A Study Summary: “Student-Athlete Development and Winning Success”

Written By Evan Burk

This article is a summary of the recent study published in the Sports Innovation Journal entitled “Student-Athlete Development and Winning Success: An Analysis of Director’s Cup Standings” by Sarah Stokowski, Amanda Paule-Koba, Andrew Rudd, and Alex Auerbach.


In the recent paper “Student-Athletes Development and Winning Success: An Analysis of Director’s Cup Standings”, the authors (Stokowski, Paule-Koba, Rudd, Auerbach) study the correlation between the winning success of NCAA Division 1 athletic programs and the investment in athletic department personnel that directly support both the personal and player development of the athletes. 

In my over 15 years as a coach in the NFL and D1 college football, I’ve been fortunate to see the progression in support services offered to athletes within college and professional sports grow tremendously. This has touched everything from healthier meals provided to athletes, to additional academic support, and even the recent trend to providing access to sports psychologists to student-athletes. 

I have always felt that the overall quality of an athletes’ life has a direct effect on their performance, even though actually quantifying this can be challenging. The harsh reality of big-time college athletics is that achieving success often comes at the expense of the college athlete, which makes investments into these athlete development services even more crucial. 

Environmental Influences of Student-Athletes

The college environment has a great influence on the attitudes and perceptions of athletes and their willingness to ask for help.  The greater the support provided to athletes seeking help, the more likely that athletes will feel secure, supported, and safe in seeking assistance from athletic department specialists.  This applies even more so when it comes to mental health and an athlete’s potential to seek help for a mental health issue.

While the stigma around mental health challenges in our society is slowly starting to change, young athletes today are still hesitant to seek treatment.  This hesitancy makes the athlete development specialists on campuses and accessible to college athletes even more crucial to creating an environment where they can 1) seek help, and 2) feel safe and comfortable in seeking out that help.  

Department Personnel That Influence Performance

The three athletic department personnel that were determined to have the greatest predictors of winning success for college programs were: 

  • Athletic Trainers

  • Learning Specialists

  • Sports Psychologists

These roles provide direct contact with student-athletes and the ability to influence an athlete’s personal development and player development literacies. Personnel in these roles generally helped "to assist student-athletes in reaching their highest potential...and contribute the strongest among other staff members to the winning success of D1 athletic Departments.”  

In short, these roles have profound influence on the athlete’s environment, thus positively influencing those environments and an athlete’s ability to achieve peak performance in competition. 

Findings

The data within the study clearly demonstrates that “every school should invest in athletic trainers, learning specialists, and sports psychologists.”  It was determined that these type of "athletic department personnel added to the prediction of winning on a statistically significant level.”  

Simply put: Schools that invest more into the overall holistic well-being of athletes as students, competitors, and as people, win more than their competition. 

Limitations + Future Research

It is easier for schools with the most money and history of athletic success to provide these services.  A history of winning means they more than likely have a history making money and reinvesting portions of that money into new and improved facilities. New athletic facilities can have a significant positive impact on recruiting top players, and thus allowing those winning schools to attract the best high school talent each year, and continue the winning traditions in such a cyclical fashion.  

The study also did not provide a finding, and suggested a possible future study, on the exact number of personnel needed in these positions to achieve winning success as defined by the NCAA Directors’ Cup. 

Practical Implications + Final Words

Previous studies have recognized that the environment is crucial to athletic success.  The athletic development specialists have significant impact on the environment and the success on the field, and can also influence the holistic development of the student-athletes, leading to more alignment with the purpose of intercollegiate athletics. 

The study also found that sports psychologists should continue to have a greater role within athletic departments, even going as far as to suggest that the NCAA consider including sports psychologists “as primary athletics healthcare providers,” because they can impact both the lives of the student athletes, as well as the sport organizational system as a whole at each school. 

Evan Burk

Evan Burk is a speaker, former NFL coach, and podcast host who uses the sports world as his backdrop to engage audiences with thought-provoking lessons of leadership, team-building, and creating championship cultures.

Evan Burk is not your typical football coach. Despite not playing football beyond high school and no network in the coaching profession, Evan's unlikely football journey began as a 4th grade coach, where he quickly worked his way to the NFL in just 6 years, and included coaching for teams such as the Miami Dolphins, UCLA, and SMU.

After spending fifteen-plus years working with the highest-performing athletes, coaches, and teams on the planet, Coach Burk uses his unique football coaching background to teach people how to utilize the same strategies in business and life that elite players and teams use to perform at a world-class level.

Evan received his B.S. in business management from the University of Colorado, and his Master of Liberal Studies degree from Southern Methodist University. He also hosts his own weekly sports leadership podcast, The Highest Level, where he reveals how championship team cultures are built and the keys to leadership excellence at the highest level.

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