Track & Field? Good for football?

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I was at a track meet today and saw future Gopher Joe Bjorklund in the field events.

Back in my day, football coaches practicallly demanded that all players would participate in track. Is that still the case these days? I know that the big guys get a lot of work in the weightroom during track, and the skill guys get plenty of running.

So, does the modern day football player still get pushed to participate in track, or would the football coach rather have them dedicate more time to the weight room?

By the way, Bjorklund easily won the shot put event. I couldn't quite make out what the official said, but I'm pretty sure the best toss was 53'8". Not bad. Not bad at all. He still looks like a kid and I'm sure will be developing more man muscles once he gets to the U of M. Appears he is about 6'3" and he was explosive throwing the shot. I'll look forward to following his football career.
 

I think the sprints are a good indicator how fast someone really is. If player can run faster than 10.8 in the 100 meter, he is really fast (although it doesn't mean he will be a good football player). Someone who is good at the shot put and the discus probably will have the good feet a lineman needs. I remember Fred Rogers ran track for the Gophers (he was a high school team mate of Thomas Hamner), but Rogers never did much on the football team (except run into a punt returner once).
 

Good track and football programs work together. It is so hard to get kids working on strength and speed development on their own without it being in an organized setting like track. I'm sure there are exceptions. But every program I've been involved with has encouraged all non baseball players to run track.
 

Ahhhhh, a subject near and dear to my heart.

Good HS football programs SHOULD go hand and hand with good track and field programs, often they do. The speed work, strength work, coordination and balance work, flexibility, all of these are mainstays for various track and field events and players will improve these aspects of their football game by dedicating themselves to track and field in the spring.
Granted, there is no hitting or change of direction work, and obviously no scheme work or playbook discussions, but the physical improvements athletes can make in Track are tremendous.

I've been involved with HS track and field in MN for around 15 years now, and it is changing, mainly due to sport specialization, and the growing midwest lacrosse(like florida ice hockey) and rugby movements as well as year round hockey and football camps. Kids simply don't think they get benefits from track that they do, because often it's a long process to see the improvement in speed, strength, or balance/coordination/flexibility, coaches don't understand why weight room numbers are down, speed is somewhat rarer or more often simply god gifted, and kids end up with more injuries/nagging issues.

Smart and old school coaches still push track and field, along with multiple sport involvement to well round and expand athletic talents of their players. Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Rosemount, Moundsview, Hopkins all have solid and well run track and field programs. Most of those have seen recent success in the HS football tournament.

I'll report some various gopher prospects and commits track and field performances as the spring season moves on, so far I've seen DCT run indoors and was impressed with his size more than his well documented speed which was excellent, but I had no idea the frame and height he possessed.
 

Ole, Thanks for the post and plan to post information on prospects. I know in developing the list of top players, I often look at sprinters, jumpers, and throwers in identifying top players. Feel free to share information on juniors, sophomores, and freshman that have potential to be football players to watch. V Ames
 


Good stuff Ole, I totally agree that football and track should be tied together. I wish I saw more of it, I really think we'd see more improvement in our high school football product with more emphasis on that.
 


vames said:
Ole, Thanks for the post and plan to post information on prospects. I know in developing the list of top players, I often look at sprinters, jumpers, and throwers in identifying top players. Feel free to share information on juniors, sophomores, and freshman that have potential to be football players to watch. V Ames
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Funny you mention freshmen and sophmores with FB potential. I've got a few.
I'll preface with even though I strongly believe track makes football players better, great track athletes don't always become great footballers. Take a good FB player and train him in track = better overall athlete = better FB player, whereas take a great track athlete and put him in pads without any previous FB experience results are mixed.
OK preface done,
Forest lake has a sophmore built like I've never seen a sophmore built, I'm going to guess 6'1 220 with most of the weight in his legs, apparently he's their fullback he runs an 11.6 100 and threw the shot 45' his first meet trying it. I've never seen him play football(see preface), but the kid is built like a budding D1 athlete.
Keep an eye on Eden Prairie's now sophmore thrower Reinke, who apparently is a heck of a D lineman, built like a baby rhino.
One of the great things about being involved in track and field is I get a preview of some of the state's top athletes when they are pups and get to see them develop and become the big dogs who end up in various D1 programs.
Some kids just stand out, Henderson as a freshman was a funny sight, 6'7 300 then. Bjorkland stood out right away too, just a big kid with good explosion.
Waiwaiole, now an air force linebacker also stood out for me, so fast on the track for his size.
Stillwater's Arnfelt was another big kid who could run, now a NW defensive lineman.
 

dpodoll68 said:
:rolleyes:
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Well, a 10.8 is really fast, in general lol. It's not national honor roll level or anything, but still pretty quick, especially in Minnesota where they can't train outdoors all year long like they do in the south.
 



