In the field

One of those intrigued by the potential of virtual reality training was Dartmouth College football’s Director of Football Operations Joey McIntyre. After seeing reports in the national media of virtual reality being used by sports teams, McIntyre called Matt Doyle, Director of Football Operations at Stanford, who put him in touch with Derek Belch. Teevens and his coaching staff decided they wanted to see STRIVR for themselves before making a decision.

“They came out, we saw all of it, and we essentially decided to make a decision in 48 hours on going with them or passing for the time being,” McIntyre says. “Coach Teevens saw the value in it, and certainly the existing relationships with Stanford [as a former coach], Matt and Trent Edwards helped out.”



“As far as what it feels like with the headset on, you’re there,” McIntyre says. “To the point where Coach put it on with his suit and Oxford shirt, he went to catch the ball when the center snapped the ball. He reached to the right to catch the ball. It’s as real as anything you’ve seen.”

McIntyre says that Dartmouth intends to use the system in a broad way. While the most obvious application is for quarterback training given that the position requires the reading of and reacting to defenses, Dartmouth plans to use the system for all position groups.

We used it on the offensive line to see what looks they’re getting from the defense, and we’ve used it on the center’s perspective in covering defenses.” – McIntyre says.

“We’ve put it on the corner’s perspective when he looks at the quarterback. We’ve seen it on a one-on-one with a cornerback and wide receiver, and they can see where they might have needed an extra step. We’ve used it with safeties and linebackers as well, and a little bit with special teams.”

When used with kickers, virtual reality gives the kicker additional reps to mentally work on body placement and kicking technique. When it comes to punt protection, the “shield guys” can virtually go through all of the different defensive looks, simulating reps that might have been missed on the field.

McIntyre says that STRIVR will also serve as a type of “virtual playbook” for the team’s younger guys. During the preseason, they may only get 10 to 15 reps per practice. But if they want to go back and “redo” the reps, or get even more, they can do so virtually. They can essentially put the headset on and watch the first team (the starters) live and in full speed, which should prove invaluable in accelerating the training.

STRIVR is aiming to be an additional tool rather than a replacement for traditional birds-eye and sideline view training film. In addition to those time honored training methods virtual reality offers a first person perspective that will hopefully increase the players ability to learn and intensify reflexes.

Literally, seeing the game plan

McIntyre also sees virtual reality as integral to game planning. During the preseason or regular season, Dartmouth can simulate looks from its various opponents. The offense, for instance, can virtually experience the defensive “looks” (coverages) typically used by teams like Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. Teams typically do this with on-field walk throughs in the days before the game. Virtual reality could alter this strategy.

“This is basically a simulated walk-through,” McIntyre says. “We know that Harvard runs these six blitzes, and we put our first team out there and our scout team will run those blitzes, and we’ll put it in the Harvard folder and when the week comes we can see those blitzes. We won’t have 100% of them, but we’ll have a lot of them.”

He adds, “When you have the headset on you can turn around and hear and see Coach Teevens behind you. Almost more important is the auditory component: you hear the checks, you hear the offensive line and hear the linebackers making calls, and all of your senses are being simulated.”



McIntyre sees virtual reality training as the wave of the future, not just in football but across athletics. It may prove difficult in lacrosse and hockey, sports that are fast and really never stationary like football or baseball. But McIntyre says that if STRIVR or other virtual reality sports systems can put together a package that tracks fast movement, then lacrosse and hockey could also use virtual reality.



“Virtual reality is here and it will be helpful,” he says. “NFL teams are on it and they see the value in it. There are NCAA teams on it, but this is really the first year, and it’s going to be telling as far as how teams use it as well as for the return on investment.”