The offseason is where you build the race car. The season is where you drive it. Why would you stop checking all the gauges right before the green flag drops?
One of the biggest misconceptions about GPS technology is that it’s an offseason tool. I understand why.
The offseason is when we’re testing speed, building conditioning, and tracking athletic development. It’s where most coaches naturally see the value of performance data.
But that’s also why I think some coaches are looking at GPS the wrong way. The goal isn’t to measure athlete development during the summer. The goal is to use that information when the season starts.
The offseason is where you build the race car. The season is where you drive it. Why would you stop checking all the dashboard gauges right before the green flag drops?
If you spent the summer collecting Titan GPS data, that baseline becomes one of the most valuable tools you have once the games start counting. And if you’re just starting at fall camp, you’re not behind.
You’re stepping into one of the most physically demanding periods of the year, making it a perfect time to begin building that baseline.
Whether you have months of data or you’re starting from scratch, the opportunity is the same: make better decisions with better information.
You Used Titan All Summer? Don’t Waste the Baseline.
One of my favorite things about summer GPS data is that it creates what I like to call a fitness fingerprint.
By August, you know your players. You know who can handle volume. You know who’s capable of hitting elite top speeds. You know which athletes accumulate the biggest workloads and which athletes may need a little more attention.
Most importantly, you know what’s normal. That’s powerful. As coaches, we’re constantly making decisions based on change.
Who’s improving? Who’s plateauing? Who’s carrying more fatigue than they’re willing to admit?
The summer baseline gives us something to compare against.
A few years ago, if a player looked sluggish midway through the season, we relied primarily on the eye test. Now we have another layer.
Let’s say a player consistently hit certain workload numbers throughout June and July. Then by week 5, their player load starts dropping. Sprint counts are declining. High-speed efforts aren't showing up like they used to.
Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe they’re tired. Maybe they’re accumulating more Friday night reps than we realized.
The point isn’t that GPS predicts injuries. The point is that it helps us identify trends before problems become obvious.
I’ve found some of the biggest wins happen during practice planning.
Instead of guessing whether Tuesday was too demanding or wondering if Thursday was actually a recovery day, I can validate those decisions with data.
By the middle of the season, that becomes incredibly valuable. Your summer data doesn’t expire. If anything, that’s when it starts paying you back.
You Didn’t Use Titan This Summer? Start Now.
Let’s talk to the other group. The coaches reading this and thinking: “That sounds great, Kyle, but I didn’t run Titan this summer.”
Good. Start now. Seriously.
One of the biggest misconceptions in sports technology is that if you didn’t start on Day One, you’ve missed the boat. You haven’t.
Fall camp might actually be one of the best times to start using GPS. Think about everything happening during those first few weeks.
You’re evaluating players. You’re installing offensive and defensive systems. You’re sorting through position battles. You’re trying to prepare for Week 1 while keeping everybody healthy.
That’s exactly when visibility matters most.
Would it be nice to have three months of summer data? Absolutely. But don’t let perfect become the enemy of good.
Two weeks of camp data is still a foundation. By the time you’re preparing for Week 3 or Week 4, you’ll already know more about your team’s physical demands than most coaches ever get to see.
You’ll know who is carrying the heaviest workloads. You’ll identify players who may need additional recovery. You’ll gain a better understanding of what your practices are actually demanding.
And trust me, the answers aren’t always what you expect.
One of the first things we discovered with Titan was that some of our “light” days weren’t nearly as light as we thought.
A player might take reps on kickoff, punt return, scout team, and offense. Suddenly a walkthrough doesn’t look much like a walkthrough anymore.
Without the data, we never would have seen it. With the data, we can adjust. That’s not coaching scared. That’s coaching smart.
The Goal Is the Same
The beauty of Titan is that it meets coaches wherever they are. Maybe you have a summer full of baseline data. Great.
Use it to monitor trends, manage workloads, and keep athletes performing at a high level through week 10 and beyond. Maybe you’re starting fresh at fall camp. Great.
Build your baseline now and start learning. Neither coach is behind. Neither coach missed the opportunity. Both are working toward the same goal.
Healthier athletes. Smarter practice plans. Better decisions.
I’ve always believed coaching is a combination of art and science. The art is still the relationships, instincts, and experience we’ve built over years on the practice field. The science is having information that validates what we’re seeing.
Titan doesn’t replace coaching. It strengthens it.
So I’ll leave you with one final challenge: Don’t let valuable information sit on the sidelines.
Use it. Learn from it. Let it validate what you’re seeing and challenge what you’re missing.
Because the best coaches never stop looking for better information. And the best programs never stop learning.
If you've been looking for a reason to add Titan to your program, here's one more: it's now built directly into Hudl. Your GPS data alongside your video, all in one place. I can't think of a better time to start.
