Analytics and sports performance science - The Athletic

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College football programs are continuing to try to evolve in the world of sports performance. Last year, Nick Saban overhauled Alabama’s training program when he hired Indiana’s David Ballou as the Tide’s director of sports performance and Dr. Matt Rhea as the director of performance sciences.

“There was no question that from a sports science standpoint and from a conditioning standpoint they were light years (ahead) of what a lot of people have done in their programs for a long, long time, which we’ve done the same thing for a long, long time, too,” Saban told Crimson Tide Radio Network in 2020. Alabama didn’t make Ballou or Rhea available for this story.

Rhea was actually McDaniel’s college adviser when he got his master’s degree, a few years before he joining the Dodgers: “Matt was teaching us stuff that 11 years ago was in our curriculum that is now put in everyday practice with professional teams.”

Najee Harris was one of the beneficiaries of the more scientific approach. Harris, who went from 20 touchdowns in 2019 to 30 last season, didn’t make a significant weight change. He played at 228 pounds in 2019, only two more than the previous season, but he had more of a burst, which he noticed, thanks to the different training methods — despite offseason limitations because of the pandemic.

“We got Dr. Rhea and Coach Ballou and they brought different things they had, like the velocity things and measuring how explosive you are … the different types of workouts to complement the athlete that needs to work on that specific thing,” Harris told The Athletic. “For me, it was a lot of speed, explosiveness and agility. I worked with Dr. Rhea a lot and he helped me out a lot. He has a workout specifically for that athlete, and that’s what you need because not all athletes are the same. So you need a program that will help that athlete in what he needs to improve on, and that’s what they do a good job of finding out. They know all their players. That helped out all of us (last) offseason.”

Harris’ position coach at Alabama, Charles Huff, said he thinks the data Rhea and Ballou incorporate ups the buy-in from the players. When Harris is breaking a run in practice, he’s trying to get to max speed because he’s aware it’s being gauged.

“The byproduct of that is you’re getting better. You see it,” Huff said. “You knew you hit 21 miles per hour, but now you’re trying to get 21.1 or 21.2. And then when he gets to 21.5, he knows what 21.5 felt like. That’s what you’re getting with the more scientific approach, now they’re competing against a tangible number.

“Today’s kids are tangible kids. They want to see it: ‘What was my return on that? What was my number on that?’”

There is hope in the performance science space that now that Saban has bought in, other college football coaches will follow suit. “Most give it lip service, and it’s just a recruiting tactic — ‘Oh, yeah, we do that too,’” said one coach who has worked in the NFL and in college football.

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