Anxiously awaiting the Heisman Trophy announcement, Colin Hurley got his final glimpse of what his future could hold at LSU. Coaches, staff members and players gathered around a screen at Tiger Stadium to see if Jayden Daniels would be awarded for his historic season.

Hurley, on an official visit to Baton Rouge, felt the nerves creep. He was two weeks away from signing his letter of intent to officially join the Tigers, but the time didn’t separate the feeling and passion for the program he pledged to in November 2022.

“At the end of the night, they pick the best guy and the best player in the country,” Hurley said. “Whenever he got selected, the room erupted. It was amazing.”

To reach that moment, Daniels approached new ways of development at LSU. One way he elevated his performance this past season was through Cognilize, a virtual reality system LSU director of performance Jack Marucci instilled into the program.

For LSU, this advancement in game preparation did not only strengthen its performances; it also caught the eyes of Hurley. Hurley became fascinated with Cognilize while on visits to Baton Rouge over the last year.

When deciding on a college, Hurley sought out what advantages a program offered him off the field to further his ability on it. Marucci provided that advantage with Cognilize, layering support to address optimal development, arm care, sports performance and cognitive growth.

“It was really bold, really unique of themselves to go out there and show commitment and investment to the QB position, which is most times a central point of success for a team,” Hurley said.

Hurley described LSU coaches as “curious learners,” trying to maximize the abilities of their players. The science behind Cognilize does that by correlating exactly to a player’s performance and ability.

Daniel’s growth caught Hurley’s eyes, furthering his interest in what Cognilize would be able to offer him as a quarterback. While on his visits to Baton Rouge, Hurley got his first look inside the headset.

“Whenever I’m in it, I love it,” Hurley said. “You can really see how much it can help a quarterback, processing reads, when to throw the ball on time and where it’s supposed to be placed. Being able to have that visual effect really helps.”

The system has the quarterback holding controllers in each hand, navigating his personal character and reacting to how a defense approaches his play. The technology is not just artificial intelligence as it adapts and and develops the game situations and analyzes key metrics and data while in the system.

“But knowing how to understand and what to do with the data is even better,” Hurley said. “You can see that LSU’s coaching staff and Mr. Marucci really went a long way into seeing and how to use the data to further enhance and help with performance on the field for the quarterbacks.”

Hurley will enroll at LSU on Tuesday, getting his feet on campus for the first time as an official member of the football program. Following the path of a Heisman quarterback, Hurley is striving for every avenue that will assist in his advancement on the field.

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