SU coaches look for heat signs

By Joseph Schiefelbein, Advocate sportswriter
Junior defensive tackle Frank Harry looked fine enough Saturday morning. But defensive line coach David Geralds could tell the heat might be getting to the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder.

So Geralds stopped Harry and went to him. Harry eventually was pulled from practice, and the support staff then tended to him.
This is exactly how a team — from players to coaches to athletic trainers — have to work together to lessen the effects of stifling heat: knowing one’s players, communicating and then being cautious and proactive.
The coaches are doing an excellent job of recognizing the signs,” said Alec Hawkins, Southern’s director of sports medicine. “Having a preventive mindset is most important.”
The work, which must be done in the suffocating getup of helmets and pads, is demanding.

“The only thing we ask (the players) is to go full speed and then if you get fatigued, we’ll take you out and get you some water,” SU head coach Pete Richardson said.
Southern has done what most teams do — stressing proper nutrition and rest and the importance of drinking fluids and scripting breaks into practice.
“The main thing is we’re trying to get a lot of fluids in them constantly,” Richardson said. “And they have to eat. And you have to get your rest.
“The coaches do a good job of pushing them, then giving them a break, then pushing them.”

Players have to weigh in before and after practice to monitor fluid loss. SU also relies on fanning student trainers, pulling ice chests full of water bottles, to every practice group.
“We want to make sure we recognize guys who have trouble and get them out of the heat immediately, try to get them cooled down as soon as they start showing any symptoms — dizziness, cotton mouth, headache, nausea,” Hawkins said.
“It doesn’t take much. It takes one second from a guy to be up, coherent and active, and the next second he’s down, he’s dizzy, he’s nauseated.”
The program has also had some subtle, make-do efforts.
There is a flower-watering can used to cool off players. Exhausted players also can go to a shady, cool tunnel in A.W. Mumford Stadium.
And this fall, Richardson has preferred afternoon workouts to morning ones. The thinking is, mornings start off cool and get hotter, with the dew burning off to create a sauna-like feel, whereas afternoons start off hot and get cooler.
“I think the humidity is real high in the morning,” Richardson said. “When we start off (in the afternoon), it’s pretty warm. But then as it goes on, about 4, it feels pretty good out here. You get a little breeze.”
Seeing how sluggish his team was Thursday after practicing twice Wednesday, Richardson said the Jaguars would only practice once today, even though the rules allow them to go twice if they wanted.
That’s another example of reading body language of players, like when Geralds kept an eye on Harry.
“By (pulling players out) early, it stops us from having problems in the long run,” Hawkins said.
“Getting them out of the heat, getting them to a cool area and start getting them hydrated — that’s been most effective for us.”