ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Education and Pedagogy
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1644099
This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Transformation in Sports Coaching: Enhancing Coach Learning and Athlete DevelopmentView all 4 articles
A Qualitative Examination of the Evolving Role of Sports Technology in Collegiate Coaching
Provisionally accepted
Mollie Brewer*
Kevin Childs
Celeste WilkinsZachary R. SmithSpencer ThomasKristy Elizabeth Boyer*Jennifer A. Nichols*Garrett F. Beatty
Daniel Ferris- University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
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Coaches play a central role in shaping athlete performance and development. In collegiate sports, coaches must balance competitive goals with the broader needs of student-athletes.As technology becomes more available in sports, it is becoming increasingly embedded in the workflows and decision-making processes of coaching staff. While many recognize the growing presence of these tools in sports, there is limited understanding about how coaching staff select and integrate these tools into their professional practice. This study addresses this gap by investigating 1) the types of technologies that collegiate coaching staff use; 2) how coaches integrate those technologies into key coaching domains such as baseline testing, practice planning, and injury management; and 3) what motivates or hinders technology adoption in this environment. We conducted five semi-structured focus groups with 17 coaching staff members from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports teams in the United States, representing men's American football, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's soccer, and women's volleyball. Participants included coaches, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning staff, dietitians, sports scientists, and administrative staff. We provide an inventory of technologies in active use to support key aspects of coaching. Our findings show that when aligned with coaching goals, technology offers valuable support for decision-making, individualized student-athlete management, and coach-athlete communication. These findings also point to the importance of supporting coaching staff in managing the growing demands of technology use. By highlighting how collegiate coaching staff apply technology, this study deepens understanding of what technology integration in coaching looks like in real-world practice.The insights may offer valuable direction for scholars, coaches, and organizations who aim to strengthen coaching practice and athlete outcomes through thoughtful integration of technology.
Keywords: Sports coaching, Sports technology, Collegiate athletics, Student-athletes, Coach-Athlete Relationship, Technology Adoption, Performance monitoring, human-centered computing
Received: 09 Jun 2025; Accepted: 12 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Brewer, Childs, Wilkins, Smith, Thomas, Boyer, Nichols, Beatty and Ferris. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mollie Brewer, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
Jennifer A. Nichols, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
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