Ryan McNameeDirector of Player DevelopmentUniversity of MiamiWhy did you decide to implement Teamworks for your program?We were looking for strategies to be more efficient in our daily operations, and we also wanted to take advantage of the technology the players are already using. They’re on their iPads and cell phones already, and now they can have access to everything we’re doing as a program right there on the iPad or phone.What problems does Teamworks solve that weren’t being addressed?We needed a centralized area for team communication. Our Strength staff use it. Our Athletic Trainers use it. Our Coaching staff and Operations use it.We were sending messages in the past, but they were coming from a lot of different places- coming from my Blackberry, coming from email. And with my Blackberry, I couldn’t hit every player in one message. I’d have to take a few minutes to send a text. I’d have to send it to one position group and then copy and paste the message to each of the other groups, and that takes time. So it was about trying to find a way to have one-click solutions. Now I just type my message, click a button, and send it out.I send messages all the time. Being able to set up multiple messages for different times and being able to take a couple minutes in the morning and have all my messages for that day or for the next day set just creates more value and saves my time.How have you and your staff used Teamworks so far?We use the calendar, text and email functions to update everyone with our daily/weekly schedules. We are always looking for methods to improve our communication, trying to make sure our guys are eating right and knowing what to eat. Our Nutritionist is on Teamworks and is sending out reminders all the time to players about what foods to avoid. It’s information that the guys know already, but getting the information from a professional nutritionist as well as our coaching staff via text & emails reinforces our culture regarding nutrition.We also have a spiritual component to our program which promotes spiritual conditioning. We have two pastors in our program who routinely send out messages to our staff and team. Now we have the ability to receive messages from them about the same core values that our program promotes.We send out which drills we’ll be running at practice the night before so all our guys know in advance, and we also let them know who’s going against who in drills, so if there are a bunch of guys hanging out in their dorm or having dinner, they’ll all get that text at the same time and start getting excited about what’s coming the next day. It helps make sure they’re mentally prepared when they get to practice.We also send out a birthday email to everyone through Teamworks. One of our Student Workers has gone in and programmed emails in her account scheduled for any day a guy has a birthday. I actually just got one when we were on Spring Break. She had set it up in advance and wasn’t in the office, but we all got that email wishing that person a happy birthday.We use it to support our players in the weight room. We send out a team text whenever someone gets a PR in the weight room to congratulate the guys on hitting their goals.How have your players and staff reacted to Teamworks?Everybody’s on the same page, and that includes our trainers, strength and conditioning guys, GAs, coaches. We’re all on the same page and there really aren’t any questions because everyone knows what’s going on.How would you rate Teamworks’ implementation, training, and support?It was very easy to get started and very simple to incorporate into our routine. The implementation has been great. Training was awesome. Customer service is second-to-none.Would you recommend Teamworks to other Football programs?I would highly recommend it. I think the biggest key in any business is about people and relationships- it’s all about people. I think Teamworks does a great job of adding a personal touch and making people feel comfortable. They understand the daily grind and that people are busy and that issues come up all the time in our business. Just getting to know the Teamworks staff over the phone and email in the last few months, I feel like I’ve been working with them for years. They share a set of common goals with our program and have the same sense of urgency and share the same set of ideals of what it means to be successful.Our university has a compliance system, and it assists Compliance well, and that’s great. But for true operations work and for communicating with your team, this is what you need. Teamworks is just your team, not bogged down with a bunch of recruiting information. It lets you get straight to your team, your players, and lets you communicate in one spot. Plus, keeping all the player bios, all their forms, and all their Strength and Conditioning numbers lets us keep everything on our guys in one central place.