How Miami Hurricanes’ in-house sports psychologist helped DeeJay Dallas save his season

Dr. Eric Goldstein touched down in South Florida after spending a long weekend in New York for Thanksgiving and, as one does, he turned his phone on when he landed, ready to see what he missed while airborne for the past three hours.

His phone blinked to life, then wouldn’t stop blinking.

“I turn my phone on,” Goldstein remembers, “and I’m just like, ‘What happened?’”

Messages poured in while he was in the sky. The Miami Hurricanes had finished their regular season with a 24-3 win against the Pittsburgh Panthers, and DeeJay Dallas spent his postgame news conference extolling the virtues of Miami’s new in-house sports psychologist.

Although Dallas didn’t mention Goldstein by name, Goldstein’s friends and family knew who the running back was talking about. To get over his inexplicable case of sudden fumble-proneness, Dallas turned to Goldstein, who joined the Hurricanes this summer as the athletic department’s first full-time sports psychologist.

“I just thought he was extremely courageous because he didn’t have to,” Goldstein said. “What’s so helpful with that is whether it’s a DeeJay or a Kevin Love from the Cavaliers talking about his anxiety disorder, when you have athletes coming out and talking about it, and saying I’ve sought help and it’s actually been helpful, I think it starts to destigmatize.”

Dallas, however, felt it was important. The sophomore was hard-pressed to remember any in-game fumbles he had prior to last month, when he fumbled twice in a loss to the Duke Blue Devils. He texted coach Mark Richt after the game to apologize, then, a week later, Dallas fumbled again as the Hurricanes fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. This time, Dallas’ coaches were texting him.

Thomas Brown reached out to Dallas after the game with a suggestion. Miami hired a full-time sports psychologist in August, and it was a resource the running backs coach thought one of his top weapons could use. In the span of a week, Dallas estimates he met with Goldstein three or four times and planned to keep meeting with him after the regular season wrapped up.

“We did kind of at that time talk about possibly getting some psychological help,” said Brown, who is also the Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator. “I really appreciate him for not getting too big-headed and kind of swallowing his pride and being able to talk to someone about it that could help him out with that. He’s been really good since then.”

Dallas didn’t fumble in either of the Miami’s last two games and finished the season on a high note, returning a punt for a touchdown and running for 39 yards and another touchdown on eight carries in the regular-season finale at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I sought help,” Dallas said at the postgame news conference. “Coach sent me to like a doctor and we just talked it out and I got everything off my chest. It was hard, but it was easy at the same time.”

This is exactly what the Hurricanes had in mind when they brought in Goldstein. At least eight Atlantic Coast Conference athletic departments, Goldstein said, employ their own sports psychologists. Some house the psychologist elsewhere on campus, like in the guidance office. Others do what Miami does: give the psychologist an office in the athletic center. In August, Goldstein took up residence in the Hecht Athletic Center in Coral Gables.

In the three-plus months since, Goldstein says his services have been “well-utilized.” In a typical week, Goldstein said he will normally see somewhere between 20 and 40 athletes from across the Hurricanes’ 16 teams.

The emphasis is, first and foremost, performance-based. It’s something his office in Hecht allows him to focus on. Goldstein can make easy trips down to the weight rooms to make his face seen around training athletes. He will drop in on coaches meetings and attend film sessions to build trust with the various coaching staffs. Coaches, such as Brown, will now refer players to him or sometimes just call him up to ask for advice with handling a struggling athlete.

Dallas’ case, then, can be applicable across the athletic department. Dallas’ fumbling issue can largely be classified as part of having the yips. Carrying the ball had always been a simple task for the halfback until suddenly it wasn’t. It can happen with basketball players shooting free throws, pitchers trying to find the strike zone or golfers attempting putts. There’s an analog in almost every sport and curing those ills are a two-step method for Goldstein.

First, the psychologist determines the root of the cause.

“I actually try to divide it into one of two issues,” Goldstein said.

Option 1: “Is it maybe a personal problem going on in their life? They’re having a relationship problem, overwhelmed by school — whatever it is — that starts to create a concentration or distraction problem? So even though they’re on the field and supposedly they’re supposed to have full focus, are there personal problems — whatever it may be — that’s getting in the way, that’s interfering with their performance? If that’s the case, let’s work on creating some solutions to the personal problem.

Or option 2: “Is it more of a specific sport-related problem? Not technique because I’m going to assume for most of the athletes that come to me — if it’s purely a technique issue, that’s not my job, but if a coach has identified a technical or mechanical mistake an athlete is making and they haven’t been able to correct that mistake, what’s going on? Now I’ve identified it’s not a personal problem going on, they’re having this struggle. Maybe there’s too much physical tension. Maybe they’re getting too nervous or anxious in game conditions, and so then there are a number of techniques where I teach them literally how to become more focused, how to become more relaxed.”

One of his biggest emphases is in pre-play routine. Sometimes its obvious, like watching the sequence of dribbles and ball spins a free-throw shooter might go through. Other times it’s subtle, like the way a punt returner settles on the spot he will prepare to field a kick.

Mental tension, Goldstein said, can manifest itself as physical tension. If an athlete isn’t relaxed, muscles tighten, which means muscle memory can fail.

“The sky isn’t falling,” Dallas said Wednesday following a practice as Miami prepares to face the Wisconsin Badgers in the Pinstripe Bowl on Thursday in New York. “Next year is going to be a way better year than this year was. We came into this season with high expectations and it didn’t go how we wanted it to so. Bounce back year. Revenge tour starts next week. I’m excited. We start next season off with Wisconsin.”