I've put together our Summer Football plan. I spent some time looking at what we had success with last summer and this winter and tried to combine those ideas with some new approaches I want to take.
I'm experimenting with the guys who are going to be home in May and June. It's nothing crazy. Just a slightly different exercise arrangement. I thought about trying a different progression with them, but realized that would be stupid because what we do works well.
In the winter we trained 4 days per week with 3 conditioning sessions ( 2 after lifting and 1 on Friday as a stand alone workout). Spring Ball goes to a 2 day in-season workout. I always tell the guys to take 2-3 weeks off - completely off from any organized athletic activity.
Obviously, we have our lazier chuckleheads that I don't have to tell this to. The idiots who "want" to play in the NFL, but NEVER come in and do any extra work. The same ones that barely to the minimum and certainly don't do anything when they're not required to. This group of guys I couldn't care less about. It used to bother me, but I've grown to realize that I can't want it more than they do. I just hope these degenerates get their degrees so they have a chance in the real world.
The other group are the guys that just love to lift. This group I can work with. However, I want them to get away for a little while. I think it's important to do your work and be here all summer, but I also remember and understand how necessary it is to get away and recharge the batteries. I needed it when I played and I need it more now that I'm a coach. None of them listen to me and that doesn't change anything in my world. I don't come in the first week after the semester ends. And I don't do much in May and that won't change.
When we start up as a group we'll be training and running 3 days per week. The goal in June is to build a base (similar to what we did in January and February. It's our last chance to try to pack on some size and get their bodies conditioned. Once we hit July we'll continue with 3 days of lifting, but we'll add 2 days of agility work. The only conditioning day that won't change is Friday - The Hill. We'll still condition on Monday and Wednesday after lifting, but the distances are much shorter. We'll also incorporate the conditioning test into training.
As of right now I have convinced the head coach to change the test from 16, 110's (this is where ALL of our muscle pulls/strains come) to 20 Down and Backs (Skill: 25+25/Big Skill: 20+20/Bigs: 15+15). I'm hoping he doesn't change his mind. He's a pretty easy guy to work with as long as you make your idea sound like it was his idea.
My approach was to set him up with questions about how he wanted to run his offense (he's the OC, too... and in reality, doesn't consider the defense when making decisions). So I asked (strategically) how often he wanted to snap the ball in an ideal situation. He said every 18-20 seconds. If you've been around the program, this will NEVER happen, even when everything is running like clockwork. But, that's what he thinks and wants, so... I asked a few other questions (that I already knew the answer to). A day or 2 later I stopped into his office to shoot the shit, knowing he would start asking me about the summer.
Side note: I'm an incredibly observant person. I notice EVERYTHING. I pay attention to EVERYTHING. I notice stupid stuff... when a kid wears different shoes in the weight room or at practice, if someone is wearing Nike (we're UA and aren't supposed to wear any Nike or Adidas because of the contract).. you name it, I notice it. So...
After 4 years of working with this guy I know exactly how he's going to react to things. After we exchanged pleasantries he went right to summer questions. I set it up perfectly. Hahaha!
I dropped my idea for the conditioning test and rerouted it back to him saying he wanted to run plays every 18-20 seconds. I explained how we'd structure conditioning and agility drills around the idea of him running plays every 18-20 seconds. In reality, we'll run the drills properly. If they need rest to perform agility or speed drills properly, we'll rest. But, from a true conditioning day standpoint, I'll incorporate the idea of snapping the ball every 18-20 seconds.
It wasn't my best exercise in making my idea sound like his, but I think it was successful. When I finish typing this I'll make another quest to his office for a visit. We'll see how convincing I was.
I realize this got a little off track, but if you read my stuff you know this is how I am. I'm putting the finishing touches on the program and once I'm good with it I'll post it. I'm not sure if I'll write the July program now or wait until the middle of June to re-evaluate. That worked well for us in the winter, but my assistants won't be here all summer so I may just write it and adjust. We shall see.
The other benefit from writing the football plan is that it starts my prep for Baseball and Softball. And those take home programs are done. I'm really happy with those.
I'm off to visit with the head football coach. Enjoy your Friday.