I believe you are talking about Glen Miron from Forest Lake. I saw him play varsity against CDH in their first game of the season and having a few nice runs, which was impressive as a sophomore. I had him at 6'1 200, but wouldn't be surprised if he has grown since weighed last fall. 11'6 100m and 45' put are impressive when coming from same individual!

As Reinke started a number of games for EP last year as a sophomore, I had him in my top five players to watch for 2013.

Kuester from GSL seemed to have some speed 11.08 100m dash last year.

How about Anderson from Andover. Heck of a thrower, but not sure how good of a football player he is.

Any knowledge on what Andre Lewis from Central is doing next year? He did have a heck of a season last year and good speed at 10.96. Never hit the radar for recruiting from what I can tell.

Waiwaiole had a heck of a year at Air Force this past season and had a long fumble recovery returned for a TD. Am guessing that is the speed you are referring to.

Feel free to email me any updates at [email protected]
 

vames said:
I believe you are talking about Glen Miron from Forest Lake. I saw him play varsity against CDH in their first game of the season and having a few nice runs, which was impressive as a sophomore. I had him at 6'1 200, but wouldn't be surprised if he has grown since weighed last fall. 11'6 100m and 45' put are impressive when coming from same individual!

As Reinke started a number of games for EP last year as a sophomore, I had him in my top five players to watch for 2013.

Kuester from GSL seemed to have some speed 11.08 100m dash last year.

How about Anderson from Andover. Heck of a thrower, but not sure how good of a football player he is.

Any knowledge on what Andre Lewis from Central is doing next year? He did have a heck of a season last year and good speed at 10.96. Never hit the radar for recruiting from what I can tell.

Waiwaiole had a heck of a year at Air Force this past season and had a long fumble recovery returned for a TD. Am guessing that is the speed you are referring to.

Feel free to email me any updates at [email protected]
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Yes, Glen was his name, wayyy bigger than 200 lbs, I was being conservative with 220 and easily 6'1, impressive kid, nice and good attitude too. He'll be a 50' guy by the end of the year and had some serious acceleration on the track.

Don't know Keuster

Anderson is a heck of a thrower, his parents are obviously legendary Gophers in track and field, I've heard rumors of football offers, but he may end up going somewhere for track.

Lewis I believe was at an indoor meet i saw, he ended up beating DCT in the 60 after DCT had already ran several races including a 400, fast obviously, but smaller.
 

I can go faster than that over 100m. Provided it is straight downhill.
 

Not sure about Kill, from what I understand under Brewster it wasn't encouraged or discouraged to be involved with Track and Field. Only caveat was it was ok so long as it didn't interfere with what they wanted you to do for the football team. For example, they wouldn't want someone they are trying to put weight on losing weight for track. And they didn't want you missing too many (preferrably any) football practices.

However you had to get accepted to the team by the track coach. And the coach is in business to win meets, so unless a player could either unseat someone already on the team or the team was already short in a position, it was tough to get on the team. And I think the coach basically didn't want to deal with players who weren't going to hold him as the #1 priority, so was extra tough.
 



vames said:
Ole, Thanks for the post and plan to post information on prospects. I know in developing the list of top players, I often look at sprinters, jumpers, and throwers in identifying top players. Feel free to share information on juniors, sophomores, and freshman that have potential to be football players to watch. V Ames
Click to expand...

Just an update from recent track meets on a few choice athletes FYI
Zach Johnson from Eastview is impressive, size is legit right now, just looks like a D1 lineman, threw the discus really well with minimal technique and a ton of power, also interesting that he's a lefty.
I'd be surprised if he doesn't get an offer, he definitely looks/acts/is IMO a D1 caliber prospect.

Emeche Wells continues a strong spring track season from what I can tell, he may be a WR prospect on the radar.

I'll update further if any other prospects stand out in the spring season.
 

Thanks for the updates

Ole said:
Just an update from recent track meets on a few choice athletes FYI
Zach Johnson from Eastview is impressive, size is legit right now, just looks like a D1 lineman, threw the discus really well with minimal technique and a ton of power, also interesting that he's a lefty.
I'd be surprised if he doesn't get an offer, he definitely looks/acts/is IMO a D1 caliber prospect.

Emeche Wells continues a strong spring track season from what I can tell, he may be a WR prospect on the radar.

I'll update further if any other prospects stand out in the spring season.
Click to expand...

