Mean Green Football Performance
Football Athlete by Frank Wintrich :: Director of Football Performance - University of North Texas
INTRODUCTION – THE REVOLUTION There are little to no professional definitions that exist to define "good" coaching practices when it comes to the training of the modern athlete. The acceptance of this obscure approach is problematic in that if you can't describe good training, then any training can be accepted as OK. While professional organizations may endorse a coach due to his ability to pass a test, the quality of programming and implementation of their programs is often lacking in several areas, leaving their athletes performance deficient and less than optimal. These deficiencies place the athlete in danger of injury not only during competition, but also during preparation for competition, in practice and during training campaigns. This is not acceptable, and this is where the evolution begins. The evolution represents an abandonment of the classical approach of the "strength and conditioning" coach as the "weight room and running only guy". The evolution creates an interweaving of all aspects of athlete performance to include sport coaches, sports medicine and academics. Through the utilization of the Performance Training Pillars, athlete training will be optimized and training will be efficient. The training process must be intense and demanding in order to create the iron will and elitist mentality required of championship programs. While training campaigns must be difficult, it must be understood that the training process is a complex interweaving of physical, psychological, technical, tactical and academic preparedness. It is the responsibility of the Performance Coach to prepare the athlete for peak performance through the management of stressors and the enhancement of traits and abilities necessary for sport mastery. COMMENTARY Therefore, let this be our CALL TO ACTION. In the words of Buddy Morris, former Director of Physical Development at Pitt and the Cleveland Browns, "If you limit your knowledge, you limit your athletes." I encourage you to be knowledgeable. Philip Wylie said, "Ignorance is not bliss – it is oblivion," and far too many of our coaches are oblivious to the physiological needs of their athletes. Knowledge is power and the more you know, the more you can apply and allow your athletes to realize their true potential. Don't be too stubborn or too stupid to make changes to what you do. I am amazed by coaches who come to us looking for help and when they see the drastic difference in the programming say "but this is how we've always trained." Truly then, these coaches can expect to achieve the same results they have always had. When researching a program, absorb the information that is presented, modify it to fit your system and then apply it to your program. Don't just follow a program because it is what big time University XYZ does. Remember, you must always question WHY. In order to enact a plan, you must understand WHY that plan works for them. Chances are good that you don't have the athletes or the resources of that major University. And who knows, maybe said coach at XYZ U doesn't know either! Know your athletes and your situation so that you can most effectively apply what you've learned. Be realistic. Don't adopt a training system to inflate your own ego. Just because it works somewhere else, doesn't mean that it's BEST for you and your athletes. Use what information you deem useful to develop a system of training that fits your style of play, the type of athletes that you have and the resources available to you. THE SYSTEM
A quadrennial, multi-lateral, student-athlete preparation program, with the singular purpose of developing sport mastery in the game of collegiate football.
Now that is a mouthful! But what does all that mean, and how can you apply it to your situation. First, let's address sport mastery as this is our singular purpose. We define sport mastery as:
The ability to excel at one's sport with the least expense of physical and emotional energy.
It is important to always keep in mind that we are developing football athletes first. While our training may employ methods utilized by power lifters, strongmen, Olympic lifters, sprinters etc, these are simply the means by which we develop the best Mean Green Football athlete possible. Next, our program is quadrennial. This means that we develop the athlete on a 4-year progression of training. Every year the athlete is in the program, the training evolves to fit their growth. We would be doing our athletes a serious injustice if their senior year training looked exactly like their freshman year training. Third, our program is multi-lateral. This is an essential aspect of the development of our athletes. We must understand that while our roles as the Performance Coach traditionally limit us to being the "running and weight room guy", we must take into account ALL aspects of athletic development. These are:
As the Performance Coach, it is our responsibility to create a marriage of these 4 components to ensure the total development of our athletes. Finally, we must keep in mind that our program is created to develop the student-athlete. It is essential that we balance not only the demands of the athletic schedule, but also take into account the academic load as well. IMPLEMENTATION SAFE
MANAGE FATIGUE
DEVELOP THE "MEAN GREEN" ATTITUDE
CONCLUSION It is always a humbling experience when people will listen to (or read in this case) what you have to say. With that in mind I offer you my most sincere thanks for taking the time to read about our program and the Mean Green System of Development. I hope you found the contents of this article helpful and insightful. If you wish to join the revolution and have your athletes experience an evolution in training, please feel free to contact me with questions, or visit our facility to see the program in action. Our doors are always open.
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