I'll just say this.... I see what these guys are doing. I saw what we were doing under Coach Marc Hill, I saw what we were doing under Rock Oliver. I saw what the Tulsa University is doing when I was there the strength coach was Coach Griz and he is now the strength Coach at Arizona State and I've seen what they do. With all of that Erik Korem's program is far superior. That's not a marketing ploy.
Eric Korem's program
- Thread starter seccats04
- Start date
This thread shouldn't have even been started. OP never did answer my question about his background in college/Olympic S&C or if he'd read on the subject. I am floored that someone would criticize Korem and can only conclude they don't know very much about training.
Last year WRs could not get off the LOS vs press coverage. That wasn't an issue the other night. I think that's due to kids getting stronger.
Go to the Cat Walk sometime and see the kids get off the bus. These kids are definitely in better shape than previous UK teams.
As far as tired legs early in the game, I think that's being too hyped and needing to get a 2nd wind and settle in.
Go to the Cat Walk sometime and see the kids get off the bus. These kids are definitely in better shape than previous UK teams.
As far as tired legs early in the game, I think that's being too hyped and needing to get a 2nd wind and settle in.
I'm not so much criticizing Korem, I'm simply asking a question. I'm just saying we don't look any better conditioned than when Rock Oliver was here. As far as me, no I was never part of a college strength and conditioning program, however, I lift weights 4 days a week at my local gym.
You realize DL/OL are never going to look "ripped" so to speak? But I did take notice that our OL looked to be in incredible shape. Not many bellies on those guys. The DL is the same, with the exception of Elam/Meant. But thats understandable given what we need from them is different than the other players.
Noone is saying your less of a fan; except the troll. We're just saying your less informed.
Depth and maturity. Weve not had quality depth. And we've not had the luxury of RS many of our young players. So theyve been playing more snaps against older players.
That adds up over the course of a game, and a season. Especially when theres a long SEC stretch without a bye.
Thanks for answering the question. I'm not interested in making any personal attacks, I just wanted to know your background.
You made some good observations about the team and some observations that I don't agree with. Some of the players did look slow and I was surprised in some instances. I also thought there were times when the ULL lines were manhandling UK's lines and times when UK was doing the manhandling. I can see how both of these observations could lead you to question the strength and conditioning of the players.
I will say this: until Kentucky's better athletes have been in the S&C program for 3 years, you can't really judge Korem from the team's results on the field. Why? Because Stoops inherited primarily non-SEC talent and his first recruiting class was a rush job. You can train inferior athletes as much as you like and they still won't outperform an athlete with more God-given abilities. As Marc Hill once told me, you can't polish a turd.
A redshirt freshman or true freshman with 1 or 2 years in Korem's program will make great strides, but he will not be able to compete with a modestly more talented junior or senior with 3 - 5 years in another very good S&C program. They can be in shape and be able to make it through a game without a huge drop off in effort, but they can't magically become as strong as the junior or senior or be as fresh at the end of the game as an opponent that's part of a three-man rotation. They can't be fresh if they have to play 90 snaps in 90 degree weather.
I used to train with a former NFL player that was very competitive on the national power lifting circuit. He was (and is) very knowledgeable about training college and Olympic athletes. He worked as an assistant S&C coach for the UK football team for a few years and trained other NFL athletes during the offseason so I think it's safe to assume he knows what he's doing.
I used to grill him about why UK struggled so much. He said the former regime didn't place enough emphasis on role-specific training and were forced to train the way the head coach and position coaches told them to train, even if it was wrong. He explained that football was more about being explosive for 3 - 5 seconds at a time for 60 - 80 plays rather than how much you could squat or bench. There are plenty of excercises that emphasize exerting strength in short bursts while limiting the risk of injury from over-exertion. Exercises that combined strength with resistance using weights along with resistance bands and chains (good mornings for example) were more effective than pure strength building exercises. UK was more focused on building brute strength back then.
Enter Eric Korem. The culture changed immediately in large part because Coach Stoops gave him free reign designing the fitness program. I can't tell you how excited I was to see that first training video released and one of the first scenes was about 8 players lined up side by side on the turf in the indoor practice facility all pushing prowlers loaded down with weight. I saw chains and resistance bands. I saw all of the things that my trainer said were missing from UK's strength and conditioning program.
Guy Morriss and Rich Brooks encouraged their players to eat healthy, but Eric Korem gave them no choice. Eating right is about 70% of the formula for success (the remainder being getting enough sleep and following a well-planned training regimen using proper technique) and allows the players to lose the bad weight while building muscle. Without proper nutrition, Josh Forrest would not have been able to add as much weight as he did in the offseason while keeping his body fat percentage low without using steroids.
I think the players were pretty strong in the past, but they have much better football strength than before. It's a testimony to Eric Korem that many of the players who in the past would have trained with an outside trainer to prep for the draft are now training with Korem. Bud Dupree didn't have anyone questioning his fitness or strength in the combine last year. Matt Elam has made big strides, but my understanding is he doesn't follow his recommended nutrition program as well as he could. If he did, he would likely be 20 - 30 pounds lighter right now (he's still done pretty darned well without doing everything right).
