Current Strength Industry Dichotomy
By: Splitter
With today’s news headline featuring a strength coach, we have an interesting dichotomy – strength coaches are now paid more and are more highly visible (and possibly more appreciated) than in previous years. Which definitively points to industry progress. To a degree, yes.
But with every window we have into those who are responsible for this progress, what do we hear? We hear talk of motivating and energy, of cheering and mentoring. Do any of those things have to do with strength coaching? Sure, any coach needs to have these interpersonal skills but do we primarily evaluate football coaches on their ability to motivate and cheer? Nope.
How well does the coach implement his system, how well does he tailor the system to his personnel, how well does the coach gameplan for opponents. How well does he alter the gameplan when faced with adverse results. We laud coaches who can, via schematic alterations, make the second half look like a completely different game than the first half.
All the Xs and Os details have become such a visible part of the game of football recently. It is well documented, QBs like TB12 and Peyton who spend hours analyzing opponents film – again, the Xs and Os. Even novice fans know the importance of the gameplan. For those who are/have been involved in football, they truly understand the depth of detail involved in defensive coverages, in blocking schemes, the precision of route patterns and how pressure presents. Football coaches have pages upon pages of detailed planning for a single game.
Now what about the specifics of a strength coach’s job? Almost always, the answer sounds nearly identical to this – “Absolutely, our guy does a fantastic job motivating and pushing the players inside and outside the weight room”.
I digress…