Every offseason I look forward to the opportunity to travel to different places to learn from some of the best football programs in the country. I have been to Nebraska many times, having went to school there from 1997-2001. But this trip was special. This was an opportunity that not many coaches will have: to sit on the ground level of a rebuild in all aspects. Strength and Conditioning. Offense. Defense. Special Teams. To sit and learn the #1 offense in the country at UCF…to learn their install…to learn play calling and tempo…to learn the techniques and intricacies. To learn how they train and condition to get ready to play at that speed and pace.
Lucky for me, our head coach Rick Nelson here at Ankeny HS coached with Scott Frost, Mario Verduzco, Erik Chinander, and Jovan Dewitt while he was at Northern Iowa for many years. These guys are some of his best friends, and for good reason: WHAT A GREAT GROUP OF COACHES. Humble. Honest. Smart. Relationship Builders. Teachers. Organized Planners. You can see how they helped orchestrate the turnaround at UCF. They take minimal credit, and they give it all to the players who did the work and bought in. What an amazing opportunity to learn from some of the best, and what an amazing opportunity to be able to share some of that experience in our first video podcast.
We will be releasing more of the information we learned in later posts and podcasts. Make sure you are following us on Twitter @RunThePower and listening to our podcasts on iTunes or SoundCloud.