Innovation at Nebraska

Innova&on created the Strength of Nebraska The University of Nebraska strength program known as HUSKER POWER started in this 416 sq. H. room located in Schulte Fieldhouse under the North Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska with one Universal Gym, a few dumbbells, and one 400 lb. Olympic set. This photo marked the beginning of a growth in strength and condi&oning concepts and innova&ons in liHing equipment that impacted millions worldwide during the Husker Power Era of 1969-­‐2004. The Beginning The Beginning.... I took the photo of the University of Nebraska weight room located in Schulte Fieldhouse in 1967 as part of a class project on facili&es and included it in the museum por&on of the West Stadium Strength Complex. LiHing weights for athletes was not recommended by coaches across the country at that &me. Nebraska athletes had no stretching program, no winter strength or condi&oning program, no summer strength program, no tes&ng of strength, agility or power and no liHing during the season. Nebraska Athle&c Director, Bob Devaney changed that August 15, 1969 when he hired me as the first full-­‐&me paid Strength & Condi&oning Coach in college history. He gave me the opportunity to develop the Husker Power program but he also also scared me half to death when he told me if anyone gets slower you're fired. His statement actually did me a favor by poin&ng out that I needed to be accountable. I sought out ways to measure the players progress and set a goal to have the best program, the best facili&es, and the best supervision. All three of these areas would Bob Devaney need improvement. Nebraska Athle&c Director During the next 35 years I hired and trained the best supervisors, tried, tested and modified the programs un&l our results were unmatched and worked with mul&ple companies to develop the equipment we needed in our facility. The following pages outline how we reached our goals. Nebraska is recognized as the birthplace of strength and condi&oning for collegiate athle&cs as it is known today even though there were athletes sprinkled about the county at other schools liHing prior to 1969. The Nebraska football players followed a rou&ne copyrighted in the 1972 Strength of Nebraska training manual. Edi&ons of this manual were shared with thousands of high school recruits and established Nebraska as the source for helping coaches develop their athletes physically. One of the reasons I sent drawings of plate racks, squat racks etc. out to high schools was the poor liHing equipment that was available at the &me. Strength equipment companies were only making equipment for health clubs and athletes needed sturdier racks and heavier weight stacks. I was consulted in a lawsuit where an athlete was injured using the rack pictured in the middle to the right. One of these racks fell over (the racks are not connected) resul&ng in a serious injury. Training manuals were made available each year for coaches and athletes to help with their program, supervision and facili&es Dangerous Squat Rack led to lawsuit Nebraska’s first power rack was safer but s&ll too confining for most movements Drawings like these helped high schools build inexpensive racks to get their strength programs started in the early seven&es One of the very first tests used to evaluate Nebraska athletes was the jump reach later to be known as the Ver&cal Jump Athletes jumped up against a wall with a yards&ck to measure the height of their jump. When I-­‐back Richard Berns jumped over the 36” yards&ck a new system or longer yards&ck was needed. Richard Berns segng the yards&ck Richard was first to jump over 36”. Trev Alberts led the Husker Power program with a 41.5 inch jump his senior year The Vertec System replaced the yards&ck but it had it’s problems. It required the athletes to have their reach subtracted from their jump to calculate the height of their jump which was a lifle confusing when tes&ng 400 athletes as a &me. A reach system was needed to determine the athletes reach which was then subtracted from the jump to determine the height jumped The Vertec System was eventually replaced with an innova&on called the Jump Sta)on which includes a stand and no subtrac&on or addi&on required to determine the height jumped. The vanes touched indicated the height jumped. Linebacker Mike Knox prepares to jump using the Vertec Timeline 1967 -­‐ Nebraska football was 6-­‐4 for the season and fans were not happy. 