College S&C State of the Union

Let me start off by giving an update on my health: I’ve successfully made it off the sick bed! I haven’t been rocked by something this nasty since I had Pneumonia my junior year of High School. Worse off, I passed ...

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Leech Letters - Issue 11 - College S&C State of the Union

Let me start off by giving an update on my health: I’ve successfully made it off the sick bed! I haven’t been rocked by something this nasty since I had Pneumonia my junior year of High School.

Worse off, I passed it to my 6-month-old as soon as I started feeling better. He ended up having to go to the Children’s Hospital for Croup Cough, and then back to Hospital for the Flu two days later. A long week of high temps, aggressive coughs, and a baby not acting like himself.

Thankfully, everyone in the house is finally feeling better! It’s been a long two weeks, but the support of friends and family has made this rough time period easier to bare.

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I saw a couple posts on Twitter this week about the state of affairs in college S&C, more negative than positive. Private trainers hearing horror stories from their college athletes who are home for Spring Break. High volumes, early alarms, and power training getting the cold shoulder.

.I won’t deny that some of these issues have negative effects on High Performance. And there are still coaches out there that have no business training athletes. Without taking the responsibility away from incompetent coaches, there are negative aspects that the S&C Coach can’t control.

Too many Strength Coaches are hamstrung by the Sport Coaches they work with. The coach wants practice early in the AM and has the kids plan their academic schedules accordingly so there’s no opportunity to find alternatives. The Sport Coaches are hammering the athletes with significant volume at practice, and then challenge the Strength Coach when the kids are “sore from lift”. And of course, there are always classic college limitations in terms of Nutrition, Rest, and Recovery.

But what can we do to make these things better? How can we be part of the change to make S&C better for the next generation of student athletes? The two things we can do as coaches are continue to call out the things that are blatantly wrong in this field and continue to share a positive way forward.

I will always address an issue with coaches putting athlete’s through mindless and inappropriate workouts. We don’t need to turn Twitter into a debate. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong.

I will also always continue to highlight our Student-Athletes and the High Performance Training we put them through. One of our recruiting pitches at the FCS level is that we truly are focused on development. Whether it’s an underdog chasing big dreams, or a FBS player who didn’t get the development they were looking for, we’re here to prepare them to be better at their sport.

As coaches we need not throw stones in glass houses. We need to continue to ask how we can improve the S&C for the next generation of Student Athletes. But most importantly, we need to act on it. Actions will always speak louder than words.

Keep the fire burning.

Leech

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