Danielle Bartelstein Stresses "Business as Usual" Start to Hokie Career, Despite Groundbreaking Role

Danielle Bartelstein isn't quite willing to pull a full Charles Barkley and declare that she isn't a role model, but she isn't overly concerned with her role as a trailblazer in college football either.

Sure, Tech's new senior director of football operations is the only woman to occupy such a role at a Power 5 program, but in an interview with The Key Play, Bartelstein was hesitant to attach much meaning to her unique status.

"Although people want to make it a gender issue, I think you ultimately want to get the best person for the position, whether that's a female or a male," Bartelstein said. "If that results in me being a role model for other females in the industry, that's great, but it's not something that I think about on a daily basis."

Instead, Bartelstein says her first few months on the job since she was hired in December have been free of any gender-related drama, with Hokies players and coach alike merely treating things as "business as usual" since she's joined the team. It's a mentality that she credits Justin Fuente for instilling throughout the program, easing her transition into her new role as Fuente's right-hand woman, handling all the logistics that make the team tick.

"It's never been something that I think about, and I think a lot of that goes back to the coaches that I've been around that have allowed me to be a part of their program," Bartelstein said. "It's never been a question for me, I've always just hoped to come in like anyone else and do a great job and leave a positive impact on the program, and gender has really not played a role."

Yet for all of Fuente's gender-neutral thinking, there's no doubt that the decision to bring in Bartelstein could've ruffled feathers at other programs. Potentially complicating matters might have been John Ballein, Frank Beamer's longtime confidant and Bartelstein's predecessor in the role, remains on staff at Tech as a senior associate athletic director.

But Bartelstein says the setup has "absolutely not" produced any awkwardness or bruised egos as she's tried to fill Ballein's rather large shoes at the position.

"Just to clarify, no one could ever fill his shoes," Bartelstein cautions. "He has done such a tremendous job here at Virginia Tech, and I'm just very appreciative to have him as a resource as someone that's been in this position, but he's a fantastic person, and I'm excited to be able to continue to work with him in the future."

Bartelstein adds that Ballein's insights have been so numerous that she struggles to "pinpoint one specific piece of advice he's given me," but asserts that his help has been invaluable in adjusting to both the job and life in Blacksburg so far.

"It's just overall being able to utilize him as a resource and being able to touch base with him if I have any questions, it's just a huge help," Bartelstein said. "And he's such a great person that he's fun to be able to interact with on a regular basis as well."

She has similarly high praise for the rest of the holdovers on the staff from Beamer's days running the program, and adds that she's thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the coaches Fuente has imported from Memphis as well. Though Bartelstein's worked with Fuente before, back in their days at TCU, she says she never got a chance to meet his Memphis compatriots until they all convened in Blacksburg.

But even with that unfamiliarity with all on the staff but Fuente, she says she didn't hesitate when he offered her the chance to reunite a couple months back.

"Obviously I knew about Virginia Tech, just because of the tradition and Coach Beamer and the success he's had here at Virginia Tech, but the reason why I'm here is Coach Fuente and because of the respect I have for him, not only as a person, but as a coach," Bartelstein said.

Though she was out of football, working at an Austin, Texas law firm when Fuente invited her to join the staff, she says her time working with Fuente in a similar capacity with Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs made her quite confident that she was ready to jump back into the sports world.

"Just based on the type of coach he is and how he operates and runs a program, I admire him, and obviously appreciate the way he attacks every day and his work ethic as well," Bartelstein said. "His overall leadership is something I wanted to be a part of and I know that what he's going to bring here to Virginia Tech and to Blacksburg is going to be something special and I wanted to be a part of that."

But Bartelstein adds that her love of the sport and the challenge of running things behind the scenes also sorely tempted her. Indeed, her time working with Jim Harbaugh at Stanford and Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech in similar support roles gave her a taste of how thrilling the task could be at the highest levels of the sport.

"Just the day-to-day operations and every day is different, which is something I do love about this job," Bartelstein said. "You never know about this job, you never what tomorrow is gonna bring. Hopefully you just do enough preparation to anticipate what tomorrow is gonna bring, but there's always new things that pop up."

These days, Bartelstein says she spends her time hoping to fill the gaps and help the staff in whatever capacity she can. By the time the season rolls around, she anticipates that she'll be focused on making sure that everything about game day goes off without a hitch.

"On regular game day Saturday, hopefully most of the setup is already in place from the transportation to the hotel to the gameday set up, hopefully it all goes smoothly and we walk away with a win," Bartelstein said. "Anything I can do to help, and hopefully there won't be too many fires to put out and it's a smooth operation."

Indeed, beyond any specific goals or tasks that she can pinpoint, Bartelstein says she aims each day to leave the program better than she found it.

"The biggest thing for me moving forward is trying to make a positive impact on this program and be an asset and a positive, contributing member, that's my ultimate goal," Bartelstein said. "How that looks is all dependent on what we need and what our needs are as a program and as coaching staff, and hopefully I can help us not only with our success on the field, but also off the field and just making every day count."

Though the season is still many months away, Bartelstein says she's already eagerly "looking forward to seeing the product that they put out on the field." In particular, she's hoping to see one aspect of the Blacksburg experience that's eluded her so far.

"I've never experienced game day here at Lane Stadium, but from the videos I've seen, the stories I've heard, it's an electric atmosphere," Bartelstein said.