1968 -­‐ Nebraska football was 6-­‐4 again with a home loss to Oklahoma 49-­‐0 on na&onal television and coaches star&ng looking for anything that would improve the winning record. 1969 -­‐ August 15 -­‐ Bob Devaney allowed Nebraska to become the first school to hire a full-­‐&me Strength and Condi&oning Coach. Nebraska finished 9-­‐2 and a 44-­‐14 win over Oklahoma in Norman. 1969 -­‐ Nebraska became one of the first schools in history to liH weights during the season. The original weight room was expanded to 1344 sq. H. by knocking down a wall where a classroom had previously been. 1970 -­‐ Nebraska finished with a win over LSU in the January 1971 Orange bowl to win the 1970 Na&onal Championship. 1971-­‐ the season was highlighted by another Na&onal Championship against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl but the Huskers had to get by powerful Oklahoma first. Sports Illustrated coined it "Irresis&ble Oklahoma meets Immovable Nebraska" and the game has since been known as the Game of the Century. 1972 -­‐ Nebraska received a grant from the Na&onal Jerry Tagge crosses the goal line in Nebraska’s first championship moment Collegiate Athle&c Associa&on to fund an in depth study on Nebraska's athle&c program. Dr. Kenneth Rose, Director of Medical Research and Dr. Bob Robertson, an Exercise Physiologist and me as the Head Strength Coach to incorporate a controlled analysis of football training for a one-­‐year period. One of the findings of this research done in the East Stadium indicated that up to 30% of strength gains would be lost if football teams did not liH weights during the in-­‐season. As a result football teams followed the example by Nebraska and began liHing during their in-­‐season. 1973 -­‐ Tom Osborne is named Head Football Coach. 1974 -­‐ Rik Bonness is the first football player named the LiHer of the Year and won again in 1975. He was 188 lbs. as a freshman center. Rik was a two-­‐&me All-­‐American Center even though he topped the scales at 220 lbs. His work ethic set the tone for many more All-­‐American linemen to follow. Rik drove 50 miles each day all summer to train at Nebraska. The Nebraska linemen at one stretch went 15,000 workouts without a miss. 1974 -­‐ The Nebraska football weight room was expanded to 2700 sq. H. by adding the adjacent space which was formerly the varsity football locker room. 1977 -­‐ Offensive Guard Lawrence Cooley becomes the first Husker football player to bench press 400 lbs. using the "Jack Bench". This bench featured an adjustable bar catch so athletes could adjust the height of the bar based on their arm length. This was accomplished by moun&ng two tractor jacks in the frame. The first jack bench is now at the Lutcher Stark Museum in Aus&n, Texas. The search for adjustable bar height led Nebraska to develop several other adjustable products leading to the inven&on of the Transformer in 2002. Tom Osborne Rik Bonness 214 lb. All-­‐American Center Larry Cooley doing Nebraska’s first 400 lbs. using Jack Bench The Jack Bench features an adjustable bar catch 1978 -­‐ June -­‐ Nebraska is recognized as having the first official summer condi&oning class which was implemented four days a week at 5:30 p.m. each day. 1978 -­‐ July -­‐ The Na&onal Strength and Condi&oning Associa&on was founded on the Nebraska campus with Bob Devaney as the keynote speaker. The NSCA educates and cer&fies individuals that are interested in best prac&ces for strength and condi&oning. Summer Condi&oning class -­‐ Nebraska became the first school to offer 1979 a degree for Strength Coaching. 