Wow. That's the most interesting article I've read yet this summer--including from BYU's Media Days.
This is a true game changer. This is Sports Science at its finest, and will be football's version of moneyball analytics.
The title of the article is a misnomer--it goes way, way beyond GPS to individualized real-time biometrics.
This fits into BYU's culture really, really well.
1. BYU's competitive advantage comes from discipline and maturity--traits that are necessary when following a highly individualize, optimized practice plan.
2. Bronco's concept of "Every Day Greatness" that individuals should strive to be their own best selves, rather than worrying about competing against others, is exactly what this is trying to do.
3. Bronco has said several times that he wants the BYU team to be the best conditioned team out there. Conditioning isn't a group effort, it's an individual effort maximizing his own capacity.
4. BYU doesn't have the depth that other schools do. We have a bigger dropoff as we move down the depth chart; as a result, we need to have our best players on the field the whole year. Losing a guy not only loses their innate ability but also loses all of the investment the team has made into them through giving them additional experience in practice and game reps. We see injuries every year, and it's a big reason that BYU went undefeated in 1984--most of the skill players that started that year, finished that year. Think of last year with the secondary injuries.
5. By monitoring performance, it catches slackers. Part of 2J's struggle with the O-Line last year was figuring out which players were actually better and had the best stamina--who till had the best technique after considerable exertion.
Two quotes from the article stood out to me. I think you could replace "Florida State" with "BYU" and get a pretty good sense of how similar the two schools are/were, and so how similar the schools' results could be.
"Florida State's run to a national championship last year hinged greatly on an unusually low number of injury casualties, which Fisher hardly chalks up to luck. With information gleaned from the GPS devices, Florida State virtually eliminated soft-tissue injuries -- muscle pulls and strains -- and Fisher adjusted the team's practice schedules to reduce midweek workload and ensure his team peaked on Saturdays. The more FSU's coaches learned about the data delivered by the GPS systems, the more the team's conditioning and practices could be tailored to the specific needs of each player."
"Florida State has clearly benefited from the emerging hype. Recruits are impressed; the NFL has taken notice; and a program that was languishing in stale traditions five years ago is at the forefront of a brave new world in college football."
