S&C

[huskernumerouno]

NU looks for an edge with strength and conditioning

BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Feb 17, 2008 - 12:16:21 am CST

You see the massive weight room attached to Memorial Stadium. You see third-stringers walk out of it looking like The Hulk and it’s easy to forget how different it was not that long ago.

 

Boyd Epley can take you back to 1969, back when many people didn’t think football players should be lifting weights out of fear it’d make them slow.

 

Epley wasn’t so sure. He came from Arizona, where some people were actually using weights. He was just a kid then, an injured Husker pole vaulter trying to strengthen his body by lifting. A few football players followed his lead. Assistant coach Tom Osborne was interested.

 

“Pretty soon I was standing before Bob Devaney,” Epley said. “I didn’t know if I was in trouble or not.”

 

The Husker football coach wanted Epley to tell him exactly why he thought his players should be lifting weights. None of the other schools were doing that. Why should Nebraska?

 

Epley hardly was full of answers then, but he sold Devaney enough on the idea.

 

Remembered Epley: “He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If anyone gets slower, you’re fired.’”

 

That fall Epley started on salary at $2 an hour. No one got slower, apparently.

 

Nebraska’s strength program would soon become the envy of schools across the country. Epley remained in charge of Husker football strength and conditioning for 34 years. He became a legend in the field and people around the program called him “Mr. Big” for his big ideas.

 

To go back to 1969 and see the evolution of the strength and conditioning program is now an amazing study.

 

Then, hardly any team had a strength and conditioning coach. Now, you aren’t going to find a big-time football school without one — well-schooled and often well-paid. Nebraska’s new football strength and conditioning coach, James Dobson, makes $130,000 a year, more even than two of the new Husker assistant coaches.

 

He earns every penny, coaches will tell you. Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said the strength coach and academic coordinator are probably the two most important people in the program outside of the coaching staff.

 

“He’s the guy that’s with our players every single day,” Watson said. “Because of that, philosophically, he’s going to develop a toughness, he’s going to develop a standard of accountability. He’s going to develop a standard of expectation.”

 

Jeff Jamrog, NU assistant athletic director for football operations, went another step.

 

“The hiring of a strength coach is as important as the offensive and defensive coordinators,” he said.

 

The heavy responsibility of the position is why many head coaches now hand pick their strength coaches. Bill Callahan chose Dave Kennedy. Bo Pelini chose Dobson.

 

A certain level of humility must come with the position, always recognizing that you never know it all. If you ever think that, you’re probably in for a big fall.

 

“I think strength and conditioning is a lot like medicine,” Dobson said. “It’s ever-evolving.”

 

This brings to mind a story from Epley. Two decades ago, most strength coaches were having football players run long distances during training.

 

Jamrog, a Husker letterwinner from 1985-87, remembers Epley used to have players run 1½ miles to see if they were in shape.

 

But in the late ’80s, research found that football players did not need to build such an aerobic base.

 

Epley changed methods he had used for almost 20 years. He made all his running drills 60 yards or less. “I argued with coaches, even with coaches on the Nebraska staff. We argued every day about this. There was tremendous resistance.”

 

The season Epley stopped the long-distance running, Nebraska’s linemen bulked up 30 pounds per player. Dominating seasons soon followed in the mid-’90s.

 

“I was sometimes flying by the seat of my pants,” Epley said. “I learned from mistakes.”

 

Epley, now working for the National Strength and Conditioning Association in Colorado Springs, Colo., believes a lot of coaches still get it wrong today in the aerobic drills they make players do.

 

But he likes what he’s heard about Dobson. “I look for him to get Nebraska back on track.”

 

He also thinks Dobson will be aided greatly by having at his side the knowledge of Mike Arthur, named Nebraska’s director of strength and conditioning in January. Arthur has been with the Husker athletic department for more than 30 years and Epley will tell you there’s no one in the country better.

 

Arthur came into the Husker program eight years after Epley got his start at NU.

 

Back then, Epley had to convince the head of the physical education department to set up a couple of morning classes that might bring players in for lifting.

 

Guys started showing up, a class roster with names on it like Tagge and Glover.

 

There were no Transformer machines that adjust to players’ weights and heights, nor were there 22-foot-high cathedral-shaped windows to look out after a completed set.

 

Yes, things have changed, but still there is this common theme: There’s always another level a strength and conditioning coach is trying to reach. What you might think is cutting-edge today could be outdated tomorrow.

 

“You got to have a beginner’s mind and always wanting to learn what’s the latest study out there, what’s the latest equipment,” Dobson said. “Because you need to have any edge you can get on the competition.”

