Not long ago, Michelle Boateng and Chris Hicks were repping the blue and orange playing sports at North Stafford High School in Stafford, Virginia. When Boateng was playing JV soccer for the Wolverines, Hicks helped out in athletic training intern role. When Hicks was on the varsity football team, Boateng supported the guys in a similar capacity.
Now pursuing the same professional career, the two could have never predicted that they would end up together in burgundy and gold for two weeks as part of the Commanders' Bill Walsh Fellowship.
"It means a lot to be from the same town and representing with the Commanders. I think it's a testament to the area, education and people that made us who we are," Boateng said. "We grew up in a place that gave us a lot of options in exploring potential careers and set us up to be successful when we left."
Hicks and Boateng are making their way in the world of football strength and conditioning. For two weeks this May, the two have gained invaluable experience as Bill Walsh Fellows under the tutelage of Commanders head strength and conditioning coaching Chad Englehart and staff. The North Stafford High School alums have attacked the opportunity with pride in their work and an eagerness to further their development.
After graduating from high school, Hicks and Boateng embarked on winding journeys that led them to the field of strength and conditioning. Hicks went on to play football at Lock Haven University where he majored in Health Science. He put himself out there in pursuit of the NFL dream but realized it wasn't going to pan out after a Pro Day with the Eagles.
"Right after that, the next month, I was like, 'Let me start my career. Use my degree. Give back to the game that gave me everything growing up,'" Hicks said.
That commitment led to stops at Lock Haven, the University of Florida, Austin Peay State University and now to his first full-time role at the University of Buffalo. Meanwhile, Boateng had "always known [she] wanted to combine health and sports in some way." She got her first taste of what that could look like as a student at James Madison University. Cold-emailing teams around the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area got her an opportunity at the University of Maryland upon graduation, and, after that, an internship at Colorado and a graduate assistant position at Hampton University. Now, she's a full-time strength and conditioning coach at Howard University.
With eyes on their career goals, Hicks and Boateng were each faced with moments that asked how badly they wanted to make it. They had to work hard and get creative.
"I always wanted to get to the NFL so I was like, 'I'm going to get there one way or another,'" Hicks said.
Hicks, for example, knew that the University of Florida opportunity would help him get to the next level, but the internship being unpaid presented some challenges.
"So, I got me a little side job to make it work, sleeping on futons, walking to the facility," he said.
When Michelle was at JMU, she found herself in front of what seemed to be a wall after not getting the university's football strength and conditioning internship. She didn't turn away; rather, she pivoted and made the most of a situation. She took on a recruiting and operations role with the football team, which, among other duties, had her doing creative work behind the camera.
"When I was out there with the camera, I'm still being able to see all these things – warm ups, them getting ready for Pro Day – even though I'm not having a formal internship," she said. "I feel like that helped me a lot, having a good idea of what goes on in a football building, especially at that level."
During these early days getting their starts, each of them learned about the Bill Walsh Fellowship. Hicks heard about it from Jake Sankal, who was formerly with the Commanders and is now the Director of Football Nutrition and an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Florida. Hicks was able to connect with Chad Engelhart and applied for the fellowship. Boateng first learned about the fellowship during her internship at Maryland. She didn't feel like she was quite ready for it at that time as she developed her coaching voice but a seed was planted.
"It was in the back of my head that that was something I was working towards," she said.
Opportunity and timing would align. Right after starting her job at Howard a few months ago, Boateng got an e-mail about the NFL Women's Forum, an invite-only gathering that helps the NFL identify women currently working in college football to join its next generation of leaders. The Commanders' Coaching Chief of Staff Sarah Hogan, a preeminent figure in the sphere of women working in the NFL, was in attendance at this year's edition of the Forum.
"It was lunch break, and I'm going over my notes on everything, and Christina [Hovestadt] is like, 'Sarah Hogan from the Commanders wants to talk to you, do you want to talk to her?,'" Boateng recalled. "I was familiar with Sarah because one of my mentors at Colorado, Tessa Grossman, had done a Bill Walsh Fellow at the Falcons when Sarah was there."
