Mayo currently works with the NFL as an injury video operator supporting doctors and trainers for the New York Jets and New York Giants to better diagnose and treat player injuries.
Marquay Mayo has been involved with sports his entire life, playing baseball, basketball and football since his grade school days. During his college years, he turned his focus to playing baseball and majored in business administration with a concentration in the areas of sports management and marketing. Considering this trajectory, it’s no surprise that Mayo would later find himself working in the athletic industry.
After college, Mayo landed his first coaching position with a Little League team in his hometown of Springfield, New Jersey. From there, he coached at his former high school Jonathan Dayton High School. Shortly after, he ventured into coaching at the collegiate level with the Trenton Generals, a team formally in the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League (ABCCL). Through this work, he was able to play a role in developing student-athletes for higher levels of competition on collegiate teams and post-graduation.
To help strengthen his career in coaching and work in athletic departments, Mayo decided to enroll in Rider’s online master's in athletic leadership program. As a working student juggling various jobs, Mayo appreciated the flexibility of Rider’s master’s program being completely online. He also valued the tremendous support and mentorship he received from his professors, which is something he didn’t expect to get in an online degree program. He also credits his studies at Rider for helping him evolve his coaching career and expand his curiosity for learning more about different areas of the field.
Today, Mayo’s passion for the game continues to grow in his career as a collegiate baseball coach and through his work with the NFL as a game-day injury video operator. His past experiences with coaches who served as great role models continue to inspire his path.
“For me to be in this field and be able to do the same thing coaches did for me for others is awesome. It's exciting to think about how much I can give to the game and student-athletes. I think that is what motivates me to continue in this career,” says Mayo.
Read the Q&A below to learn more about Mayo’s Rider experience:
What are you doing now? Take us on a rundown of your day:
Currently, I am the assistant baseball coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a personal trainer at Crunch Fitness and an injury video operator with the NFL. My day typically starts in the gym, training my clients at Crunch Fitness from 5-8 a.m. From there, I head to NJIT for team or individual practices, depending on the day. In between practice sessions, I assist with planning for practices and prospect ID camps, while also juggling other duties in the team offices. At the end of my day at NJIT, I typically head back to Crunch to finish training clients.
With the NFL, I work on game days for every New York Jets home game and some New York Giants games. As an injury video operator, I watch NFL games live from the field and review replays of every angle of different injuries throughout the game to help provide information on injuries to doctors and athletic trainers. This information helps the team doctors and trainers diagnose player injuries and determine how they can best get the players back on the field. Though this job can be fast-paced at times, it is a fun, fast-paced job. I work with a good group of guys, which makes the experience even better. It is neat to see all the background things that happen during sporting events.
My professors being a direct resource for questions was extremely beneficial, especially because many of them were in the same field as me, so they were able to give me their perspectives on certain topics, and I was able to learn through their first-hand experiences.”
Assistant baseball coach, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
How did your Rider experiences positively impact your success?
Even though my time at Rider was all online, my professors made a huge impact on my growth. I learned a lot from Jeff Rotondo (women’s volleyball head coach) Tim Lengle (head athletic trainer) and Sean Levin (ice hockey head coach and director of graduate, continuing education admission and university partnerships). They helped me in my path to becoming a better coach and trainer. I was able to learn how to communicate better with my student-athletes and how to deal with almost any and every problem that could come up. I also learned a great amount on the sports psychology side, which taught me how to get the most out of every student-athlete I encounter, as well as every person I get to train in the gym. Notably, Professor Levin helped me learn a lot about myself in terms of my career as a collegiate coach and my coaching philosophies.
Through the athletic leadership program, I learned more about myself as a coach and a leader. I learned how to get the most out of people I work with, how to communicate with different people and how to motivate people to be the best versions of themselves.”
Assistant baseball coach, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
What is the key takeaway from your Rider experience?
Overall, the M.A. in athletic leadership program played a huge role in my growth as a coach and a leader. I also learned a great amount on the sports psychology side, and I am now thinking about potentially diving more into sports psychology since I took an interest in it through my classes at Rider.
For now, my goal is to continue growing as a coach. I want to learn as much as I can from as many people as possible in this field. I think there will always be things for me to learn, and I hope to be around college athletics full-time for as long as possible.
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