First off, what is the situation and plan now for you?
Well, after we heard the news of Mike Tomlin leaving, we were all told we were free agents able to pursue other opportunities. There are a couple that may be available soon but it’s early. There’s nothing permanent yet – some lukewarm opportunities right now,
Obviously with Mike McCarthy coming in the storyline is he wants to go in a different direction – he let us know he wanted to bring in his own guys which makes sense. Everyone wants to being in their own guys – guys loyal to them they can trust.
Who have been the mentors over your career so far?
When I graduated from Tennessee I became a Graduate Assistant and worked in the weight room there. I got my Masters in Human Performance while I was there. Dan Brooks was the defensive line coach then – he was the one who asked me to work in the weight room and hired me full-time afterwards. Josh Stucky was my mentor there then and Johnny Long was his assistant – he and Chris Carlisle there helped me.
But also – guys I coached with like Chris Stewart, Eric Siano and Aaron Ausmus at Tennessee too. I was there for 10 years then went and coached at FIU with Ryan Horton, David Feeley and Alan Byrd – who’s with the Pirates now. I like to learn from anyone – no matter if I worked for them, with them, or if they worked for me. Even if they work for me, they can fill in the gaps of any deficiencies I have – I can learn from anyone.
What did you do after FIU?
After FIU I didn’t coach for a decade. I went to work for Cybex, then Catapult. Catapult reached out to me – as a former strength coach they wanted me to educate other strength coaches on the product. I traveled to different organizations educating on the product – high schools, colleges, pro teams, medical facilities… I started off as the Sports Performance Manager and ended up as their VP.
Then, one of the athletes I coached in Tennessee worked with the Atlanta Falcons – he called me and asked if I would be his assistant coach to run the tech side there. He asked if I would be ok working for him since I used to coach him. I said “Yeah!” Now I got the opportunity to support him and work in the NFL. I was there for three years until they had a coaching change there.
That’s when you landed with the Steelers correct? How did that happen?
Phil Matusz visited us in Atlanta in 2022 when he was with Boston College – he was visiting some of the guys he used to coach and we talked then. A year later he became the Steelers Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and called me. There was an opportunity there and he wanted to see if I was willing to come. With the changes in Atlanta it was a good opportunity.
Ironically, I sold the Catapult system to the Steelers in 2014 – they were one of the first NFL teams to get it.
Can you describe what the Catapult system is?
It’s a GPS device that’s sewn into jerseys or player vests – it’s about two inches tall and one inch wide. It captures over 300 metrics – things like speed, player load, max speed, distance, distance covered at max speed…. its used to gauge work capacity and intensity in practiced to help understand when you needed to throttle players down or get them to work harder.
There’s a reputation of the Steelers being less tech-reliant – was that true and how did the Steelers use it most?
My job was to expand its usage there. We used it to work on joint strength and hamstring strength. We measured things like bar speed when lifting and squatting – by doing that you can determine a player’s training max by the speed of the bar. It was a way to help keep them strong and max out while knowing their capacity.
OTAs are only nine weeks – that’s not enough time to really develop a guy. Some guys come to OTAs barely having worked out on the offseason. So OTAs are not enough time to develop a player. This gave us the chance to develop guys over those six months of the season – not just in camp.
Who were the people in the organization who pushed to buy the Catapult system? Did they adopt it well?
Mr. Colbert – and Mr. Rooney and Coach Tomlin wanted it too.
Overall everyone was into it. Players are now tech-savvy – they want to know their numbers and how they compare to other players. We just had to get the proper cadence with the tech – that was the key. At first we tested players weekly and that was too much – guys weren’t used to it. So we changed the cadence. But it was another way for players to compete with each other – they loved it.
Was Pittsburgh similar to Atlanta in what they asked from you – how was it different?
It was similar – but Pittsburgh was known for having tough camps. There the focus was on resiliency with those guys. Me and Phil Matusz – we talked to the coaches about the positives of players and what they needed to improve – we learned the needs of the athletes and executed on the processes to help them.
How do you change/adapt to the tougher camps the Steelers run? What do you focus on differently?
The first part is education – to make sure they know what’s needed. The most important thing is recovery. Multi-joint recovery – getting enough sleep, getting into the pool, wearing boots if you like that, using the sauna, cryo….whatever you can do to help you get ready for the next practice.
Any fun/interesting experiences you can share from Pittsburgh?
Every day was different. Danny Smith and his anecdotes – Mike Tomlin and his expressions.
The biggest difference was that that Atlanta had a more corporate feel. You saw Arthur Blank at times, but in Pittsburgh you saw Mr. Rooney every day – working out in the weight room, on the bike, and he rode on the plane with us. That makes you appreciate the organization. I had the utmost respect for him and the guys on the roster and practice squad.
Another fond memory is having my kids stay in the dorms in Latrobe during the first week of camp – assisting me with Catapult and interacting with the team. One training camp they shared a common area with Jason Kidd and were able to talk to him about the Mavs and even his playing career. That was a cool moment for them and me and wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the Steelers history and Mike Tomlin’s relationships with people from various industries like sports and music who wanted to learn and interact with him.
What’s the next step in sports science from your perspective?
The next step I think will be the Zebra Technology used on gamedays. I don’t think it will be a device – the tech will be the garment. It won’t need to be physically removed to download the data. It’ll be in the jerseys, shoes….that’s where I see it.
Or maybe there will be no tech – it’ll all be camera based where the hardware is minimal.
Lastly, what makes you tick beyond football?
I enjoy being with my family and traveling. And losing golf balls! I haven’t played in two years – I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play more- but not too much more!