‘A Great Place to Learn and Practice’

While we're celebrating Athletic Training month, we’re dipping into our archive to highlight some of our most exciting AT tales — but we’re also featuring some new ones, too. Like this:  

Alumnus Begins Year Two as Head Athletic Trainer for UK Football

By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

It was a different year — a year of more responsibility. A year of more decision-making and communication.

Overall, it was just different, says Evan Griskowitz, the director of Sports Medicine and the Head Football Athletic Trainer for the University of Kentucky. He was hired into the position in 2023, and last year was his first full football season in the role.

“It’s just a little bit more of everything, you know?” said the Newark, Delaware, native. “And you’re giving the coaches and staff daily updates on who’s in, who’s out, and what the expectations are for injured guys.”

Griskowitz attended the University of Delaware and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training. He was fortunate to serve as a two-year seasonal intern for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team.

He then came to the University of Kentucky’s Athletic Training graduate program. After finishing, he made a one-year stop at Eastern Kentucky University before returning to UK. And last year, the Wildcats’ previous head football athletic trainer left to take the same job for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

Griskowitz applied, and got the gig. In May, he will begin his seventh season at UK. Even more timely, Spring Football begins today, and Griskowitz will start Year Two in Lexington as the Wildcats’ head Athletic Trainer and Director of Sports Medicine.

We caught up with him to talk about the past, the future and — maybe most importantly — the present, as he continues to navigate the world of his new profession.

Here’s 7 questions with … Evan Griskowitz, the director of Sports Medicine and Head Football Athletic Trainer for the University of Kentucky:

1. What got you into athletic training?

EG: Like everybody says, I played sports in high school, and I got injured. I knew what athletic trainers did, but I really came into undergrad wanting to do physical therapy. And for whatever reason, I chose to get into the athletic training program at (the University of) Delaware.

It's a super competitive program. You start with around 60 students your freshman year, and you end up with a class of 15 to 20, depending on who they take going into the sophomore year. So, the competitive nature in me just kind of drove me to want to make it into the program.

And then I was lucky enough to get a summer internship with the Seattle Seahawks after my freshman year. Obviously, it’s hard work, but getting to see what the athletic trainers do at the highest level is awesome, so I just fell in love with it.

Since then, I’ve never turned back.

2. What led to your interest in football, specifically?

EG: I played football growing up.

My dad's a big football fan. So, our family was always watching football. We just love the sport.

3. And what brought you to UK?

EG: Yeah, it's funny you mentioned Delaware, but we almost always have had a pipeline from Delaware undergraduate school to UK grad school. It was kind of just one of those opportunities that you heard about as an undergrad at Delaware.

I knew students who had gone to UK. They came back and worked at Delaware, and they always talked about the camaraderie of the program at UK. And our program director knew some of the staff and professors here.

They all just told me how great it was. I came here and interviewed for the grad position, and I just knew this was the place for me.

Once I was able to get the opportunity, I couldn't pass it up. It’s a great school.

Of course, other than the AT program, all I knew about Kentucky was the Derby, Woodford Reserve and KFC.

4. So that leads us to your professional career. You graduate from UK. What comes after that?

EG: I was hired at Eastern Kentucky (University). I was the assistant athletic trainer down there for football and golf. My first day on the job was the first day of training camp. It was a really good experience just trying to figure it all out. It was a whirlwind, but we got thrown right into it.

The head athletic trainer and I, we had a great relationship. We're still good friends to this day. I worked down there for almost a year, and then was lucky enough to get hired back here at UK as an assistant.

Then I got the opportunity to rise in the ranks and be the director and head football athletic trainer after just a couple of years. I’ve been extremely, extremely lucky.

5. What’s your typical day like when you’re prepping for the season’s first game?

EG: Yeah, it depends on the day, you know. But we might have workouts starting that day at 6:30 or 7 in the morning. And then we’re going to do treatments around the workouts, and try to get the guys in before they go to class. Until midday, the guys will go to class, so we'll do some administrative work during the day.

And then, around noon, things start to pick back up again. We have pre-practice treatments, taping, things like that. And then, the guys go to meetings for an hour. So, then, it's out to practice, for an hour and a half, and then after that, it's post-practice. We do a doctor's clinic and some more treatments.

We’re here until 7 o'clock, sometimes later, depending on the night. It's long, long hours.

But for everybody in the building, we're all working to achieve the common goal. We're all putting our all into it. And that's one thing I like about it. It's just everybody is so invested — that makes it mean so much more when you win, or you lose. Everybody is so invested.

I love this job. It’s extremely strenuous and grueling, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

6. Since the (Buffalo Bills NFL player) Damar Hamlin incident, where he suffered cardiac arrest on the field and was saved by athletic trainers during a Monday Night Football game last season, have you seen an increased spotlight on this profession? Or an increase in respect for it?

EG: I'm not sure if I’ve seen a direct effect, as far as you know, an increase in interest in pursuing a career in athletic training. Obviously, the Buffalo Bills staff did an amazing job.  

But I think it helps spotlight our profession and it shines a more positive light on the important things we do and the things that we're prepared for. These people are out there saving people's lives, you know?

7. Lastly, what makes UK such a great place for aspiring athletic trainers?

EG: I think the unique thing about UK is the relationship between the academic staff and the athletic staff. It's extremely important to have a good relationship there, because we're going to be working together to help these students grow, and that's really how it was in graduate school.

I got a good base academically in the classroom, and then got great guidance from the athletic training staff to be able to practice the things I was learning in class — and then get some additional experience.

Simply, it’s just a great place to learn and practice.