CAMILLUS, N.Y. — There's an old saying that ends with "don't quit your day job." That's not exactly a problem for one member of Bills Mafia who spends his weekends on the snare and his weekdays in the office.

All home games are a special time for the members of the Buffalo Bills Stampede drumline and you may be surprised to know the original crew mainly heads out west from Central New York.

"After college, we kind of just got together and decided that we want to continue playing and so we did, and then it was just kind of perfect timing," said West Genesee High School Assistant Principal Dan MacCollum.

On weekdays during the school year, you can find him welcoming students. 

"We're really spending most of our day looking at trying to interact with students," he said. "You know, dealing with a lot of the student affairs."

He is also one of the founding members of DownBeat Percussion, who moonlights as the Stampede during the season.

This is his first year as an administrator for the school, and it's been a unique path from his days as a student at Jordan Elbridge High School and Ithaca College.

"When I came out of high school, I wasn't necessarily going to go into education," MacCollum said. "I was thinking, maybe go into business, maybe go into recording and then just kind of sticking around here started teaching local drum lines, and that's what really kind of hooked me into education."

Admittedly, Dan is a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, but he's also become a celebrated member of the Bills gameday atmosphere.

"Yeah, I love my Packers, but when you're out there with the Bills Mafia, it's hard not to get back in line and just root for that home team," added MacCollum. "It's it's a great game day experience."

It's been a wild ride over the course of the Stampede's existence, including over the pandemic.

"As soon as the crowd came back, we came back anytime we had fans in the stands," he said. "We also came back and played so which was pretty awesome, especially that season where no one could experience that the entire season and the playoffs came and it was pretty electric."

With a pair of sticks in hand, it's all for the passion and community for him.

"We go out we play on the field, which is cool. It's kind of a neat environment to be down there on the turf with the players," said MacCollum. "But I mean by far the biggest thrill is just interacting with fans and going down and just being able to be part of it with them."

It extends from the high school halls to the stands and the field.

"At the end of the day, what we do out in the builds drum line, you know, being able to stay engaged with something that you love. That's something that we tried," he added. "You know, everybody here in the building and just what being an educator is all about is really trying to help all the students find something that they're really passionate about so that they can continue with that for the rest of their lives."