As a novice freshman field hockey player at Steinert High in the fall of 2013, Morgan Comfort was so aggressive in trying to learn the game, she accidentally injured a few teammates during practice. That earned her the nickname “The Menace.”
Flash forward 11 years and Comfort is now treating athletes who encounter their own menaces on the field. Rather than sending players to the trainer’s room, she is greeting them in the room.
The former Spartan three-sport standout in hockey, basketball and softball was named new athletic trainer at Mercer County Community College in July. She takes over after serving one year as an assistant trainer at North Carolina Wesleyan in her first job out of college.
It was jokingly suggested she became a trainer due to guilt feelings she had about sidelining former teammates.
“You know, I never considered that,” she said with a laugh. “But that might actually be the deep-rooted reason.”
Turning serious, she said: “When I found out what an athletic trainer was, I said, ‘That’s what I’m doing.’ That was in high school. We had to take a career exploration class and we had to look up different jobs.
“I knew I wanted to do something in athletics,” she continued. “I loved the athletic world so much, just growing up with it. I couldn’t imagine my life without some sort of involvement in sports.”
Thus, she ping-ponged between sports psychology and athletic training before actually studying trainers.
“I saw the cool part,” she said. “You’re the person running on the field when someone gets injured. I’m like, ‘That’s what I’m doing. I’m sold.’ So since high school I knew this was really cool.”
Comfort has joined an athletic program in dire need of a trainer. When athletic director Eric Grundman was hired last November, MCCC was in the midst of being without one for the entire year. They hired trainers per diem and got help from long-time trainer Lisa Camillone to weather the storm.
Grundman noted it’s nearly impossible to get one in the middle of the school year, saying “It’s a fraternity that is certainly very loyal to the institutions and the athletes they’re serving. My sense is if you sign on and you’re in the middle of an academic year and you’re administering services, there’s a sense of loyalty.”
Comfort displayed such loyalty. She was offered the job while still at UNC Wesleyan, but would not leave for Mercer before the spring season was completed.
“I give her credit,” Grundman said. “It says something about her character.”
Those who know her feel Comfort is a character, in all the right ways. Grundman discovered that during her first month on the job.
“She brings in an exuberance that I would call contagious,” the AD said. “She’s proactive, she’s a team player. When you walk in the office you want to be around her. Her personality and enthusiasm are literally contagious.”
For Comfort, the job is a dream come true. “I always liked working at smaller schools,” she said. “I went to two of them during my undergrad and grad schooling. I feel like I thrive there. I work best in team environments. I feel like the smaller a place is, the more people get to know each other.
“When I interviewed here, I didn’t really think about it as going to a JUCO. I just wanted to come back to the area. I saw a position was open so I applied for it.”
She used her connections to help, as Steinert coach Kristin Jacobs touched base with MCCC softball coach Ryan Zegarski to put in the good word, and with the door open Comfort took advantage of it by just selling her attributes.
“First and foremost she knows Mercer County and knows MCCC,” Grundman said. “She comes to us with experience, so we’re thrilled to bring somebody in not just with experience and understanding of athletic training, but also our institution and our county.”
Comfort is the second Steinert graduate in the past decade to become a college trainer. After stops at Alabama, Tulane and Denver, Ryan Larkin is now the head gymnastics/rowing trainer at Temple University, and also teaches classes there.
Larkin knew from her freshman year what she wanted and leaned on Steinert trainer Chris McLaughlin. Comfort did not decide until the end of high school, and leaned on Larkin, as the two families are friends.
“I had a lot of help from Ryan,” Comfort said. “When I was applying to grad school and things like that, she helped me figure out which programs to look for and what I needed for my board exam and things of that nature. Every time I’d see her, Mr. (Pete) Larkin would tell me what she was doing, that she was at Tulane with the football team or something. I thought that was really cool, something I wanted.’”
Comfort earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Exercise Physiology from Ursinus in 2021, and two years later graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a Masters of Athletic Training degree. While at Lebanon Valley, she was put on clinical rotations to serve as a graduate assistant for different teams at different schools. Comfort worked with Lebanon Valley’s football and men’s basketball team, Rutgers football team and Elizabethtown’s men’s lacrosse team. She also helped out at area high schools.
