During the coronavirus pandemic, college football teams are faced with the interesting scenario of trying to get their players in peak physical shape for the fall season…remotely. A new report from The Athletic (paywall) details how Alabama has issued Apple Watch to all of its players before the college was shut down to keep the training of its players going and check in on their sleep and heart rate data, all while walking a tricky line of not breaking SEC rules.
In February, Alabama’s football team lost its long time strength and conditioning coach, Scott Cochran. Yesterday, when speaking how his replacements were doing, head coach Nick Saban shared a comment that sparked a bit of a commotion:
While that sounds like a great solution, many are confused about how Alabama is able to do this…
“They were very instrumental in setting up this whole program of what we’re doing with the players in terms of Apple Watches for their workouts, apps on their phones for weight training programs,” Saban said. “We had an issue with some players not having a place to work out because high schools are closed. We put them on band workout programs. They’ve done a really, really good job of managing this to this point, and the players have done a really good job responding to it.”
The Athletic heard from anonymous sources that Alabama football staff isn’t using Apple Watch to directly “provide workout instruction.”
After being set up with apps, just sleep and activity data is looked at by the school’s associate athletic director:
But the concerns arise based on the SEC’s rules that prohibit “virtual involvement with student-athletes’ physical activities” during the off-season.
For its part, Alabama claims its use is within the rules…
In any case, schools that get innovative with technology during the pandemic could end up with an advantage when football season rolls out.
Apple Watch has made headlines in sports previously like when the Boston Red Sox used the wearable to steal signs back in 2017.