1980 -­‐ Nebraska became the first school to take a portable weightroom to a bowl game. This came about because the Orange Bowl in 1979 provided the equipment shown in the photo on the right. The Huskers were forced to bus to the Miami Dolphins training facility as a result. In 1980 Assistant Strength Coaches Mike Arthur and Gary Wade drove a van full of equipment to the Cofon Bowl and the following year Lanny Fauss of Na&onal Transporta&on started providing a semi to haul liHing equipment to bowl games for the Huskers. Transporta&on was later provided by Seward Motor Freight. Bob Devaney is Keynote speaker for first NSCA conven&on Nebraska was first to have portable weight room Due to the need for portable equipment I started working with equipment companies to design a full line of equipment which could be taken to bowl games Portable AMF equipment at Orange Bowl 1980 – The first portable item developed with the help of Joe Gitch at AMF was the Hip Sled. Running back I.M. Hipp thinks we named this aHer him but it was named the Hip Sled because it worked the hips and legs. Hip Press done on a Universal Gym Unit did not provide good back support Kevin Lightner shows off his tremendous strength aHer pos&ng a 39.5” ver&cal jump The Hip Sled is now made by mul&ple equipment companies Portable high pulley and low pulley machines allowed us to set-­‐up a weight room anywhere Merlene Ofey who trained on the hip sled was one of the most decorated Olympic athletes in history for Jamaica The low pulley evolved from a straight line pulley (which meant the cable would hit you in the back of the head when doing a tricep extension exercise). Adding a third pulley to the unit allowed the cable to move in a more upright angle. Two Pulley Unit Three Pulley Unit The development of a tricep bench allowed for support to the arm during tricep extension exercises with either a bar, dumbbell or pulley. Tricep Bench provided support for the upper arms The development of the adjustable stands for the AMF bench press, incline press and shoulder press allowed athletes with longer arms to train with athletes with shorter arms. This was an improvement but s&ll not the best solu&on as these uprights were spring loaded crea&ng a poten&ally dangerous situa&on for some. AMF adjustable Incline Press bench All-­‐American Offensive Tackle Kelvin Clark on AMF adjustable Incline Press bench Assistant Strength Coach Tom Wilson on free standing portable AMF adjustable shoulder press bench Fixed barbells and portable preacher curl benches were all part of crea&ng portable equipment for bowl games Dave Rimington, the most decorated offensive center in history dominated opponents with a strong chest punch. This portable chest press machine was developed to allowed a close grip chest punch without pressure on the wrists. Portable close grip chest press Portable adjustable squat rack and squat bench The E-­‐Z Curl Bar took pressure off the wrists Squat bench with toe raise One of the interes&ng innova&ons was the seated shot put bench that allowed you to strap in using a seat belt then throw an 8 lb. shot as far as possible. 1980 -­‐ Nebraska became the first school in the country to have computerized liHing progress charts for each individual athlete. Mike Arthur developed the Strength Disk for Husker Power,Inc. which helped hundreds of high schools. 1981 -­‐ The West Stadium Strength Complex opened as the largest weightroom in the na&on at 13,300 square feet and it included a tool room for Randy Gobel to help create even more innova&ve equipment. Randy Gobel was hired to make the Nebraska Strength Complex the best which he did Mike Arthur developed the Strength Disk for Husker Power, Inc. to generate liHing programs for athletes 1981 -­‐ Nebraska became the first school to have color balanced lights installed throughout the weightroom for television mainly due to the media covering Dave Rimington. The two-­‐&me Outland Trophy winner had photos taken of him every day aHer prac&ce. 1982 -­‐ Nebraska developed electronic &ming for football players. Before that coaches were forced to average two hand held &mes and s&ll weren't very accurate. It wasn't un&l electronic &ming was developed that &ming became accurate. Electric &ming meant a good &me for 40 yards no longer depended on who recruited you. It also led to &ming the 10 yard dash to measure accelera&on. Measuring 10 yard dash was not possible