“My first rotation was with the football team at Lebanon Valley,” Comfort said. “I’m like ‘This is awesome, I’m in the right field.’ They really threw me into the lion’s den. I was fresh out of taping class and they’re like ‘OK, here’s the entire football team!’”
Her favorite rotation came at Rutgers.
“That was an awesome experience working Power Five football,” Comfort said. “It was so cool. It was very intense. I was not only in charge of the athletes and making sure they got the proper care, but there were a lot of undergrad students that helped out. I was responsible for all of them. Some of them had been working with the football team for a while, so me coming in, it was hard thinking ‘Oh, I’m the boss of you.’”
Comfort gained invaluable experience under “fantastic mentors” that included Scarlet Knights Director of Football Training David McCune, Head Football Athletic Trainer Anthony Misuraco and former Senior Athletic Trainer Jan Bruins.
“They helped me out a lot,” Comfort said. “Whether it was small teaching moments or giving me tasks to do that were really important to show they had trust in me. A lot of times I got to work with their team doctor, he was fantastic.”
Comfort was assigned to the offensive and defensive linemen, who she called “huge dudes but absolute sweethearts. I’m still friends with a couple of them.”
Included in that group are NFL players Ireland Brown, Christian Braswell and Max Melton, along with a few other free agents trying to make teams.
“I can’t wait to watch them in the NFL and say, ‘I worked with that guy!’” Comfort said.
Upon graduating from Lebanon Valley, Comfort earned an assistant trainer’s position last year with UNC Wesleyan, where she worked with the football, women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse, co-ed cheerleading and dance teams.
“I love warmer weather and was sick of the cold,” she said of her urge to go south. “North Carolina was great, I enjoyed my time at Wesleyan. I had fantastic co-workers, a lot of the teams I worked with taught me a lot, it made me feel more confident in myself. I can’t thank them enough. But I just wanted to come home. It was a little too far away. Most of my family is here.”
Comfort interviewed well, and not to be overlooked is that she impressed Camillone, a first-year MCCC Hall of Fame inductee who was on the search committee.
“When someone like that from your institution comes back and highly recommends a candidate, I would likely be foolish to not look in that direction,” Grundman said. “It wasn’t just Lisa, but our staff that was part of bringing Morgan on board. I really believe we have an athletic staff that is second to none and Morgan just makes our staff better.
“Because there are certifications that are required now that weren’t required previously, there are less athletic trainers. The number needed has increased and the pool has decreased, making it extremely competitive. We are fortunate to get one with Morgan’s experience.”
Comfort has suddenly gone from an assistant that is part of an athletic training team, to a place where she is the one and only trainer in charge. Mercer has nine men and women’s teams combined. The department is hers to create as to the way she wants things done.
Grundman has provided carte blanche to do what’s necessary.
“I will allow her the autonomy to be herself and create an environment that will allow her to perform her job the best way she sees fit,” he said. “She’s an expert. I think the key to leadership is surrounding yourself with really good people who are experts and allow them to be really good and be experts.”
Comfort is not charging in and pledging to perform a complete overhaul. She will draw on what coaches tell her have been done in the past, and go from there.
“Last year, there were obviously no appointments because there was no one here,” she said. “No one would come into rehab because they didn’t have anyone there during the day. So I get to figure out what I want to do in that avenue, which is nice because I appreciate having some control over my schedule.
“I’m trying to pick and choose things they have been set in place, and change it enough but not too much so the ones who have been here aren’t like ‘Whoa! Who is this lady coming in?’” I’m operating for everything. Administrative staff, my own practice. I’ll see what was done in the past and if it’s fine, we can work with it. If something that totally doesn’t make sense to me, then we’ll change it.”
Comfort has lauded the support she has received from Grundman, other staff members and Camillone herself. She admits to entering a new arena by adding administrative duties to her training responsibilities, but is confident.
“I’m super excited to learn this year and kind of see what (administration) is about,” Comfort said. “Everyone has been really welcoming. They’re all very appreciative that I’m here, especially after not having anybody for a year.
“The one thing I’m going to miss this year is having another trainer to bounce ideas off of. I won’t be able to turn to my left and say ‘Hey other athletic trainer, what would you do here?’”
Not to worry. Judging by Morgan’s brief but impressive track record, she should be quite a Comfort to MCCC athletes all by herself.
Morgan Comfort is the new athletic trainer at Mercer County Community College.,
