December 16, 2025

Coach: Jon Hersel, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

Background: Miami • LSU • Ole Miss • IMG Academy → Saraland High School

Challenge: Bring a Division-1 approach to a high-performing high school program

When Coach Jon Hersel arrived at Saraland High School in 2017, the program was already successful — but he saw an opportunity to elevate the school’s sports performance by introducing a more advanced, data-driven training model.

With a new 5,000 sq. ft. athletic performance center and a mission to train like a D1 program, Hersel needed a way to:

  • Track sprint, jump, and throw metrics daily
  • Monitor athlete progress across multiple KPIs
  • Identify trends affecting performance and recovery
  • Motivate athletes through gamification and feedback
  • Make data digestible for sport coaches and administrators
  • RockDaisy AMS became the foundation.

 

Solution: Daily speed, jump & power data — tracked, visualized, and acted on

Hersel’s philosophy is simple: sprint, jump, and throw every day. Strength is important, but athletes must demonstrate it as power.

“RockDaisy lets me establish a baseline, track progress over time, and show athletes their improvement instantly. When they see the data, buy-in and accountability take care of themselves.”

— Jon Hersel, Head S&C | Saraland HS

RockDaisy AMS allows Saraland athletes to instantly see progress across key metrics such as:

  • 5–10 Fly, 10–10 Fly, 15–10 Fly, 20–10 Fly
  • Depth jumps & vertical outputs
  • Estimated 1RM benchmarks
  • “Player Profile” scores — Saraland’s version of a Madden rating

When athletes see their player profile score, the first question is: How do I raise it?

Impact #1: 100 athletes tested in 10 minutes

Using Dashr timing integrated with RockDaisy AMS, Hersel runs four lanes at once. Athletes enter their ID, run their reps, and the data flows directly into dashboards.

“With RockDaisy, I can test 100 athletes in about 10 minutes and have clear, usable data immediately. It’s made tracking and communicating performance incredibly efficient.”

— Jon Hersel, Head S&C | Saraland HS

Impact #2: Data-based conversations about recovery & workload

RockDaisy’s longitudinal Fly-10 data exposed patterns Hersel couldn’t see before.

Certain athletes were getting slower for 6–8 straight weeks due to excessive outside training. The data led to productive conversations with athletes and the head coach to adjust workload and recovery strategies.

Impact #3: Tactical football decisions — powered by game-speed data

Saraland’s football staff now uses RockDaisy metrics for:

  • Kickoff team personnel
  • Identifying athletes who hit top speed fastest
  • Deceleration and stopping ability
  • Strategic kick placement
  • Real data → real tactical advantage.

 

According to Coach Hersel:

  • Instant dashboards with KPIs that matter
  • Athlete motivation through “Madden-style” profiles
  • Clear visualization of trends and PRs
  • Lightning-fast testing with third-party integrations
  • Data-backed recovery conversations
  • Credibility with sport coaches by connecting data to wins

 

Coach Hersel’s advice for young coaches:

“Focus on one thing at a time. Get your program established, earn buy-in, and be consistent with your data.”

About Saraland High School

Saraland Strength is one of Alabama’s premier high school performance programs, built on daily speed work, athletic development, and data-driven decision-making.

About RockDaisy LLC

Founded in 2014 by the two developers of the NFL’s analytics services. RockDaisy is a New York based company and is proud to be the analytics & visualization platform for a growing number of sports organizations across the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and other elite sports leagues around the world. For more information, visit www.rockdaisy.com | @RockDaisyAMS

Contact Information:

Chris Tanck
RockDaisy LLC
info@rockdaisy.com

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