Strength and conditioning is the least of the team's problems. More quality depth and more time in the program will solve many of them.
Can you (or anyone else) be specific as as to "why" it is better than any well run conventional S&C program at any good P5 school?
I make those stipulations because, as true in any profession, some S&C coaches are simply better at their job than others. The only thing I have heard or read that is truly "different" is the collection of bio-metric data. But then what? Theoretically, such data could help tailor a program for an individual but a stop watch, scale and lift tests could do the same thing. And in the end, while techniques vary, the exercises to improve any physical shortfalls are pretty much the same across the board.
This is no criticism of Korem program and if it is producing bigger, stronger, faster players, that's great. But other "conventional" S&C programs run by good S&C coaches under HCs that put a priority on S&C are doing the same. On that latter point, I think there are many HCs that do not really emphasize S&C and players take a somewhat lackadaisical approach too same. JMO.
Peace
A “first of its kind” facility
Korem talks about the training facility with the same passion, excitement, and pride one would a child, because, basically, this is his baby. The 100,000-square foot facility will serve as a one-stop shop for the football program, and include a massage therapy room, high-performance weight room, sports science facility, and team doctor’s office with an in-house X-ray machine. Players will want for nothing, with a tutoring center, full-service kitchen, Gatorade and juice bar, and lounge all under the same roof.
“This building encompasses everything that involves the student athlete’s life, from training to eating to meetings and academics,” Korem said, singling out the new CATS tutorial center in particular, noting that it often takes players 20 minutes to walk from the current training center to CATS. Even just a few trips back and forth a day takes away a lot of time they could be dedicating to football. “It’s going to simplify things and bring all of that under one building. I think it’s really going to speed up our development process and it’s really going to make us feel like we’ve got a cool home.”
We’ve already heard about a lot of these features, but Korem gave the clinic and KSR some exclusive details:
- A sensory deprivation tank similar to those used by Navy SEALS and special warfare units. This will help calm players down and alleviate stress, promoting faster mental recovery from workouts, games, life, etc. (Can I use that, too?)
- An indoor turf area, 25 yards long by 20 yards wide for players to warm up on before lifting and utilize for speed drills
- Glass garage doors that open right up onto the training fields from the indoor turf so the players can extend their workouts outside during warm weather
- A 70-foot long, 6-foot deep cold plunge tank capable of holding 30-40 players at once. Korem saw the concept in Australia and prefers the large pool to more common cold tubs because the deeper you get in the water, the higher the pressure gets. In addition, players will be able to move around in the pool, which will release the microbubbles that surround the body, creating a better cooling effect. The first of its kind in the US. “The cold plunge tank was a big deal,” Korem admits.
- Turf training hills, one sloped at 20 degrees and one at 15 degrees, along with two plyometric ramps. Oregon is the only other program in the country — college or pro — with this feature.
“We created some of our own stuff, so I’m excited for people to look at us and see it’s not just in the high-performance realm, it’s a lot of stuff,” he said. “I think the people of Kentucky are going to be pretty stinking proud of this building.”
http://kentuckysportsradio.com/foot...on-and-the-facility-that-could-keep-him-here/
karem's program is great , and one of the best in the country if not the best at what he does. People are taking this past weeks game as a defeat. We won the game against a quality team, don't tarnish it with every negative thought we can come up with against our program. Our guys played a great game for 3 quarters and had a huge 4th quarter let down,and still found a way to win. Ky has some great young playmakers, way more than i see at SC!! Let's let our guys decide witch team was the real Cats. I'm guessing the one that played well for 3 quarters not the other. GBB!!!
Silly request SteamRoller. You don't have to be a paid expert to give your observation on the results of anything. I don't have to be a head coach to see that Bama's better than Vandy.
I don't question Korems methods but I will admit I was hoping improvement in plain ole overall team stamina would be noticeable by now.
is it better than everyone else? probably not but collecting and deciphering the data allows korem to tailor workouts for individuals and not just groups.... it assures that we are not behind anyone in any group. the data from fsu shows that high performance does limit soft tissue injuries. the fewer missed practices, workouts, and games... the better. so while stanford, fsu, bama and a few other schools can claim to be great just based on years of putting out freaks we can use data to assure our athletes that they are doing all that they can with what they got. bud, avery and a few other players stayed and trained with korem instead of hiring workout coaches like 99% of all players do. they both improved their combine #'s from the time stoops arrived on campus to draft day.
Anyone notice how ma y transfers ULL had they had a few 4*s that went there out of HS 1 or 2 from LSU, NCState, Arkansas, and more in my opinion no wonder Hudspeth has had 4 straight 9 win season in the SBC! They are good! We didnt lose, we fought hard wafter we let of the gas which is an issue with youth! @ years ago we losethis game, 3 years ago we lose this game, hell last uwar we might have lost this game!
Similar threads
