First off, can you tell us how you started in this line of work and how you started working with the Steelers?
Many years ago I went to a Knicks game with my brother – it was one of the few things we had in common. We got there early and saw their warmup – that was 12-15 years ago. It was a mess – I felt like the players were going to pull their hamstrings if it continued. I was thinking of all the changes I’d make as I watched.
Well after the game I went home and watched it again on Apple TV in slow motion. I wrote a letter via LinkedIn afterwards to the Knicks and they called me two weeks later!
What did you say in the letter?
I was the former number one rhythmic gymnast for the U.S.A. and I told them that, in my opinion, based on my experience, I’d give their dynamic exercises a three out of 10 for execution. It was pretty harsh – kind of a tell-off. I was really disappointed that they didn’t handle that better.
Derek Fisher was the coach at the time and he and I met. We actually did some biomechanics and ballet together and talked about the adjustments they should make.
What brought you then to football and the Steelers?
I just have a love for football. I grew up in Florida and went to Jaguars games with my family. The NHL and NBA are great and I work with athletes across every sport, but football is my first love.
I went to the combine last year and analyzed every athlete and was scheduled to meet with another teams’ performance director. I waited to present my findings – I spent eight hours a day looking closely and taking notes on each player. But it was a disappointing discussion.
But one of the Chargers coaches I worked with invited me to a private gathering of experienced, longer-term coaches during the combine. I was talking with a few people about my work and the athletes I had seen, and I have to admit, I did not recognize Mike Tomlin. I work with coaches across so many sports – I knew his name of course but didn’t recognize him.
Well, Mike started picking my brain and asked me a lot of questions and I talked to him about the fact I can be pretty judgmental, but that I was just sharing what I saw. At the end he asked if I knew who he was – he had a sense I didn’t. But we both started laughing after that.
So what happened after that?
He told me he thought I was “bleeping smart” and asked me to come analyze his team and they scheduled me to come in for training camp.
Stepping back, can you describe what an NFL performance analyst does?
I come in and look at individuals or groups depending on what the team wants. I may look at the defense or a specific receiver. I’ll look at the pre-game workouts, drills, stretching, lifting – to look at things like player alignment and posture. Then I help them with the current program to fix some of the errors I see.
For each movement I see, I may see tons of errors. So I try to break it down into the most important ones to fix.
I have eyes on the unrecognizable errors in performance and make them recognizable. For me, I lived this as an athlete – I trained for the Olympics as a gymnast so I had to perfect all of those movements myself. So I recognize what to address and how to fix it. That’s why I think I have a unique niche doing this.
As the #1 in rhythmic gymnastics for the U.S.A., what did you learn most that helped you now?
I broke bones but I never pulled a muscle. I am able to take that same knowledge there on how I managed that and apply it to football. I went back to school as well and studied more to get to this point now where I can help teams.
What did the Steelers have you focus on most?
They gave me free rein to work with the athletes. I did a lot of one-on-one work on flexibility and in the weight room. I worked with most of the guys there on the team.
With rookies, I tried to help them with better habits to work on soft tissue. Just to show them ways to do some things better.
I know Marcel Pastoor was just let go, but he was terrific to work with. He was supportive -I knew I had his and Mike’s trust. Certain athletes, you try to show them that if they execute their workout program a certain way, it will help things like their hips and groins and allow for less wear and tear over a season.
Can you go into any detail?
I look at what they are doing and if a certain movement isn’t excellent – say in warmups – I would show them the right motions to make it better. I have to be careful not to get into too many specifics, but I feel like the Steelers were very proactive movement-wise in terms of things like lunges and body balance.
I’d help with things like posture and tailor what I address to what I see. Most athletes are set in their alignment and posture at this stage of their career and so they don’t access the full extent of their muscles in practice – they don’t maximize their movement and workouts. Then they get shocked when they get injuries.
A lot of teams and players do the exercises and programs, but it’s more like they are just checking a box and not doing it right. You can’t just check the box – you have to do the movement completely for your body to respond the way you want it to.
Any chance you go back to the Steelers next year?
I’m excited to see what they choose to do next. There are some former Chargers coaches there so I understand their needs. In fact, one Steelers player just reached out to me asking if I was going back. But we’ll see. I’m a contractor so you never know where I’ll be next.
Would you take a full-time job if offered?
If the circumstances were right and all the needs fit I’d work for one team, yes. We’ll just see what happens.
Anything else you wanted people to know?
I’ll be starting a podcast soon – the CoachSallyPodcast. A lot of players and coaches reach out to me with individual questions, and I will often analyze their video and then go over movements with them. One NHL team does that frequently for their goalies.
So people can go now to my website – my podcast isn’t up yet but it will be soon.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