So, Boateng applied. Fast forward to end of March, she and Hicks got the news that, among a pool of over a thousand applicants, they were selected for the Commanders' Bill Walsh Fellowship.
"I was in shock," Boateng said.
For Hicks, the opportunity to be with the Commanders specifically for this opportunity had deep personal significance.
"My mom was a complete, die-hard Redskins fan. My grandpa would always take her to the old stadium in D.C. to watch games and stuff like that," he said. "Right before I finished college, she passed, but I promised her I'd get to the league. Getting the Bill Walsh Fellowship with her favorite team was just full circle, crazy as hell."
Hicks and Boateng arrived in Ashburn, Virginia, in May alongside a cohort of different newcomers: the rookies.
"We have a good relationship with the rookies because of that," Boateng said. "We're all just learning together."
Taking in all the learning there is to do during this two-week Bill Walsh Fellowship means a busy schedule that typically start in the facility around 5 a.m. The days for Boateng are filled with a lot of setting (and re-setting) the weight room, learning lifting "cards" for different players and position groups and hands-on teaching of movements.
"How I approach this is by just being completely open, being a sponge and being task-oriented," Hicks said. "Every mission is a Super Bowl. It's the biggest thing of that day, for that moment, until it's done."
In between monitoring players during lifts and helping with on-field sessions, Boateng and Hicks take advantage of the chance to ask questions and "talk shop" with the Commanders' strength and conditioning staff.
"[Assistant strength and conditioning coach] Cesar [Castillo] is amazing at explaining things and being patient because I know we ask a lot of questions," Hicks said. "Him being able to talk to us, answer questions, talk shop, it's huge. He's taught us so much already. He'll say, 'This is what I wish I was told.'"
More tools have been added to their toolbox by the minute. The two are excited to implement these lessons and practical skills at their jobs.
"In college, you're obviously training guys to get the next level. Now to actually see what that level looks like, I feel like I know better about how to prepare them," Boateng said. "I think that's what's also cool about being here for rookie minicamp, too, is we're able to see that transition from college kids to this space, and see 'Where are they kind of struggling in that transition? How can I better help my guys not have the same problems?"
The helpful knowledge to take back comes just as much through simply being in the building and watching the routines of NFL players.
"Coming inside, hydrating before they get into the weight room, leaving the weight room and actually grabbing the protein shake that's made for them after lifting, being in the athletic training room until four or five pm when they are done," Hicks said. "Just their whole process and being able to go back and tell the guys [at Buffalo], 'Hey, I've been here. I've seen it with my own two eyes. If you want to get anywhere as an athlete, stick to the process. Do it.'"
Seeing what it takes to make players better in the NFL has been a motivator for Hicks. He wants to be the most effective coach he can be wherever he is at, and along the way, connect with others and invest in himself.
"Just continuing to create relationships, adding tools and getting more certifications," Hicks said. "At this level, everyone knows how to make guys bigger, faster, stronger. You have to a niche that makes you unique, irreplaceable and a serious asset."
Having exposure to the NFL through the Bill Walsh Fellowship has crystallized and strengthened their career aspirations.
"Eventually I want to be a full-time strength coach in the NFL," Boateng said. "I look at women like Autumn Lockwood at the Eagles and Kaelyn Buskey at the Ravens and Genevieve Humphrey at the Panthers, and those are my role models. So, if I can follow in their footsteps and kind of be the next generation of women in this space, that would be really cool."
Though the Bill Walsh Fellowship can be a go-go-go, whirlwind of a two weeks, Boateng and Hicks have been able to take their moments of soaking in this rare, enriching stint.
"I just remember the first day we were here, and…I'm thinking about my parents. My parents are immigrants from Ghana. Ghanaian or foreign parents in general, when they come to America, have kids, they want their kids to be doctors and lawyers because it's the safest option," Boateng said. "There was a little bit of pushback when I was like, 'Yeah I'm going to take an unpaid internship post-grad…To be able to show them that every sacrifice that they made has been worth it. I've done what I've promised them I would do, and I feel like that's the cherry on top."