before electronic &ming. Hand-­‐held Timing Coaches had to average &mes Mike Reilly developed electronic &ming at Nebraska Quarterback Turner Gill was one of the first athletes to use the new electronic &ming system developed by the Nebraska engineer Dr. Mike Reilly with help from Randy Gobel. Players prac&ce their starts 1987 – AAI formerly (AMF) announced the Future Force line of equipment for children. Again Joe Gitch was a major player in the development of this line for children. I wanted to develop a children’s line mostly for my son J.R. and my daughter Jenna. J.R. age six and I are shown at the AMF factory with a Future Force proto-­‐type The Future Force plates could be filled with water or sand. The user had a choice of 0 to 6 weights. The weights could not fall on the user or pinch their fingers. 1988 – We expanded the West Stadium Strength Complex to 30,000 square feet with 16,000 square feet of liHing space. This was the largest and finest weight room in America at the &me. Each of the 12 sta&ons had the same frame with six plas&c weights. The weights could either be moved on or off the middle por&on that moved up and down. 1991 – Nebraska’s Mike Arthur released the Ten Principles for Strength and Condi&oning. 1993 – Nebraska’s Athle&c Director, Bill Byrne allowed me to create the Performance Team which added the Training Table and nutri&on staff to the strength and condi&oning staff. 1993 -­‐ The Hammer Jammer became the first of many ground based pieces of equipment that Gary Jones of Hammer Strength and my staff at Nebraska developed. The double incline was their number one selling machine un&l we explained the importance of the feet being on the ground for training. We asked Gary Jones if he could make machines with no seats on them. He invited me to his factory and agreed to make a proto-­‐type for us. The Hammer Jammer soon became the number one selling machine in Hammer Strength history. Tom Profif the na&onal sales manager said, “We found out what impact Boyd Epley and the Nebraska program had in the first year when our dealers sold 54 Jammers across the na&on while our Regional Sales Manager, sold 250 Jammers in Nebraska schools.” 1994 and 1995 – Nebraska won back to back Na&onal Championships in Football. 1995 -­‐ The Husker Power Rack was made by the the Wynmor equipment company in Topeka, Kansas. My afempt to have it designed by Nebraska engineering students did not work so I asked Rick Lewis and he came through. This mul&-­‐
purpose rack was the beginning of modular racks being made by companies na&onwide and led to us developing the Half Rack in 1996 which uses two posts instead of the tradi&onal four posts. Hammer Jammer Danny Noonan demonstra&ng the Hammer Jammer Husker Power Rack 1996 -­‐ Husker Power Lock was developed at Nebraska to have a durable but fast way to secure Olympic plates to the barbell. They are guaranteed for life. 1996 – I asked Rick Lewis of Wynmor to help us develop a Half Rack to use with platorm training so the bar could be set at different heights. Husker Power Locks Nebraska was first to have Half Racks – there are nine shown in this photo At that &me we were gegng machines developed from Hammer Strength and Free Weight equipment from Wynmor. Jeff Connor produced wood inserts for Wynmor and also sold Hammer Strength equipment so Jeff and I became good friends. Many things changed when Life Fitness bought Hammer Strength and York Barbell bought Wynmor in the same year. York chose not to make custom equipment for us so Jeff Connor pulled away from both companies and created Power LiH. Power LiH became the go to company for Nebraska’s free weight equipment. They made the Half Rack small and portable and called it a Tri-­‐x Rack. They also made it with or without full sized platorms and customized it for many schools. Power LiH Tri-­‐X Half Rack Also at this &me Hammer Strength/Life Fitness con&nued to help us create more Ground Based pieces of equipment. The Romanian DeadliH (RDL) has a small footprint that allows for a variety of exercises. Six Push Pull machines from Hammer Strength were added to the list of Ground Based units that were developed with Nebraska. Hammer Strength Push Pull Power LiH Half Rack Hammer Strength RDL 1997 – Nebraska won their 5th Na&onal Championship in Football. 