Ole - Thanks for the updates - I really look forward to reading them
 


I am a track coach at one of the aforementioned "top" area track programs and love to see track and field threads. Crawford-Tufts is ineed the top football related draw (and probably top track draw overall apologies to Mike Sandle) in MN. He has been running a lot more 400's this year (likely for training purposes) and appears to be more filled out (in a good way). He did have a handheld 10.4 in the 100 last week in less than ideal conditions which is coverted to 10.64 auto time. He should be able to break Ibrahim Kabia's state record this year in the 100 and should threaten Jon Boyd's (what a talent waste) outstanding 200 record of 20.92 with a 21.86 FAT already in hand this year. Bjorklund does indeed impress with his shot put abililty (53'11" so far this year), I can't wait to see him as a Gopher. Also junior recruit Charles Webb has been running on Minnetonka's 2nd rated 4x100 team. Wells is an impressive hurdler from Roseville and could garner some steam with a camp showing. Andrew Lewis from Central did beat DCT with a 6.90 60 meters this year, a good time for sure, not sure what his future holds. Walk on kicker Platner from EP is a top returning 800 runner this year. Thomas Anderson of Andover is a junior OL who is one of the top shot thrower so far this year (60'4"), not sure of his Big Ten ability, but is a big kid. I will post more as I observe throughout the season as well.
 

Jerry Rice - Training Regimen

His independent off-season workouts included conditioning, team workouts and reviewing game films. But, most of Rice's workouts were individual. Weight training, trail running, uphill sprints and endurance training. He credited his trail running for his ability to change directions suddenly on the field. He credited his endurance training to his ability to separate himself from defenders in the 4th quarter. He wasn't the fastest guy on the field, so he practiced his routes. He did not practice for speed. He had other goals in mind that he thought more important, like being at the right spot at the right time. Being able to jump for balls and outmuscle the defender. This information comes from an unlikely source, a book titled Talent is Overrated, by Jeff Colvin. His contention is that there are no natural talented people. They all got to where they are by working deliberately to gain whatever skill or strength they possessed. The more hours you put into it, the more you separate yourself from your peers. You also need observation from others so that they can offer feedback. Self feedback is not enough, according to Colvin's book. Interesting perspective. One that all freshmen should read prior to training with the Gopher's and starting school.
 

Track is a separate sport that mimicks football very little. If a player has spring football availible to them, that will be far more beneficial than track. Folks who are explosive or fast on the football field may translate that into a good track performance. I don't know of anyone who wasn't and then ran track and became fast or explosive.

Don't confuse that with them getting in shape by running track and regaining the speed and explosiveness they already had; they could have accomplished the same thing playing soccer.

Track versus nothing? Run track to stay or get in shape.
 

I figure most Minnesota schools don't have spring football available, so track & field seems like a logical sport to get a kid working on his speed, quickness, and agility in a competitive forum during the spring time. Of course, if they already have a program set up to enhance their football year round, track wouldn't be much of assistance to them beyond just competing. I think track & field can have it's place with athletes to help them improve their "primary" sports though.
 

Ole and RoyalGo4 please keep posting the track updates. I also enjoy reading them. I understand good times and distances don't necessarily mean a good track and field athlete will be a good football payer, but good performances indicate good athletes (and that is who Kill is looking for).
 

An update from Friday's True Team State meet.
I was able to see Bjorkland throw for the first time this year, quite impressive IMO.
He's just built like an athletic kid, like a supersized sprinter. He threw fairly well, not incredible, but you can tell he's got tools in spades. His teammate Berghuis was impressive as well.

Junior prospectwise, I wasn't able to see as much as I'd hoped. Charles Webb was running somewhere, didn't see it though. Mike Sandle from Eden Prairie is an impressive athlete, though he hasn't been on the football radar as far as I know.
Overall I was impressed with the physical gifts and athleticism of Rosemount, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka, those programs have athletes and must know how to develop them too.

More to come as the conference, section and state meets will certainly highlight some individuals, keep an eye on Devin Crawford-Tufts, he's probably peaking soon and will attempt(and succeed IMO) to break the state 100 record, somewhere around 10.3.
 

DCT in a 10.3 FAT timing? If he can do that....good gracious. But weather around here has been so terrible, he probably won't even get conditions for a run like that.
 

Monty519 said:
DCT in a 10.3 FAT timing? If he can do that....good gracious. But weather around here has been so terrible, he probably won't even get conditions for a run like that.
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It will warm up, as long as his training hasn't been compromised by the weather he should peak soon. Our sprint coach tries to peak guys around state sectionals, he mentioned several kids have started to peak early regardless of the weather. Hoping for a few nice and warm weeks of weather to end the season.
 

They did likely have greater use of indoor facilities too and stuff for training, but it just seems like often in Minnesota you get a lot of blustery conditions right around sections and state meet time. I hope he can catch a good day, it'd be awesome to see him pop a time like that.
 