[Hunter94]

makes sense, the playing field has been leveled since NU had the edge many years ago.

[Touchdown Tommie]

I hope Dobson can bring back the NU swagger....dominating the LOS and just wearing down teams. It seemed like they were slow the past few years....that may be from BC not recruiting top speed, but even the "athletes" of the team seemed a step slower and never got better.

[strigori]

If Epley approves, then I am going to take the man's word for it. Epely is a good part of what made us the juggernaut we were.

[hastingshusker]

I hope Dobson can bring back the NU swagger....dominating the LOS and just wearing down teams. It seemed like they were slow the past few years....that may be from BC not recruiting top speed, but even the "athletes" of the team seemed a step slower and never got better.

 

I think that has to do with the development of players rather then their abilities. As players mature in age, and muscular development they should be able to increase speed. Obviously Linemen won't be running 4 flat 40 times but they can still put up decent numbers. You just have to do the right lifts and stretches...something that hasn't happened lately.

 

I work with the parent of a curent LB and she was describing a workout session and her son was saying the players were exhausted and admiting they haven't worked that hard in years.

[jakokid]

I hope Dobson can bring back the NU swagger....dominating the LOS and just wearing down teams. It seemed like they were slow the past few years....that may be from BC not recruiting top speed, but even the "athletes" of the team seemed a step slower and never got better.

 

I think that has to do with the development of players rather then their abilities. As players mature in age, and muscular development they should be able to increase speed. Obviously Linemen won't be running 4 flat 40 times but they can still put up decent numbers. You just have to do the right lifts and stretches...something that hasn't happened lately.

 

I work with the parent of a curent LB and she was describing a workout session and her son was saying the players were exhausted and admiting they haven't worked that hard in years.

who is that LB?

[HuskerEd]

I was lucky enough to attend a presentation by Mr. Epley this weeked. It was about 3 hours worth of strength and conditioning. This guys lives and breathes Nebraska Football. His presentation was such an eye opener but many high school coaches wanted to protest. They just could not understand why running the kids to death didn't work. Basically by doing proper training techniques with squats, clings etc. your players develop their legs a butt muscles. This improves the "Triple Extension" that he preaches. This is what makes the kids faster, improves vertical and power for blocking. A key principal is training your kid for 5 second bursts by doing explosive training exercises.

 

He used Tommis Frazier as an example of the speed his program develops. I don't think most people would call Tommie slow. According to Boyd he ran a 4.62 40 yard dash but could cut on a dime. This is what he called game speed which is what you really desire. The 40 yard dash times are for track kids not football kids. Track kids are fast in a straight line not elusive. He said Coach Tom understood what 40 times were good for so he would never let Boyd time the football players during season. Too much risk for a hamstring pull.

 

If you coach or have a kid playing any sport review his program. It really does make a ton of sense. Especially when he tells it first hand. He is located in Colorado Springs now with the NSCA. A coach can attend an 8 hour training sessin for a mmimal fee. If it was not so far from Kanas City I would go myself.

 

It was pretty cool when he showed a NU lineman or running back blowing someone up with a block. Even sweeter in a room full of MU, KU and K-State fans.

[HuskerTrucker]

I think a lot of S&C is mental, you have to want to do it, you have to be able to take a little discomfort to do it. That IMO is the difference between the really good high schoolers and the mediocre in a lot of cases.

 

I know when I was in high school I just didn't have the desire to succeed that I had later on...when I was in the military, I ran a faster 2 mile run in combat boots than I ever ran running track in high school. The only difference was I was willing to take more discomfort as I got older. So it makes a difference.

 

If only I knew in HS what I know now...

[Hunter94]

not sure, but seems like i remember developing the fast twitch muscles vs. the slow twitch muscles had a lot to do with speed or the athletes that inherited more fast twitch mass as opposed to slow twitch were just plain more athletic. i bet someone here could give us a more scientific twist on how athlete speed and movement is developed. interesting topic.

[Touchdown Tommie]

not sure, but seems like i remember developing the fast twitch muscles vs. the slow twitch muscles had a lot to do with speed or the athletes that inherited more fast twitch mass as opposed to slow twitch were just plain more athletic. i bet someone here could give us a more scientific twist on how athlete speed and movement is developed. interesting topic.

 

I think you are correct....fast twitch muscles are what gives the most speed right away. Genes play a huge roll and then as HuskerTrucker pointed out, you have to have desire. Some guys just can't build speed fast. I do agree that coaches need to change their thought process and realize some things have changed. Offering a kid a scholarship b/c he can run a 4.3 forty needs to looked at. Sport specific speed is far more important!

[hack]

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[papersun87]

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Better . . . stronger . . . faster . . .