USC football players are advised to snooze for 30 to 40 minutes inside one of their practice facility’s nap pods, but sometimes Jayden Maiava can’t help himself.
More than once, someone has had to rouse the quarterback from a restorative slumber after an hour because he’s been so relaxed.
“A couple of times, yeah,” Maiava said with a smile.
In another part of the Trojans’ sprawling recovery facility, running back King Miller can often be found indulging in red-light therapy that’s designed to accelerate recovery. It’s been especially beneficial after Miller packed on 15 pounds to a body that takes a weekly beating.
“I like to sit in there for about 45 minutes,” Miller said. “It gets my body rejuvenated, and I think I use that thing probably at least three times a week, so it’s lovely to have that thing in there.”
As the No. 19 Trojans (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) dive headlong into their first bye week of the season, they are leaning heavily on a new ally in their bid to reach the College Football Playoff.
The rehabilitation and recovery facilities inside the $225 million Bloom Football Performance Center that opened in August are designed to mimic what’s used in the NFL and Major League Baseball.
Among the many features at their disposal are infrared therapy beds, sensory deprivation tanks and leather zero-gravity chairs situated in front of each player’s locker. The nap pods seem to be a universal favorite, along with hot and cold tubs designed to feel like a luxury resort.
“You can hang out there with your buddies,” tight end Tucker Ashcraft said of the tubs. “Dip the ankles in before practice in the hot tub, whatever I need to do.”
Thankfully, the days of trainers relying on liniment and a ball of tape are long gone.
USC’s fancy new facilities could be especially advantageous during the team’s first extended break. The Trojans are certainly deserving of the rest after having played in Week Zero and staging their second kickoff before most teams had their first.
“I mean, we’ve definitely felt the impact of it,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said of the 163,000-square-foot complex. “Our team has advantages, and therefore is better because of it already.”
The facility’s 5,406-square-foot active rehabilitation center could help the handful of players who remained out against Penn State last weekend return in time for the Trojans’ next game.
“I’m hopeful going into Wisconsin [on Oct. 24] that just from a whole we’ll be as healthy as we’ve been all year,” Riley said. “We haven’t been able to see this team quite at full strength yet from a health perspective, so I’m kind of excited and interested to see what that would look like.”
The Bloom Center represents a transformational change from the 14-year-old John McKay Center — a largely underground facility — as the hub of Trojans football. Riley said it’s helped players streamline their schedules, improving efficiency.
“Now you’re conserving time that you can put into film study, you can put into sleep, you can put into your school,” Riley said. “Like, it all adds up one way or another, either in a good way or a bad way, and Bloom kind of helps it all add up in a good way.”
Riley said the benefits of the facility should compound themselves in the years to come as players increasingly use the recovery components to prevent their bodies from wearing down.
Star freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley, who returned for the Trojans’ victory over Penn State after missing three games with a knee injury, said he benefited from the red-light therapy and the nap pods.
“Those are pretty nice,” Mosley said of the pods.
How does he feel when he comes out?
“You feel rested,” he said with a grin.
