The Football Coach Doesn’t Need Much Sleep. Here’s Why.
January 14, 2014 at 6:24 pm Lori Shontz 1 comment
James Franklin, on the job at 5:07 a.m.
For most people, it seems, the takeaway from James Franklin’s introductory news conference on Saturday was his cute daughters, his enthusiasm for college football, and/or his pledge to “dominate the state” in recruiting. But this is what stood out to me:
Someone asked Franklin about what his message to Penn State players would be, and that caused Franklin to launch into a tale about how hard he’ll be working—and when. He said, “We’ve got a lot of work to do in a very, very short period of time, and it’s time sensitive because of the recruiting process as well. Basically when we leave here probably until 2 in the morning, and we’ll be back up at 3 or 4 in the morning getting going again. Luckily, I’m fortunate I’m not a guy that needs a whole lot of sleep. My wife does. We always have those discussions. She’s amazed that I can get by on five hours sleep. That’s just kind of who I am.”
This caused me to listen closer because I had just put the finishing touches on a feature for our March/April issue—a Q&A with Alan Derickson, professor of labor and employment relations and history, about his new book: Dangerously Sleepy: Overworked Americans and the Cult of Manly Wakefulness. I love the title, and better than that, the topic is really interesting. Derickson traces hundreds of years of American history, looking to explain how sleep deprivation came to be seen as a virtue. Among the culprits: Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, Charles Lindbergh … and football coaches.
Derickson focuses on steelworkers, Pulllman porters, and long-haul truckers to explain, in real terms, the problems of insufficient sleep. Stay tuned for the upcoming Q&A. In the meantime, you can check out this Harvard Business Review piece to get a sense of Derickson’s research.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: The Penn Stater Magazine. Tags: Alan Derickson, Harvard Business Review, sleep deprivation.
1. The Penn Stater Daily — Jan. 24, 2014 | The Penn Stater Magazine | January 24, 2014 at 12:09 pm
[…] Getting caught up: Penn State professor Alan Derickson continues to get lots of attention for his new book on America’s defiant (and dangerous) attitude toward sleep. Canada’s Globe and Mail has a feature on Derickson’s new book, Dangerously Sleepy. And in case you missed our earlier coverage of Derickson’s research—the subject of an upcoming feature in our March/April issue—you can check it out here. […]