The Florida State Seminoles have found a unique way to give their football program a devastatingly competitive edge—through a combination of implants and sports bras. Yes, you read that right, but it’s not what you think: it’s the use of a GPS system that provides the FSU coaching staff with enough data to run a space mission through Sun Life Stadium. (Well, almost.) GPS devices are implanted into a sports-bra-esque vest which the team has aptly nicknamed “sports bros.” Much more manly.
Biometrics
The GPS devices, manufactured by Catapult Sports, are clearly useful in securing incredibly accurate speed records during practices. More importantly, they provide invaluable feedback on how player’s bodies are responding during a practice: fatigue, stress, overexertion, and more. The devices record an astounding 1,000 data points per player, per second. Chris Jacobs, the mad scientist behind the curtain of the Seminoles’ tech-fueled success, has worked hand-in-hand with FSU Strength and Conditioning Coach Vic Viloria over the last few years to translate massive quantities of data into an overarching team strategy fit for a championship.
“We had to educate ourselves on what we were really looking at,” Fisher said. “There’s a lot of learning. It’s not like they print it out and say, ‘Do this.'”
For Coach Fisher, the most crucial element of the GPS’ job description is the role which the device plays in injury prevention. Data has been used to reshape both team practices and individual conditioning exercises, drastically reducing the number of mid-season pulls and sprains—which would normally pull starting players off the field during crucial Saturday matchups.
The Seminoles aren’t the only team using space-age technology to boost their chances of success. There are at least fourteen NFL teams who are now using the GPS systems, as well as a handful of colleges. Florida State, however, has spent the last couple of years perfecting the interpretation and integration of the information in a way no other team has been able to come close to.
“We’re OK talking about this,” FSU Strength and Conditioning Coach Vic Viloria said, “because everyone else is just learning how to turn the things on.”
The data aggregation has enabled the Seminoles’ coaching staff to coach smarter instead of harder. Gone are the days when poor performance was addressed with pushups, stadiums or more grueling cardio. Florida State’s staff now understands that more toil can sometimes lead to more trouble. Overexertion on a Wednesday can leave a 5-star recruit with “leftover legs” against, say, Clemson on a Saturday night—not a quandary which Coach Fisher wanted to face.
What’s more impressive than the “bros” ability to prevent fatigue and injuries? The plans that Viloria and Jacobs have for the role which the data will play in FSU’s future. The duo are working on methods and manipulations to identify players at risk for concussions, the most debated and berated topic in college football by both fans and foes of the sport.
Just how far will the technology take the Seminoles in the first year of the College Playoff System? Only time will tell, but Coach Fisher and his staff are hopeful.
“It’s not the reason you win,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “But it takes a lot of the guesswork out of how your team is feeling, how individuals are performing and how you moderate practice.”
“For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.”
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