Today we have the honor of interviewing Jack Marucci, the director of performance and innovation at LSU football (NCAA). Jack has been with LSU for 25 years and uses his expertise in sports science to develop new ways for all of LSU’s student-athletes to prosper in competition. His position is believed to be the first of its kind in college athletics.
In Marucci’s 25 years leading LSU’s athletic training staff, his work was instrumental in helping the Tigers win three national championships and five Southeastern Conference titles in football.
Some of Marucci’s recent projects that helped elevate the LSU football program include eye dominance/eye tracking testing, which was done for the first time following the 2018 season. Marucci’s findings on eye tracking testing helped position LSU for the best passing and receiving season in school history in 2019, which ultimately led to an undefeated season and a national title. He also has contributed to significant work around concussion prevention, core temperature monitoring, and ACL repair and recovery.
Marucci has mastered the art of crafting wooden baseball bats and founded his own company, the Marucci Bat Company. The bat company, which originally started with a workshop in his backyard, now has hundreds of Major Leaguers swinging its bats, including Albert Pujols, the 2006 NL MVP, World Series champion Anthony Rizzo and home run champion Ryan Howard.
Marucci’s bats, which now include a line of aluminum bats for both baseball and softball, are the fastest-growing bat in baseball. The Marucci Bat Company has also been represented in both the Major League All-Star Game and the World Series in recent years.
📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on his background, his background as an entrepreneur, his role at the LSU, his approach towards innovation. Lastly we talked about some of the most exciting companies that he's come across.
You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Jack located at the top of this blog post.
Here are some of the best quotes of our conversation with Jack:
About his background:
"My family grew up in a coal mining town in southwestern Pennsylvania, Uniontown, PA. Growing up in that blue-collar environment, we always talked about the word grit and toughness. I went to school at West Virginia University, where they had one of the better athletic training programs”.
“I got my athletic training degree, then my master's, and went to the University of Alabama where I worked with the football and baseball teams. I also did internships with the Cleveland Browns (NFL) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL). I was fortunate to be with Florida State for eight years with Coach Bowden during their incredible run”.
“I came to LSU in 1996, where we've experienced three national championships. About four and a half years ago, I started focusing more on data to enhance athlete performance, especially looking at strengths and cognitive abilities."
On his current role at LSU:
"My role as the Director of Performance and Innovation at LSU involves working closely with Mario Macaluso and Nathan Lemoine, who focuses more on the research side”.
“We’re currently using data sets and models for player evaluation, particularly with athletes entering the transfer portal. We have a massive database with over 170 data points, covering quarterbacks since 2016. We’ve mined this data down to around 14 key traits that matter, which helps us compare players”.
“We’re constantly looking at new technologies, like Sportable's chip technology in footballs, to measure velocity, spin rate, and other metrics. This helps us refine player performance, especially with quarterback training."
On his background as an entrepreneur and founder of the Marucci Bat Company:
"Back in 2002, my son, Gino, came up to me and said, ‘Hey dad, I really like this bat Barry Bonds is using.’ It was a wood bat, and at the time, kids were all using metal bats. But no one made the size he needed, so I went back to my roots in western Pennsylvania. I bought a cheap lathe from Harbor Freight and started making bats myself”.
“That led to Eduardo Perez asking me to bring some bats up for the St. Louis Cardinals, and the next thing I know, Albert Pujols and Barry Larkin were testing them. We ended up building a company that became the number one bat in Major League Baseball within five, six years. It all started from just listening to my son’s request and figuring out a way to make it happen."
On his approach towards innovation:
"I’ve always been curious about what we can do to enhance performance, so we focus on extracting data to understand what moves the needle for athletes. We look at cognitive testing, eye dominance, and tracking to assess how players process information. For example, we were the first to use the S2 cognitive testing system, which helped us identify correlations between cognitive skills and player performance”.
“I also believe in injury reduction rather than prevention. Technology can help reduce injuries by tracking loads and fatigue. If you’re able to monitor muscle fatigue, especially in non-contact scenarios, you can reduce the risk of injuries by knowing when to adjust training loads."
On some of the most exciting companies that you've come across:
"One of the technologies that really stood out to me is from a company called Cognizant. They have an AI and VR system that allows us to immerse players into virtual playbooks. We started using this with our quarterback Jayden Daniels, and it was a game-changer”.
“We recreated entire stadium environments, even including the specific play clocks and structures to help him get accustomed to away games. The system improved his quarterback rating significantly across various coverage sets. He went from being projected as a 4th or 5th round draft pick to showing elite performance stats. Independently, five NFL scouts mentioned they noticed a big change in his gameplay, starting with the Mississippi State game where he first used the system."
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