DCT will hopefully be back up to speed after suffering a fairly (hopefully) minor hamstring injury at the Section True Team track and field meet. His coaches have held him out for the last 2 weeks and will let him loose at the section meet and he will likely skip the long jump. Charles Webb has been long jupming and runniong on the relays. He is about a 20' jumper and is impressively built, but is 5' 10" at best. Looks like a tough competetor. Also impressive at the state true team meet was walk-on kicker David Platner winning the 800 in 1:57 and running on the relays.

Sophomore prospect Keelon Brookins of tartan had a recent impressive 11.16 FAT 100 meter dash.
 

An update from our sectional meet last night.
Champlin Park has got some big kids, both shotput qualifiers were from champlin, one a very large sophmore(6'6 280ish) throwing 51 feet, the other is Bryce Johnson, a very explosive big man, 6'3 275ish, who threw 53, but came in with a 57 ft seed distance.
Preface as always that I'm looking merely at frames and athleticism, both these kids look like they have some potential on the gridiron.
I'll be able to watch more on the track Friday, Osseo, Blaine, Champlin, Rogers, Coon Rapids, among others will be there.
 

Ole, Thanks for the update. Would that sophomore be Joe Stephens by chance? 6'6 280 is a nice size for a OT.

Bummer about DCT and the hamstring. Time to focus on recovering and football now.

Any input on our other top football player is appreciated.
 

Ole said:
Ahhhhh, a subject near and dear to my heart.

Good HS football programs SHOULD go hand and hand with good track and field programs, often they do. The speed work, strength work, coordination and balance work, flexibility, all of these are mainstays for various track and field events and players will improve these aspects of their football game by dedicating themselves to track and field in the spring.
Granted, there is no hitting or change of direction work, and obviously no scheme work or playbook discussions, but the physical improvements athletes can make in Track are tremendous.

I've been involved with HS track and field in MN for around 15 years now, and it is changing, mainly due to sport specialization, and the growing midwest lacrosse(like florida ice hockey) and rugby movements as well as year round hockey and football camps. Kids simply don't think they get benefits from track that they do, because often it's a long process to see the improvement in speed, strength, or balance/coordination/flexibility, coaches don't understand why weight room numbers are down, speed is somewhat rarer or more often simply god gifted, and kids end up with more injuries/nagging issues.

Smart and old school coaches still push track and field, along with multiple sport involvement to well round and expand athletic talents of their players. Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Rosemount, Moundsview, Hopkins all have solid and well run track and field programs. Most of those have seen recent success in the HS football tournament.

I'll report some various gopher prospects and commits track and field performances as the spring season moves on, so far I've seen DCT run indoors and was impressed with his size more than his well documented speed which was excellent, but I had no idea the frame and height he possessed.
Click to expand...

Great post Ole.

As a former wannabe athlete in HS, I ran track JUST so I could be in shape for football season. Our weight lifting/shot/discus coach in track was our weight lifting coach in football (I believe he also coached the power lifting team along with having an assistant head coach title for the JV/sophomore football teams). So I saw a lot of Coach Vessel.

Our head coach in HS was very adamant that we got into other sports.. Wrestling, track and hockey to be most specific. Because of the obvious, those sports had some similarities to football drills. Come to think of it, the most football sound players I can think of were in wrestling and hockey. The hardest hitters I've ever experienced on the field were wrestlers. And the hog-molleys that were built like walls? Yeah, those were the guys that came from hockey and track.
 

Monty519 said:
I figure most Minnesota schools don't have spring football available, so track & field seems like a logical sport to get a kid working on his speed, quickness, and agility in a competitive forum during the spring time. Of course, if they already have a program set up to enhance their football year round, track wouldn't be much of assistance to them beyond just competing. I think track & field can have it's place with athletes to help them improve their "primary" sports though.
Click to expand...

Not to be argumentive but....the techniques that will lower track times will not make you faster on the football field. Coming out of the blocks with your head down, chin tucked will get you knocked unconscious on the football field. Asside from staying low coming out the blocks everything else is foreign to football. Track is long speed, football is bursts (short) of speed. Track is about turnover (number strides...the longer the better) football is change of direction. There is nothing in track that takes into account the effect another individual (maybe long distance runners who don't have to stay in an assigned lane) might phyiscally have on you.

I would say that basketball, wrestling and soccer are better sports for football preparation than track and field. Basketball gives you stamina, change of direction and hand eye coordination. Wresting gives you stamina and leverage, leverage and did I mention leverage? Soccer gives you stamina and footwork. And we know that it translates directly to kicking and punting.
 

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