8 seasons in under Fleck, how do we feel about our strength & conditioning program?

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GopherEnEspaña

GopherEnEspaña

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Haven't heard much about this over years. Has there been any notable difference under Fleck? Any critiques? These programs are pretty interchangeable at a lot of schools, just thought I'd see if anyone knows any more details.
 


Snake bit at RB but not holding that against them

When I look at the lines, I see what a B1G line should look like. Maybe that's recruiting, maybe development, probably both.

I will never forget an older gentleman behind me at the Dome (can't remember if it was end of Mason or beginning of Brew) commenting that Eden Prairies DLine was bigger than ours and we all burst out laughing.

Definitely not the case now from my untrained eye.
 

pharmacygopher said:
Snake bit at RB but not holding that against them

When I look at the lines, I see what a B1G line should look like. Maybe that's recruiting, maybe development, probably both.

I will never forget an older gentleman behind me at the Dome (can't remember if it was end of Mason or beginning of Brew) commenting that Eden Prairies DLine was bigger than ours and we all burst out laughing.

Definitely not the case now from my untrained eye.
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Mason seemed to like lean linemen. Ones that could get to the next level (linebackers and safeties). Some were still "big", but not massive.
 

injuries are going to happen in an often-violent sport like football. the question is whether injuries could be reduced with a different strength and conditioning program.

and that is almost impossible to consider without having detailed information on every injury - when and how it happened.

same thing with the RB's. I don't know whether it is possible to evaluate or 'prove' that a RB who goes over 25 carries a game is more prone to injury. it seems logical, but that could be based more on emotion than on any practical evidence.

is there a kinesiologist in the house?
 



S&C is voodoo.

I'm sure there's good and bad S&C programs but it is hard to know from the outside.

Basically if a team gets hit by injuries a bunch you fire the S&C guy, stories about bad things are sent out, new guy of course does it right .... until he gets fired.

S&C is pretty much the "Three Envelopes" story:

The CEO and the Three Envelopes - Kevin Kruse

A new CEO was hired to take over a struggling company. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. “Open these if you run into serious trouble,” he said. Well, three months later sales and profits were still way down and the new CEO was...
kevinkruse.com kevinkruse.com
 


Dan Nichol has been Fleck's S&C coordinator since his days at Western Michigan....so I don't know how he stacks up with everyone else but clearly Fleck feels like he is doing a good job.

And as others have pointed out, not sure there is a S&C program in football that can prevent all injuiries, just the nature of the game.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
S&C is voodoo.

I'm sure there's good and bad S&C programs but it is hard to know from the outside.

Basically if a team gets hit by injuries a bunch you fire the S&C guy, stories about bad things are sent out, new guy of course does it right .... until he gets fired.

S&C is pretty much the "Three Envelopes" story:

The CEO and the Three Envelopes - Kevin Kruse

A new CEO was hired to take over a struggling company. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. “Open these if you run into serious trouble,” he said. Well, three months later sales and profits were still way down and the new CEO was...
kevinkruse.com kevinkruse.com
Click to expand...
S&C is very important to develop bigger faster stronger players.

He's also usually an important rah-rah and team building guy in a program - over the course of the year guys spend more time in S&C than at football practice.

The idea that injuries are directly related to a certain S&C coach is absurd and I've heard no studies confirming it. Some schools will start screaming for his head when 3 guys who carry or catch the ball all tear up knees in one year but that's ridiculous.

Fire the S&C guy if your much smaller linemen have their hands on their knees in the 3rd quarter, but not for guys getting hurt.
 


fmlizard said:
S&C is very important to develop bigger faster stronger players.

He's also usually an important rah-rah and team building guy in a program - over the course of the year guys spend more time in S&C than at football practice.

The idea that injuries are directly related to a certain S&C coach is absurd and I've heard no studies confirming it. Some schools will start screaming for his head when 3 guys who carry or catch the ball all tear up knees in one year but that's ridiculous.

Fire the S&C guy if your much smaller linemen have their hands on their knees in the 3rd quarter, but not for guys getting hurt.
Click to expand...
Sometimes it's one in the same. Nice to have depth. Rotation obviously also helps minimize fatigue. IMHO that is almost equally as important. That is assuming that the OL can handle some rotation and not lose continuity. I am guessing that there is some correlation between fatigue and injuries.
 




The Gophers gather a lot of data on the players. They wear monitors to measure a bunch of measurables beyond heart rate. My point is I'm sure they are comparing all measurables of strength improvement etc versus past years versus the Vikings and whoever else will share this sort of information for comparison. If the results were not there or players were uncomfortable then we would have a different guy.
 

Not many people would know enough to answer this question. I thought it was a really good Big Ten program, applied sports science with the gear you need.

Has anyone torn a pec and been beheaded when the bar dropped?
 


It's so interesting how different coaches promote programs. The last regime talked about the S&C program all the time and I actually knew his name. No clue what the name or history of Fleck's guy is.
 

This is somewhat tangential, but I'd like to see the U of M show a dedication to sport science and biomechanics across the entire athletic department to the benefit of all sports and certain schools at the University. But a strategic initiative requiring that level of vision and dedication is the sort of thing you pursue in a period of stability, which simply has not been the case since February 2020.

As an example - that is currently limited to one sport - here's the Wake Forest pitching lab: https://www.wakeforestpitchinglab.com/
 

Old topic but artificial turf has had an arguably meaningful correlation with lower extremity injury. It is also hot AF in the sun versus natural turf undoubtedly contributing to heat injury, dehydration early in the season.

What’s the current culture around PEDs, testing in the NCAA. Some answers could be potentially found there.



www.espn.com

Latest NFL injury data fuels grass vs. turf debate

With the NFL saying "there are no simple answers," the NFLPA maintains the latest data on noncontact injuries shows grass is "significantly safer" than turf.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
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