Mitch Cholewinski: College Football & the Science of Recovery

Episode 183: In this episode of the Sports Science Insights Podcast, powered by Inform Performance and hosted by Steve Barrett. Steve is joined by Mitch Cholewinski, Coordinator of Football Sports Science at the University of Nebraska. Now in his second season with the Cornhuskers, Mitch plays a key role in collaborating with strength & conditioning, athletic medicine, and coaching staff to monitor workload and enhance athlete performance.

Before Nebraska, Mitch served as Associate Director of Applied Sports Science at the University of Texas, where he helped shape data-driven performance systems for the Longhorns' football program.

Topics Discussed:

• What sports science looks like in college football

• The importance of recovery strategies in a demanding football environment

• Blood flow restriction training (BFR) – how it’s used and why it matters.

Key Points

• In the context of college football, sport science is increasingly focused on integrating data-driven decision-making into training and performance management. This involves leveraging technology such as GPS tracking (e.g., Catapult vests) to monitor athlete workloads, speeds, and movement patterns, which informs individualized training adjustments and helps optimize both performance and recovery strategies throughout the season .

• The off-season is considered the most impactful period for sport science interventions in college football. During this time, practitioners can manipulate variables such as conditioning, strength, power, speed, sets, reps, and rest intervals to address specific athlete needs. The off-season allows for a more engineering-like approach, treating each athlete as a unique puzzle and using periodization to systematically develop physical qualities that align with team standards and goals .

• Effective sport science in college football requires a multidisciplinary understanding, drawing from biomechanics, physiology, and engineering principles. A background in physics aids in comprehending movement mechanics, while engineering concepts support the systematic manipulation of training variables. This multidisciplinary approach enables practitioners to design evidence-based interventions that are both scientifically sound and practically applicable to the demands of the sport .

• Communication and collaboration with coaching staff are critical for successful sport science implementation. Practitioners must be able to translate complex data and scientific rationale into actionable insights for coaches, often adapting their language and approach to fit the specific context and priorities of each sport or coaching philosophy. This ensures that scientific recommendations are both understood and integrated into the broader performance program .

• The role of sport science extends beyond data collection to include the critical evaluation of training practices. Practitioners are expected to consistently ask "why"—not as a challenge, but to ensure that every training decision is justified by both research evidence and practical experience. This process involves proposing solutions, discussing the rationale behind choices (such as rest intervals or loading patterns), and balancing research findings with real-world constraints .

• Blood flow restriction (BFR) training is recognized as a valuable tool within college football sport science, particularly for its applications in rehabilitation and supplemental strength development. BFR allows athletes to achieve significant muscular adaptations at lower loads, which is especially beneficial during periods of injury recovery or when managing cumulative fatigue, thereby reducing joint stress while still promoting hypertrophy and strength gains .

• The practical application of BFR in college football involves careful consideration of athlete safety, appropriate cuff pressures, and session timing. BFR is often integrated into lower-load resistance training or used as an adjunct to traditional strength work, with protocols tailored to the athlete's current status and training phase. Monitoring and adjusting these variables is essential to maximize benefits while minimizing risks .

• Sport science practitioners in college football must remain adaptable, as the questions and priorities of different sports and coaching staffs can vary widely. For example, soccer programs may prioritize fitness and distance covered, while basketball may focus on force plate data and jump profiling. This adaptability requires a broad knowledge base and the ability to quickly learn and apply new methodologies across sports .

• The ongoing pursuit of advanced education, such as a PhD in exercise science, enhances a practitioner's ability to critically appraise research, stay current with emerging evidence, and refine their approach to athlete monitoring and intervention. This academic foundation supports the development of robust systems for reading, interpreting, and applying scientific literature to practical sport settings .

• Ultimately, the integration of sport science in college football is an evolving process that balances research, technology, and practical experience. The most effective practitioners are those who can synthesize information from multiple disciplines, communicate effectively with coaches and athletes, and continually refine their methods to align with both scientific advancements and the unique demands of the collegiate football environment
  
  

  Where you can find Mitch:

  •⁠  LinkedIn

  •⁠ Google Scholar

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  Sponsors

  VALD: makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training.

  Hytro: The world’s leading Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, designed to accelerate recovery and maximise athletic potential using Hytro BFR for Professional Sport.

  Teambuildr: A platform for any coach in any setting. Every day, thousands of coaches log into TeamBuildr to write training programs, build questionnaires and access athlete and client performance data. Teambuildr is a complete platform. Whether you're building your own programming, looking to create custom reports or give athletes a tool for accountability, they've built it out.