Meet SJSU’s Cullen Carroll and his new sports science initiative

Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter // photo via Titus Wilkinson of The Spear

Brent Brennan happily found Cullen Carroll, San Jose State’s newly hired Head of Strength and Conditioning, schmoozing with a group of Spartans while they each slurped down a protein shake after practice.

“Them being so excited, really leaning into it and embracing it tells me that he’s doing a great job,” said Brennan, SJSU’s head coach.

The shakes are just one piece of Carroll’s sports science initiative he’s brought to SJSU from Stanford this past winter. The changes could lift SJSU to the top of the Mountain West in 2023.

“I trust him 100%,” said SJSU linebacker Bryun Parham.

Carroll’s path to SJSU began last Christmas Eve when Brennan unexpectedly ran into former Stanford head coach David Shaw at a 49ers game. A few days earlier, SJSU sustained a disappointing loss to Eastern Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Shaw knew Brennan was looking to replace SJSU’s previous head of strength and conditioning, Aaron Potoshnik, and told him, “I think it’ll be worthwhile to have a conversation with our guy.”

His “guy” was Carroll who’d been with Stanford since 2014 and held the title of Director of Football Performance since 2019. But in December, Carroll found himself out of a job when Sacramento State’s Troy Taylor took over for Shaw after he resigned. Taylor came in with members of his staff which included Ryan Deatrick to fulfill Carroll’s role of Director of Football Performance.

So Brennan took down Carrol’s number and gave him a ring. The two talked for hours.

“As he met with me and the staff we were just very impressed with an extremely high level of competence and confidence and clarity,” said Brennan.

Carroll was drawn to Brennan’s tight-knit program and wanted to help continue SJSU’s rise.

“I was fortunate enough Coach Brennan and Coach Shaw had a relationship and I was able to get in front of Coach Brennan and I was able to show him who I was and what I believed in and how I cared about the process of achievement,” said Carroll, a Bay Area native and SJSU graduate.

Meanwhile for SJSU football, Carroll has the track record to prove he can lead the new initiative. This past year, five different Cardinals were drafted to the NFL and he’s seen 30 total during his time at Stanford.

“He came from a good school and he trained a lot of people that’s in the NFL and performing at a high level so I trust him to get me there,” said Parham.

The mission is easy in theory, but difficult in practice: Guide each Spartan to their peak strength, speed, stamina and mental toughness without injury.

During SJSU’s 7-5 season a year ago, several of SJSU’s players caught the injury bug. While Brennan’s stitch-lipped about injuries — an NCAA rule that permits him to do so – it was clear health was an area of improvement. 

The mission began with creating a profile for each player, starting with a series of baseline measurements. Some were basic – height, weight and body fat percentage –  but others utilized newly installed technology to track each player’s jumping technique and style, movement patterns and hamstring strength. 

“Notice how I haven’t mentioned squat, bench or clean,” said Carroll. “The evaluations that I mentioned are all safe.”

But the real belle of SJSU’s sports science ball, are the GPS tracking systems or “Eye in the Sky.” It’s the size of a Roku remote and slides into the back of a tight vest that’s worn under a player’s shoulder pads.

It tracks a player’s top speed and total distance run. After each practice, the results are tabulated then compared and contrasted in staff meetings. It helps Brennan strategize practice and walk the tight rope of high intensity while limiting risk of injury.

“That kind of trust and that kind of communication helps us collaborate and hopefully build a better team,” said Brennan.

Brennan’s always intended on implementing the science-backed and technology-tracked methods. He saw how effective they could be first-hand when he coached at Oregon State in the 2010’s, but a limited budget prevented him until now. 

“That was also another commitment from our administration willing to support, knowing that was becoming a big part of the way high level teams are functioning,” said Brennan. “I think right now we have about 40 players wearing the tech and I think we’d like to get to 60 or 80 at some point.”

Nevertheless, the “Eye in the Sky” is another example of SJSU distancing itself from its former woebegone ways.

Fans at this Saturday’s Spring Game will no longer stare at mountains of dirt from the bleachers. Instead, they will now stare at a new facility that hold locker rooms, state-of-the-art equipment and a cafeteria. It’s set to open by Fall Camp.

“I was very excited to see that,” said Carroll.

Each piece helps SJSU build off its 2020 Mountain West Championship and last year’s bowl appearance, but the added cafeteria will be invaluable.

The only post-practice refuel options for players are meals back on campus. In between sips of his shake, Parham said he sometimes went “two hours” without any substantial calories after practice last year.

This spring’s newly added protein shake, a blending of almond milk, yogurt, peanut butter, spinach and protein powder has helped address this issue for the mean time.

“We need to make sure we are controlling as much of those recovery variables as possible,” said Caroll. 

The sample size is small, but Parham’s seen the fruits of the Carroll’s sports science initiative.

At the end of one practice, Brennan shouted out Parham for going breakneck speed on two different plays on special teams.

“That was in the middle of practice and usually we would be on the comedown and everybody would be tired, but I still feel like we had energy and were ready to go,” said Parham.