Kiffin shuffles practice week to rest players
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin is all about analytics, statistics and research when it comes to improving a football team.
So he immediately bought in when he stumbled across some data about limiting practice time during preparation weeks. A midseason switch to fewer practices has helped the Owls remain energized throughout the year.
“That’s kind of a new age thing we’ve gone through after a lot of studies,” Kiffin said. “The old format was go through every practice and walkthrough on Friday. There’s a lot of research now.”
At the beginning of the season, the Owls practiced Monday through Thursday before resting on Fridays. Now, they have walkthroughs on Monday and Thursday and a full practice on Friday. The idea is to allow players to unwind earlier in the week and rev them up the day before games in practices that are termed “Fast Fridays.”
“We’re really getting our legs back by the time we practice Tuesday,” Kiffin said. “We have two tough days and then get our legs back Thursday. That’s why you go fast on Friday.”
The change went into effect three weeks ago. Part of the reason for the switch was the circumstances. The Owls are dealing with depth issues at various positions — mainly in the secondary — because of injuries. The unit is so banged up that some walk-ons have been moved to as high as second on the depth chart.
“In the fourth quarter, our legs started to die down a lot,” junior cornerback Shelton Lewis said. “They’re not as tired as they would be had we had practices throughout the week.”
Kiffin was never in this position when he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama because the program was stockpiled with talent. He did, however, learn how to handle these situations while at USC. The coaches dealt with a limited roster because they lost scholarships due to NCAA sanctions.
It taught him how to curb practice reps, so players were fully rested.
“We’re always monitoring that,” Kiffin said. “We know our players probably more than we ever have, and not being stubborn by saying we’re going to practice no matter what.”
So far, the results have shown on game days. The Owls are 8-3 and attempting to complete an undefeated season in Conference USA play Saturday at Charlotte in the regular-season finale. The following week they will play North Texas in the league championship game.
No one on the roster has played this many games before, because they finished three consecutive years with a 3-9 record. The added rest should help the Owls go after their first 10-win season at the Division I-A level.
“You’re still getting all the reps,” linebacker Azeez AlShaair said. “You probably get 10 times as many reps in the walkthrough than we do in regular practices because we’ll go through one play with five different defensive calls and then go through another five different defensive calls. So I think it helps a lot in mentally preparing.”