McQuaid alumnus and Professional trainer Karl Jacobson, ’05, of T.A.P.E Training Systems and Thrive Athletic has gotten athletes more conditioned for the next level of competition. 

Jacobson’s worked with the likes of the NBA’s Terry Rozier and Taurean Prince as well as many other well known athletes, but what is it about his training style that gets athletes better? What has Jacobson figured out that the rest of the athletic community has yet to discover? 

McQuaid basketball Coach Mark Bruce is good friends with Jacobson provides some insight into Jacobson’s early years and what has made Jacobson’s athletic training program so successful.

“I’ve known Karl Jacobson probably my whole life. His mom was best friends with my mom so they went to college together…him and I really didn’t get close up until 5 years ago, then we really would connect on a daily basis.”

Coach Bruce is a trainer himself and strongly admires Jacobson’s ability to get the best out of the athletes that he trains.

“He’s phenomenal…When you train athletes at that level you may not help them, you know, jump higher, or be a better performer compared to where they are because they are professional athletes, but what he does is he keeps them healthy.”

Keeping athletes healthy is probably the most underrated aspect of this entire process. Anything can happen on the court or on the field and just like that, someone’s career could be in jeopardy, or even over. For a professional athlete, getting an injury could result in the loss of their job. That means it can potentially have a negative affect on their family, too. As a former collegiate athlete, Coach Bruce understands the importance of a guy like Jacobson, especially from more of a business and financial standpoint.

“A lot of those NBA players have contracts, they’re getting paid…He’s got some guys that have 3-5 year contracts…but he’s also got guys that fight for yearly contracts, and if those guys go down for a couple games they may get cut. So his number one focus is keeping them healthy [and] maintaining the strength that they have and not losing it.”

Thanks to people like Jacobson, the game is changing, and slowly but surely, becoming a more safe and productive environment for athletes to train and protect their athletic careers.