Aug 20, 2015Tennessee Football Holding Sleep Contest
Butch Jones, Head Football Coach at University of Tennessee, has made sleep a priority for his players this season and is holding them accountable. Athletes’ sleep is tracked by a sensor, and they compete to see who gets the most.
“We have about 25 players right now that have a sleep coach, and they actually have a system set up underneath their mattress, and we can gauge how many hours of sleep they have,” Jones told The Daily Beacon. “They have it on their cell phones, and they actually have goals so they’re in competition. They’re set up in groups and they compete. It’s changed our kids’ mindsets.”
Jones wants his players to get at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night. He also has athletes wear glasses that block blue light before bed and sleep masks for when they turn in.
“I think people look at the development of an athlete, they look at just the lifting and the running, but it’s the recovery as well,” Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave Lawson said. “Whether it be taking care of your body through stretching, cold tubs, and things like that, but it’s also sleep and recovering so you’re fresh and ready to go the next day. So sleep is really important.”
