Winning Now for Fall
THE WILL TO WIN IS NOT ENOUGH... IT IS THE WILL TO PREPARE TO WIN THAT WILL MAKE US CHAMPIONS! Editor’s Note:
WINNING FOOTBALL GAMES IN THE OFF-SEASON Mankato State University and the 1991 football Mavericks enjoyed a great deal of success including a trip to the quarterfinals of the national playoffs. computer science center.
North Dakota, spoiling their bid for an undefeated season, and defending National Champions North Field Stadium holds 7,000. They play in the tough North Central Conference and this year were a national playoff Dakota State in Fargo 27-7 knocking them out of the playoffs. When the football program attains a certain level of success and national recognition, some of the benefits include individual honors. Dan Runkle was named Co- Coach of the Year by Don Hansen’s Weekly Football Gazette. The Mavericks had two first team Limit Maverick success story.
Americans, Mike Ritacco at linebacker, and free safety John Kelling who was the Defensive Player of the Year WINNING NOW FOR FALL in Division II. Two other Mavericks were named to AllAmerica status Ted Carlson, offensive line and David Klawitter at defensive back. Nine Mankato State football players made All-Conference either first or second team.
Football games may very well be played in the fall months of the calendar year, but championships are won or lost long before we ever strap on a helmet or lace up a pair of shoulder pads. We as football coaches, have our athletes for thirteen or fourteen weeks in the fall and if you're lucky enough to have spring football you may add another three weeks to your coaching calendar. Our “season” is the shortest of any major sport, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey all have much longer seasons, which makes our job that much tougher from a time management standpoint.
At Mankato State we are aware of these time restrictions, so we try to spend virtually every second on the practice field doing sport specific teaching and drill work. Since our time on the practice field is such a precious resource, we do not want to spend 15 or 20 minutes a day ( or 20% of your practice time) running instead of practicing football. In order to do that, one must have an outstanding off-season program.
You Need To Pay The Price All Year, So You Can Be Ahead In The Fourth Quarter. At Mankato State we look at the football season like a game. We break the season into four quarters, and just like a game we would like to take a lead into the fourth quarter so we don’t have to play catch-up. The North Central Conference is arguably the best Division II conference in the country and in order to achieve the success we try to get the best out of all four quarters. The first quarter is the winter strength and conditioning program, which consists of four days a week in the weight room and three days a week with speed enhancement and plyometrics, running from January through April.
The second quarter of our program, Spring Football. is where starting positions are earned and valuable experience is gained. The third quarter is our summer conditioning program, which breaks down into three phases shifting the emphasis from the strength program to a heavy emphasis on the speed and conditioning as fall camp approaches. We include fall camp in the third quarter of our conditioning philosophy, which still has an emphasis on conditioning as well as practice time.
The : season itself we label as the fourth quarter, and you have to win the fourth quarter to win the game, but if #37 Walk-on John Kelling Made Himself Great you have not paid the price for the first three quarters the game will already be decided by the time you get to the fourth quarter. We approach the time spent in the weight room in the winter months just like practice, but at the same time it has to be fun and our athletes have to feel that they are having individual successes. We are in the weight room for one reason, and that is to become the best football player possible, not to become a world class weight lifter.
The exercises we do are no different than anyone else, but our emphasis is on the “team” and the unity that develops with a group of men spending two hours a day with each other becoming friends as well as teammates. We have added a Friday morning workout called “The Breakfast Club,” which is an optional lifting session at 6:00 a.m. exclusively for squatting which we have adopted along with the clean as the most important lifts we can perform in the offseason.
The first session of “The Breakfast Club”
All-Conference LB and 4-Year Starter #51 Mike Ritaco and All-Conference Freshman Outside Linebacker #4 Steve Henley had 8 players in attendance, three years later we now average 40 players every Friday morning. Strength training without speed enhancement is like showing up for your big game without your equipment. The game is still won with speed and we have great team speed at Mankato State, which has not happened by accident. During our first quarter we spend plyometrics, flexibility, and agility work for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
We also use this time to teach our speed enhancement drills which consist of seven or eight drills that emphasize the proper technique in the running motion, always trying to become very efÏcient with our running motion. football and during the season, which has given us a chance to succeed when we line up against the top Division II teams in the country week in and week out.
