Men's Golf
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach
Renowned sports psychologist Dr. Fran Pirozzolo joined the University of Houston Men's Golf program as a volunteer assistant coach in November 2014.
Pirozzolo has worked with championship teams and players across many sports throughout his career. For Dismuke, the decision to welcome the newest member of the Houston Men's Golf coaching staff was a simple one.
"Fran's work in the world of psychology is unmatched, and we are fortunate to have someone with his experience and skill associated with our program," Dismuke said. "Fran has worked with some of the PGA TOUR's top players in practice habits, goal setting and mental toughness, and our players will quickly learn from him what they need to do to improve in these and many other areas and help us hold each other accountable."
Pirozzolo served as the mental skills coach with the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2002 when the Yankees won four World Series championships. He worked with the NFL's Houston Texans from 2002 to 2006 and received the 2004 Winston Shell Award for his innovative player development programs.
In his role as an instructor on the PGA TOUR, Pirozzolo worked with numerous world No. 1 players and major champions from all three of the world's major tours. In, 2014, Bernhard Langer won the Charles Schwab Cup on the Champions Tour, while Billy Horschel captured the FedEx Cup.
Pirozzolo received his Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology, training at the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester Center for Brain Research, and is a licensed psychologist with a private office in his hometown of The Woodlands, Texas. He has published more than 300 scientific articles and 14 books and was founding editor for the international journal Developmental Neuropsychology.
As an author, he teamed with golf legend Sam Snead to write The Game I Love and worked with former Houston All-American and renowned coach Jim McLean to write The Putter's Pocket Companion.
He has won numerous academic and scholarly awards, including being a Leopold Schepp Scholar at the University of Chicago and winning the Phillip Rennick Award from the International Neuropsychological Society.
Pirozzolo previously served on the faculties of UCLA, the University of Minnesota Medical School and served as Chief of the Neuropsychology Service at the Baylor College of Medicine for 17 years. He also served as an adjunct professor of psychology at UH from 1981 to 1997.
Taking a sabbatical from the Baylor College of Medicine, he studied the influence of hostile environments on astronaut performance at NASA Johnson Space Center.
Away from sports, Pirozzolo also has worked with high performance teams, like the United States Secret Service and Navy SEALS.
In addition to his Houston duties, Pirozzolo currently serves as adjunct professor at UCLA Medical Center, where he served on a multidisciplinary research team that investigates creativity in athletes using neuroimaging and novel creativity tests.
Growing up, Pirozzolo was the 1968 New York State Catholic High School wrestling champion and competed as an NCAA Division III All-America running back at Wilmington College in 1971 and 1972.
He and his wife, Priscilla, have two sons with University of Houston sports and academic backgrounds. John was a catcher on the Houston Baseball team from 2000 to 2004 and was a member of the Cougars' NCAA Super Regional teams in 2002 and 2003. Joe is currently a doctoral candidate in developmental neuroscience at the University of Houston.
