Randy Smith
Butch Jones seems to have been a great choice as Tennessee's head football coach. He's recruited well...he's coached his players up...he's made no enemies, especially in Big Orange country. He is a perfect fit so far. But now it appears that Coach Jones is making it a 24 hour coaching period for his Volunteers. His staff is now monitoring the players' sleep habits. One hour before a player's scheduled bedtime, he gets a text message reminding him it's almost time to turn in.
He then puts on an orange pair of glasses which serves to block out the light from smart phones and computer screens, making it easier to fall asleep.
"Look at any college student. The two things they struggle with are time management and sleep," Jones said. "To be able to perform at a high level, you need your sleep. You need nine hours every day, you need to sleep in 68 degree room temperature, all those things we are constantly stressing with our players.
The Volunteers are partnering with a company called Rise Science, based in Chicago. Rise Science was formed three years ago by three former Northwestern students, who are hoping to get great results from the Vols' participation. If they do, other big-time programs should join in. Tennessee is the first major program to begin working with Rise Science, since the company was formed.
Rise Science states that a player getting eight hours of sleep or more is 50% more likely to play error free at practice, and you high school coaches take heed; a prep player who gets eight or more hours of shut-eye is 70% less likely to get injured. They also say that getting an extra sixty to ninety minutes of sleep each night will increase reaction time by ten percent. Other studies have shown that increased sleep time also leads to better field goal accuracy, better weight training, and faster sprint times.
The cost of this sleep monitoring program is not cheap. According to UT sports' dietician Allison Maurer, the program cost the Vols more than $30,000. Being the first big-time program to fall in line for Rise Science did help, as Tennessee got the "introductory rate." " The culture has shifted," Maurer said. " It's gone from thinking you're tough enough and can grind through without getting much sleep, to ' We all need our sleep so that we can win games and whatever edge we can have, we want to have it."
Tennessee players have been divided into teams and are actually competing to see which groups are getting the most and best rest each day. This all sounds great and looks good on paper, but you still need to get the players to buy in. It would be easy to do if football was the only thing they took part in. However, the stress of balancing an academic workload with football is the biggest single problem when players are trying to get enough sleep.
I will be very interested to see how this all affects the Tennessee football squad. Perhaps the one area that be the most telling will be the turnover stats. Fewer fumbles and fewer interceptions means it is working well. However, a higher turnover ratio leaves one hoping there is another area that can be judged, in order to determine success.
As far as I am concerned, I have bought into this program, big-time Butch! I believe it's time for a nap.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.