She was OK with being called “Mama.”
After all, to many of the LSU football players, she has been like a second mother.
But “Grandma?”
Shelley Mullenix, LSU senior associate athletic director for health and wellness, says that’s where it stops.
“‘Mama’ is one of my nicknames,” she says. “It’s gone from ‘Girlfriend,’ when I got here at age 28, to ‘Aunt’ to ‘Mama.’ And then probably a year ago I got my first ‘Grandma.’ And I stopped that right [away].”
Mullenix laughs. “Because there’s no way.”
Well …
In the hands-on part of her job, Mullenix has taken care of kids who are children of former LSU football players.
In more recent years, Mullenix, now 50, has seen her job transition into administration. But being a football trainer is still her favorite part of the job.
Before we get to that, know that it was Mullenix who formed LSU football’s return-to-campus strategy during the pandemic.
“All the coordination had to happen in the months leading up to it,” she explains, noting that preparations for the players’ return were made while everything was still being done remotely.
“The only saving grace for us,” she says, “is that their age bracket is the healthiest age bracket: 18- to 22-year-olds, specifically student-athletes. While they can certainly get sick, the virus tends to be a little more subtle with them. … We hope to be able to manage it.”
During the stay-at-home order, Mullenix and her assistants visited with LSU players by Zoom, which she said, enabled them “to see them in their environment, which was different.”
Mullenix has a master’s in athletic administration, and has gotten her social work degree as well—invaluable in dealing with student-athletes, who have a lot on their plates.
“I think people who get into this profession, whether it’s an athletic training profession or social work profession, they’re just helpers,” Mullenix says, admitting it can be a tough line of work.
She came to Baton Rouge from the University of Miami in 1997, when Gerry DiNardo was the LSU football coach. She’s been here for all three national championships, often front and center when sprinting onto the field to attend to an injured player.
Last year, she moved to administration half the time and says she made sure her assistants and LSU Athletics mental health providers “didn’t miss a beat.”
Even with her new job, in which she deals with all LSU sports, Mullenix has no plans to leave the football sidelines.
Her official bio at LSUsports.net reads that she plays “a key role in ensuring that the physical and mental health needs of student-athletes are met. Mullenix also serves the LSU Department of Kinesiology as a preceptor and clinical supervisor for the Athletic Training Education Program.”
As for “Mama?” Mullenix responds to the name on and off the field.
She and husband, Matt, have two kids of her own. Their twins, Maggie and Briana, are LSU students.
Mullenix’s girls will be sophomores this fall. One wants to be an athletic trainer and the other a social worker, Mullenix tells 225 with a smile.
And having college-age kids has helped Mullenix in her job.
“It helps me stay in tune,” she says, “and in touch with what I need to know about that age group through my own kids.”
Check out more LSU-related stories in our full Tiger Pride special section.
This article was originally published in the August 2020 issue of 225 magazine.
