Sport Science: The What, Why, and How
Dr. Bill Burghardt, who is in his 13th year on the full-time staff at MSU, was named the Director of Sports Science for Michigan State Athletics in July 2022. He previously was the Director of Football Sports Science for two years (2020-21). In his role, Burghardt leads the sports science department’s mission to aid sport coaches, strength & conditioning, and sports medicine to optimize athlete training, performance, and return-to-sport through the use of cutting-edge technology and exercise science. Prior to his current role in sports science, Burghardt was on the strength and conditioning staff for the Spartans and was named associate strength and conditioning coach in June 2018. He also added the duties of football analytics coordinator in 2018, a role that includes collecting, analyzing, interpreting and disseminating results of the Cataplult GPS data for the staff, and moved into that role full-time in 2020 as the Director of Football Sport Science. Burghardt, who spent two seasons (2010-11) as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant at Michigan State, rejoined the Spartan program in July 2012. He has been a part of two Big Ten Championship teams and eight bowl games since being appointed to the full-time staff. Burghardt came back to East Lansing following a six-month stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Burghardt is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). After earning his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State in kinesiology in 2009, Burghardt worked as a graduate student volunteer on the Spartan strength and conditioning staff in 2009-10. He received his master’s degree in kinesiology in 2011 from MSU and his PhD in exercise science from Michigan State in 2021. Burghardt and his wife, Alaina, have three children: Annabelle, Liam and Emilia.
