Football
Sep 20 (Sat)
8:15 p.m.
- Title:
- Football Operations Assistant / Asst. to HC
- Email:
- neyland.raper@colorado.edu
Neyland Raper is in his first year as a football operations assistant and the assistant to head coach Mel Tucker, as he joined the Buffalo football staff on May 28, 2019. In his role, Raper manages daily schedules for coaches and players in addition to coordinating travel for the head coach and assisting with travel and road accommodations for the team.
Raper, 24, came to Colorado from the University of Georgia, where he had worked as a football operations assistant since August 2017.
He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Sport and Business Administration/Management. While at Tennessee, he served as the head student football equipment manager from January 2014 through his graduation, or for three years and five months. Within that time, he also worked as a student facilities assistant, and upon his graduation, he spent four months as a graduate student football operations assistant.
Raper started out for the Volunteers as a student football equipment manager as a freshman before being promoted to the head student after one season. He would lead a staff of 18 managers in practices and game day preparations, maintained organization of the equipment room, assisted with the summer football camps and worked with the players and coaches in the daily football operations among his other duties.
Raper was born on November 3, 1994 in Cleveland, Tenn., and graduated from Walker Valley High School in Cleveland where he lettered in football. His hobbies include golf and watching the Atlanta Braves. His parents being devout Tennessee sports fans, thus they named Neyland in honor of the school’s former coach and athletic director (General Robert Neyland); his younger brother is named Manning. (Name is pronounced nee-land ray-purr.)
