Philipp on Epley, meet the staff

[Mavric]

“It was a lot to take in, for sure," said the first-year Husker football strength coach. "You come to a place like this. You talk about the mecca, and ground zero, and the godfather of strength and conditioning. It’s one of those things, I can’t really explain it, but to meet the guy that started everything, without him I don’t think any of us would be in the positions that we’re in now to help mold these kids right now."

The godfather he speaks of is, of course, Boyd Epley, who returned to Lincoln as the assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning in October.

"Just having him here, coming here, looking at the Lifter of the Year awards, all the history of the national championships, and to actually be able to talk to him, it’s one of those things, not many people can say they got the chance to do that," Philipp said.

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“We do. Almost all the time we sit down and bounce ideas off of each other," Philipp said in a phone interview Monday. "It’s a staff effort. We all sit down together and kind of bounce ideas off of each other. What do we want to do with the sports science lab? How can we be the flagship, on the cutting edge? What works? What doesn’t? What do we need? (Epley) is super open and super helpful to us. Anytime we need something, he’s always there, and anytime he needs something, we make sure we’re always there for him."

 

LJS

[Eric the Red]

OMW Nebraska’s strength and conditioning staff

Mark Philipp, Southern Illinois (2005): NU offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh actually recruited Philipp out of high school. But Hawaii ran out of scholarships. So Cavanaugh called a buddy — Jerry Kill — and told him about an “explosive” and “tough” kid from Southern California.

Tim Rabas, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (2002): The first call Philipp said he made. He HAD to have Rabas, who spent six years on staff at Oregon State. Rabas was a four-year football letterwinner in college. He was named an assistant strength coach at N.C. State in 2012.

Andrew Ervin, DeSales (2009): Ervin, a lacrosse player at DeSales, graduated and eventually made it back to N.C. State, where he interned in 2008. He earned a Master’s degree there in 2012. He was the associate strength coach at Bryant for two years.

Willie Jones, South Dakota State (2007): He’s been with the Husker program for seven seasons now. Jones and Philipp evidently meshed well from the get-go. Said Philipp: “When I talked to him right off the bat ... it seemed like I’d known him forever.”

Jamie Belt, Wayne State (2005): Belt had an endorsement from Boyd Epley, Philipp said. How could he say no? Belt worked at UNO for three years. While at Omaha’s Visible Impact Fitness, Belt helped train world champion boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford.