Meet Danielle Gillen: Auburn’s football nutrition manager who makes sure the Tigers get their fuel

If you go down the hallway behind the multipurpose room at Auburn’s Woltosz Football Performance Center, you’ll come to another short, slightly darker hallway.

In this hallway, you will likely hear the sound of a blender grinding, the sound of chopping on a cutting board, running water, or all three at once.

Before you can wander too far, you’ll come across an organized, well-lit office, where, behind a computer screen marked off with sticky notes, you’ll find Auburn’s director of football nutrition, Danielle Gillen.

Well, that is if she’s not behind one of those hallway noises or doing one of her many jobs to help fuel the often grueling practices, games and workouts of Auburn football players.

In the modern era of sport, nutrition has become more important than ever. As sports science and research continues to evolve, more and more studies have demonstrated the effect of nutrition on the human body’s ability to function in sports and activities that require high-level performance.

It’s something that several Auburn players have mentioned during fall camp. Many argue that there is no more grueling time of the year for a college football player than fall camp and that it takes a lot for a player’s body to perform at the highest level.

Getting ready for fall camp takes a lot of work. Summer workouts are intense for good reason. Football is a sport that pushes the body to its absolute limits at times and the work that goes into preparing for 12 or more games isn’t easy.

It’s Gillen and his staff’s job to help the players prepare for that workout, and head coach Hugh Freeze has been impressed with the work his staff and the conditioning team have done before the season.

“I think we’re in good spirits and our bodies are in good shape,” Freeze said at his press conference to open fall camp. “I’m proud of Dom (Studzinski) and his team, Ms. Danielle and her team and the nutrition world.”

Where it all began

For Gillen, his introduction to nutrition came at a time of fear and difficulty.

When she was in high school, her father was diagnosed with throat, neck, and tonsil cancer. Watching him fight to recover, Gillen learned the importance of a balanced diet.

“That’s when I realized there was such a thing as registered dietitians,” Gillen said in an interview with AL.com.

She had a similar realization in college. As a lacrosse player at West Chester University, her team didn’t have the luxury of employing a full-time dietitian. As a nutritional dietetics major, she realized what she and her teammates were missing.

“I always think about it,” Gillen said. “It’s something that could have really helped me, could have benefited me as an athlete, in my relationship with food and my body and understanding the needs of athletes.”

After a dietetic internship at Maryland and a scholarship to North Carolina, Gillen found herself on Hugh Freeze’s staff at Liberty and eventually followed the head coach to Auburn.

“When you know your head coach, you know the expectations, you know how he likes his program to be run. So that made my transition here easier,” Gillen said.

While her job involves many different responsibilities, she is not alone. Her team includes two colleagues, Megan Matney and Stephanie Graffeo, as well as a four-person student team.

“We couldn’t have done this without them. They’ve done an incredible job so far this year,” Gillen said.

Being a teacher

For a 17 or 18 year old, diet or nutrition is an unfamiliar concept. Even for elite athletes, it is rare to see a focus on nutrition in high school sports.

When freshmen football players arrive on campus, one of the first tasks is a meet-and-greet with Gillen.

The meeting primarily serves as Gillen’s way of understanding each player’s nutritional context and needs, but also serves as a foundation for players to understand the habits needed to achieve their goals, whether it’s losing, gaining or maintaining weight.

“You can’t just decide to change your weight. That’s not a behavior,” Gillen said. “You have to figure out what behaviors are going to change your weight.”

It’s common to see freshmen make major changes to their bodies during their first year of college football. The credit for this often goes to college workouts and strength training programs.

These things are important, but nutrition plays a vital role during a high-level workout like this. It’s common to see players gain a lot of weight when transitioning to college football.

Junior defensive back Champ Anthony said before the season that he had gained 22 pounds since arriving at Auburn ahead of the 2023 season. As a defensive back, it was important for him to gain weight without losing his speed.

The most important factor in gaining weight healthily, Gillen says, is the rate at which weight gain occurs.

“We’re looking for a loss of 500g to 1kg per week. This gives your body time to adapt to that weight,” she said.

Gillen encourages all players to fuel up every three to four hours, but adds that this frequency is especially important for players trying to gain weight.

It doesn’t always have to be food.

According to Gillen, Chobani yogurt is one of the players’ favorite foods. Milk, juices and protein drinks are also common sources of liquid calories that players use.

For Anthony, the gradual weight gain and his training program allowed him to gain the weight he needed to adapt to the Southeastern Conference, while maintaining his speed and athleticism.

“Playing consistent games wasn’t enough for me, so I had to try,” Anthony said before the season started. “I followed Miss Danielle and understood her plan and what she had for me and I just executed the plan. Whatever she had for me on paper, that’s what I did.”

Nutrition and hydration are important considerations, whether it’s during the season or the offseason. How players eat and hydrate before a game is also important.

The routine may change depending on what time the game starts. For an early game, there is more emphasis on what the players ate the night before, as they will likely only have one meal before the game.

For a night game, there are more possibilities.

“Everybody’s body is different, so we’re going to have multiple opportunities throughout the day for a night game,” Gillen said. “That way, if someone has breakfast and pregame, if someone wants lunch and pregame, we can kind of combine what they need that day.”

Just before and during the game, there is a refreshment station in the locker room with snacks, collagens and various liquids for hydration.

When it comes to what players eat and drink, the most important thing on game day is consistency.

“It’s not really a good idea to introduce new foods on game day,” Gillen said. “You really want to stick with the same foods, I know it gets repetitive, but your body knows what that specific food or snack looks like and how long that energy is going to last.”

Bigger than football

It’s easy to make eating a little difficult for young players who don’t yet understand the importance of it. When many young people think about healthy eating, they may think back to their childhood and being told not to leave the table until they’d finished their vegetables.

For Gillen, part of his job is to change the way players think about nutrition.

“The relationship with food is really crucial. It’s a real challenge. But I also want to make sure that everything is set up correctly so that they can be successful, whether they play football or not, when it comes to nutrition,” Gillen said.

From Freeze to Auburn’s assistant coaches and support staff, it’s hard to talk to any of them for long about the program without talking about the tight-knit nature of the program going forward.

The same goes for the nutrition staff, especially when it comes to working with players to transform their bodies.

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Bradyn Joiner said he has lost 50 pounds since enrolling at Auburn in 2023. It has been a journey that has been difficult for him both physically and mentally, dealing with the death of his father in April.

Clearly, Joiner’s weight loss plan worked. From sending Gillen a photo of his three daily meals to extra workouts after practice, Joiner’s increased role on the field is a direct result of his body transformation.

Even more, the time spent with Gillen and Studzinski helped build a relationship that extended beyond the field.

“I feel like Coach Dom and Ms. Danielle have done a great job and they’re great people,” Joiner said during fall camp. “It’s more fun to talk to them and do things like that. We’ve built a relationship without just talking about food and stuff.”

Gillen’s work helps many players perform at their best on the pitch, but she hopes it can benefit them beyond their football careers. While it’s not for the sake of losing 50 pounds, she hopes more athletes can use her supplements to help take care of their bodies in football and beyond.

“It’s a bigger issue than what’s out there right now,” Gillen said. “If I can make them comfortable asking questions, understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing, then that way when they have to make those adjustments, they know I’m still here, so you can call me, but when they have to make those adjustments on their own, they understand why we did what we did.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or send him an email at [email protected]m