2000 – With the help of the Cormax company we developed a 12 foot tall machine for our na&onal shot put champion Carl Myerscough. Carl at 6’10” and 340 lbs. could squat 810 lbs. but wanted to be more explosive. This unit allowed the bar to be thrown overhead and float down safely controlled by a hydraulic valve. Husker Championship Rings 2001 – Phoenix College named their strength training facility aHer me. Power LiH and Hammer Strength both donated a unit to the facility aHer hearing the news. Custom 12’ high machine made for Big Carl 2002 -­‐ Nebraska’s Strength Complex was accustomed to having the most technologically advanced strength training equipment in the country and the 2002 improvements only confirm that reputa&on. Sports Illustrated called in July of 2002 to schedule a photo of the Nebraska weight room as the best weight room in the country. When I told them we weren’t ready for a photo they said they could wait un&l August 1st. Again they were told the facility would not be ready. Sports Illustrated then decided to schedule the photo at Arizona State University. Thanks to Sports Illustrated many ASU fans believed they had the best weight room in the country. AHer a photo of ASU’s weight room appeared in Sports Illustrated, the Nebraska media immediately contacted me to find out why Nebraska facili&es had slipped so far aHer years of being regarded as the best. I told them we’re happy for ASU gegng a new strength facility and for their strength coach, Joe Kenn being named the NSCA Strength Coach of the Year in 2002, but Nebraska takes a back seat to no one in the strength field. Ironically ASU played Nebraska in August of 2002 and Joe Kenn was the first visi&ng strength coach to see the Husker Power Transformers. He said “thanks for segng the standard for the rest of us.” 2002 -­‐ I commissioned Rivers Metal of Lincoln, NE. to develop 18 Transformers. No other school in the na&on has anything that compares to the Transformer. These machines allow athletes that train with free weights to have unprecedented safety while doing it. The safety levels move electrically which provide the most efficient way to train. The Nebraska athletes have named the machine the “Transformer” since it transforms from a squat machine into a hang clean machine with the touch of a bufon. These electric machines also allow for the best environment for teaching proper liHing technique for both the explosive Olympic moves and the slower strength liHs. Transformers for Football in West Stadium Strength Complex The $30,000 cost per Transformer was expensive but you can’t put a price on being able to train heavy safely. Thanks to Dan Cook and Ken Morrison for their generous dona&ons. Transformers for Basketball weight room also 2004 – In August the Ground Breaking ceremonies began for the 56 million dollar Tom and Nancy Osborne Athle&c Complex. I was proud to have been asked to oversee the design and construc&on of this tremendous facility which included a new football weight room on the exact footprint where the original Schulte Field House weightroom once stood, an indoor fieldhouse, thirteen skyboxes, new football offices, locker room and training room. 2011 – In July, Bobby Bowden of Florida State University at one &me had three strength coaches from Nebraska on his football staff as do the 2013 Philadelphia Eagles. Bobby was quoted in Sports Illustrated saying, “Nebraska fundamentally changed the way a football game is played because of its strength program.” 