Letter From AFM - Saluting Strong Men

Ever since Boyd Epley changed football forever when, in 1969, he persuaded Bob Devaney to allow Nebraska football players to participate in weight training, the role of strength and conditioning in the game has taken center stage. When the Cornhuskers went on to win consecutive national championships in 1970 and 1971, it was a vivid demonstration of the power of strength training for football and it dispelled the myth that lifting weights would make players muscle-bound and slow.

    At that time, there wasn’t a single strength and conditioning coordinator in the country associated with a college football program (Epley became the first). There were strong players, of course, but most of the time credit was given to hard work on the farm prior to training camp. In a lot of cases, that was true.

    The same was true in high schools. While my high school had a brand new Universal gym delivered in 1971, none of the football coaches encouraged the players to use it. “Conditioning” consisted of repeated runs up a steep hill next to the school, pushing around a 7-man blocking sled and wind sprints. Oh, I left out the jumping jacks before practice.

    The evolution of strength training is clearly evident when you look at film of players in decades past. Even in the NFL, players across the board were noticeably smaller and less muscular. Not today. Even in high school, just about every player is “cut”.

    Today, there isn’t a football program at any level without a detailed, year-round strength and conditioning program. Sophisticated training systems are in place from the high school to the pros and weight rooms everywhere feature a wide variety of modern equipment. 

    AFM devotes part of every issue to strength and conditioning issues. And this month, Samson Equipment, for the 8th year in a row, proudly recognizes the Samson Strength & Conditioning Coaches of the Year. These are the men who devoted countless hours training and motivating their athletes to work harder in the weight room so that they could perform better on the football field. They all had a major impact on their teams’ success in 2010.

    Samson Equipment is uniquely qualified to present these awards. When Dave and Linda Schroeder founded the company in 1976, they were one of the first strength equipment companies to focus primarily on football. Today, you’ll find Samson Equipment in weight rooms nationwide, from middle schools to the NFL. 

    We join Samson in congratulating this year’s Samson Strength & Conditioning Coaches of the Year. We think that you’ll pick up some valuable tips from all nine of them beginning on page 18.

                            John Gallup
                            Editor & Publisher