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].