2013 -­‐ January 1st, Tom Osborne re&red as Nebraska Athle&c Director. It was Tom Osborne that recognized the need for strength and condi&oning for football and encouraged Bob Devaney to hire me. Tom’s vision has impacted millions of athletes worldwide. Nebraska’s new weight room in the North Fieldhouse brought an end to the Husker Power Era 1969-­‐2004 Tom Osborne My associa&on with Nebraska Football added up to 356 wins in 35 years including five na&onal football championships but I’m most proud that in 35 years as the Head Strength Coach every player in the program won at least one championship ring and afended at least one bowl game. I credit those players and their football coaches for the great success that Nebraska had. I credit Mike Arthur for his exper&se in designing strength programs and Randy Gobel for his exper&se in our facility development. Almost every weight room in the na&on has been impacted by Husker Power innova&ons in one way or another. I’d also like to thank and give credit to my tremendous assistant strength coaches who are listed below with the schools they impacted. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Boyd Epley Nebraska Assistant Strength Coaches for the Husker Power Era Bill Allerheiligen -­‐ Nebraska, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Houston Oilers, Arizona State, Wyoming John Archer -­‐ Nebraska, Nevada -­‐ Reno Mike Arthur -­‐ Nebraska Yon Bakalas -­‐ Nevada-­‐Las Vegas Bryan Bailey -­‐ Nebraska, USC Dan Barton -­‐ Nebraska, Omaha Westside Chad Beckman -­‐ Nebraska Steve Bliss -­‐ Nebraska, Miami, Ohio State, North Dakota State, Sanford Health Systems Aaron Bosket -­‐ Nebraska, Oregon State, IUPUI, Indiana Mike Butler -­‐ Nebraska, Notre Dame Robbie Butler -­‐ Nebraska, Xplosive Edge Amanda Brown -­‐ Nebraska Courtney Carter -­‐ Nebraska Kelvin Clark -­‐ Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech Kevin Coleman -­‐ Nebraska, Kansas Zac Conner -­‐ Nebraska, Florida State Dr. Larry Crouch -­‐ Nebraska, Nebraska Dental College Mark Davis -­‐ Nebraska, Tennessee State, Vanderbilt Lacey Degnan -­‐ Nebraska, Montana Rodger DeGarmo -­‐ Nebraska, United States WeightliHing Clint Dominic -­‐ Nebraska Bill Dorgan -­‐ Nebraska, Alabama Zach Duval -­‐ Nebraska, Xplosive Edge, Creighton, Buffalo Dave Ellis -­‐ Nebraska, Wisconsin Steve Fauer -­‐ Nebraska, Vanderbilt 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 Mike Flynt -­‐ Nebraska, Oregon, Texas A&M Brian Glover -­‐ Nebraska, Colgate Randy Gobel -­‐ Nebraska Tom Halterman -­‐ Nebraska, East Chicago High School James Harris -­‐ Nebraska, Oregon, Philadephila Eagles Josh Hingst -­‐ Nebraska, Florida State, Atlanta Falcons, Nebraska, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadephila Eagles Shaun Huls -­‐ Nebraska, Nevada -­‐ Reno, Hampton, Navy Seals, Philadephila Eagles David Hofmaier -­‐ Nebraska, San Diego Chargers Joe Hurley – Nebraska, Omaha Gross High School John Janecek -­‐ Nebraska, Southern Methodist, Tennessee State Jon Jost -­‐ Nebraska, Holy Cross, Southern Methodist, Florida State Brad Junker -­‐ Nebraska, Southern Methodist Dave Kennedy -­‐ Nebraska, Ohio State, Pifsburg, Nebraska, Texas A&M Lisa Kopecky -­‐ Nebraska Jeff Mangold -­‐ Nebraska, Florida, Mets, Yankees, Team USA Baseball John Maroushek -­‐ Nebraska, Ohio State Shane Miller -­‐ Nebraska, Liberty Maf Munford -­‐ Nebraska, Wyoming Jerry Neeman -­‐ Nebraska, L. A. Express Larry Neuman -­‐ Nebraska, Minnesota Vikings Jared Nessland -­‐ Nebraska, North Dakota Danny Noonan -­‐ Nebraska David Noonan -­‐ UNO Zach Nof -­‐ Nebraska, Colgate Dick Peterson -­‐ Nebraska, East Chicago High School Jake Peetz -­‐ Nebraska, Indiana Pacers Laura Pilakowski -­‐ Nebraska T.J. Ragan – Nebraska, Colgate, Oregon State Dave Redding -­‐ Washington State, Missouri, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, Green Bay Packers Dorrick Roy -­‐ Stanford Jerry Schmidt -­‐ Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Florida, Oklahoma Steve Schulz -­‐ Nebraska, Stanford Kent Stevens -­‐ Nebraska, San Francisco Giants Donn Swanbom -­‐ Nebraska, Southern Methodist, UCLA Nate Thomas -­‐ Nebraska Dr. John Treves -­‐ Nebraska, Nebraska Medical Center Chad Wade -­‐ Nebraska Gary Wade -­‐Nebraska, Detroit Lions, Clemson Chris Wieseman -­‐ Nebraska, Montana Jim Williams -­‐ Nebraska, Arkansas, Wyoming, New York Jets, Oklahoma, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles Tim Wilson -­‐ Nebraska, Nevada-­‐Las Vegas, Pifsburg, Chicago White Sox, Nebraska Tom Wilson -­‐ Nebraska, Iowa State, California Angels Jim Zielinski -­‐ Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Oregon State, Illinois