#37 John Kelling Defensive Back Runs a 4.49 Forty and Will Have A Shot At The Pros.
Squats Because They’ve Seen Their Forty Times Improve. Since very few of us can recruit exactly what we want, all of us have to develop each young man to the best athlete he can be. By following this philosophy we have developed some great players at Mankato State.
John Kelling walked on as a 6'1" 180 Ib. defensive back who ran a 4.75 forty, now at 218 pounds he ran a 4.49 for the NFL, and after the combine in Indianapolis he is listed as one of the top defensive backs in the nation and should be drafted high. Tim Quinlan came to our program as a 6'2" 230 pound defensive lineman out of Wisconsin, and now he will be entering his senior season as one of the #13 Defensive Back David Klawitter and #37 John Kelling MANKATO STATE UNIVERSITY premier defensive-line pro prospects in the nation. Tim now weighs 275 pounds and ran 4.74 for the pro scouts on our pro timing day, and is listed as a preseason AllAmerica.
Tim works exceptionally hard in our off season program and holds many records in our weight room, including a 700 lb. squat and 450 lb. bench press as well as a 350 lb. hang clean. These two young men have experienced some individual successes to go along with our team’s success, and it carries over to our younger players, which is the key to maintaining the winning attitude and having a championship caliber program. This year Steve Henley, who hang-cleans 300 Ibs. and has a 38 inch vertical jump at 215 pounds, was All-Conference as a freshman outside linebacker. Our sophomore quarterback Jamie Pass, hang-cleans 350 ponds and runs a 4.52 forty at 180 lbs, and was named AllConference.
These are just a few examples of the results that come from hard work and team unity in the off-season program. As fall approaches and we eagerly await another chance to win games and championships; we tell players they have to control the fourth quarter in order to win, but we can’t forget the importance of the first three. Remember, it’s much easier to win games when you are ahead going into that fourth quarter and that championships are won from January to August. Make sure to utilize your entire year so that you are not coming from behind this fall.
Head Coach Comments The off-season program that Coach Lombardi introduced three years ago has greatly improved our football team. The combination of a disciplined weight program and the speed improvement plan has given our players a lot of confidence because they can see the results. Football players often question why they are required to do certain lifts at required weights. In our program the players are excited to do squats because they have seen their forty times improve. We no longer need to sell our off-season program to our team. They are excited and enthused because they really believe that it makes them better football players.
Dan Runkle #4 Steve Henley Hang Cleans 300 LBS and has a 38 Inch Vertical Jump Weighing 215 Pounds.
Head Football Coach Mankato State University 11 Bob Rowbotham, Vice Pres.
Rick Anderson, Vice Pres.
* Strength Coach for the NBA’s Utah Jazz since 1981 © Training All-Americas since 1965 © 1976 Utah Football “Coach of the * With BFS Since 1979 * Highly successful © With BFS since 1979 ¢ Highly successful Minnesota high school Football and Wrestling Coach * Utah Jazz flexibility Year” * Coached BYU to the 1973 National Powerlifting Championship * A Power coach * Over 15 years experience in strength training * Specializes in BFS Utah Jazz Strength Coach ¢ Over 20 years experience in strength training * Clinics for younger athletes * Super quick and a great example of strength and flexibility * Martial Arts Experience * Kids love Coach Rowbotham!
Has the ability to establish great rapport quickly * Champions and Winners * Won Olympic Style Lifting Medals in Austria in 1962.
Flexibility book * Has done BFS Clinics in all 50 states. room organization and supervisory skills * Makes complex concepts easy to grasp.
(1964-78). laughing and crying at the same time! clinics in all 50 states ¢ Expert on weight * Top-Level Discus Thrower in the World ¢ Broke * High School Coach in Missouri * Dynamic and Motivational Speaker * A veteran BFS Clinician, SLJ 11'3", 6-17, 270 Ibs. * Specializes in_ Coach Brown can teach the Total BFS Package in easy-to-understand terms * Coached four major sports for 11 years at all size schools * Has done Speed and Plyometric clinics * Relates his extraordinary abilities super well with athletes and coaches at any level * You'll have an organizing the Total BFS Program for any high Amazing Day.
school situation for any sport during the in-season BFS Clinics from Coast-to-Coast * Expert in or off-season.
From BFS Magazine — Summer 1992. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
