CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) 鈥 Imagine having 5 gallons of mayonnaise dumped over your head.
Well, that鈥檚 exactly what the winning head coach of the annual Duke鈥檚 Mayo Bowl receives as a at Bank of America Stadium, a tradition born in 2021 as Duke鈥檚 Mayo looked to carve out its unique niche in the college football bowl world.
Each year, the mayo dump trends on social media 鈥 and college football fans just can鈥檛 seem to look away, no matter how disgusting the idea is to some observers.
鈥淚 think with my bald head the mayo should just slide right off," joked Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, whose team . "I might have to do a little pre-dumping of the mayo just to make sure it does slide off. I have my own strategy just in case, but I can't let me secret out."
There's plenty of preparation that goes into the annual mayo dump.
Staff members begin by pouring five 1-gallon containers of mayonnaise into a large Gatorade-sized cooler around the start of the fourth quarter. Then, they take turns briskly stirring the mayo for more than 25 minutes with a large wooden stick.
鈥淭hat changes the consistency just a little bit so it's more pourable,鈥 said Duke鈥檚 Mayo brand director Rebecca Lupesco. 鈥漇ome people think we add water. There's no water added, it's just straight mayonnaise. We just stir it up. It can be a workout."
As tradition has it, the winning coach is seated on a chair on the field after the game and two workers will raise the cooler and pour the mayo over his head.
It's a process that needed to be refined over time.
In 2021, one of the handles on the cooler shifted, causing South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer after being doused in mayo. That issue has since been addressed and the handles have been fortified to make them immovable.
鈥淪ince that incident we now pick our mayo dumpers very carefully,鈥 Lupesco said with a smile. 鈥淟ast year we did a mayo combine where 10 people were selected to come in and compete. They had to do deadlifts with buckets of mayonnaise and catch footballs with mayo on their hands. We had to make sure these people were strong enough."
This year's mayo dumpers remain a surprise.
But they will be adequately trained first, Lupesco said. She said the two pourers will practice by dumping multiple buckets of mayo over a 鈥渄ummy coach" earlier in the day, with an emphasis on making sure they lift the cooler high enough above the coach's head so no one gets hit in the head.
Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said he's not a big fan of mayonnaise, but would gladly accept the bath if it means a Hokies win.
鈥淚t will be like, 鈥榗鈥檓on and give it to me! I want that sucker!,'鈥 Pry said. 鈥淭he players and my family have had a lot of fun watching other coaches get dumped on. So I hope we are that fortunate.鈥
Former West Virginia coach Neal Brown was last year's recipient of the mayo dump after his Mountaineers' 30-10 blowout win over North Carolina 鈥 a moment he'll almost certainly never forget.
鈥淚 feel cold, I feel wet. ... but I feel like a winner,鈥 Brown said while covered in mayonnaise.
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