Toes On The Line Podcast

Coach Gilfedder returns for his second time on Toes on the Line. I consider Coach Gilfedder one of the best strength coaches in the country when it comes to progressions in the weight room with all of his athletes. In today's episode, Coach Gilfedder talks us through his progressions in the weight room, and his step-by-step analysis of when the athlete has “earned the right” to progress to a more advanced exercise. He also sheds light on servicing athletes with the right tools for each individual based on various parameters and how he goes about evaluating his athletes to ensure they have earned the right to advance their training.

Coach Kristina Jeffries puts her Toes on the Line, and we are talking a lot about Hockey strength and conditioning.  Hockey is such a unique sport for the fact that players are skating on ice while twisting, turning, and accelerating.  Coach Jeffries talks about key KPIs in the sport of hockey, how she addresses those KPIs in training, and the training process itself.   Hockey is a sport where athletes will be in a boot for the majority of their playing careers, joint mobility can become hindered, however Coach gets into details about ankle mobility in training to help emphasize “mid-foot strength” and “toe-flick” which is necessary to skating speed. When it comes to speed and agility training for hockey, dryland training can become a supplemental part of their off-season training, and being on ice all year round is not necessary. As always, I will get into the GPS/LPS conversation with coaches, and Coach Jeffries gets right into the details of using a Heart Rate monitor with hockey players, and how they identify “intensity of drill” which they attempt to mimic to an average Period.  And lastly, Coach Jeffries gets into individualizing programming per position groups for successful on ice performance, as well as how she uses force plates to assist with force production factors in her programming.

Coach Jarwarski Beckhum, Director of Speed Training with the University or Oregon puts his toes on the line.  Coach Beckhum has a similar history to myself, being that he started his coaching career at a speed training facility, Velocity Sports Performance.  He took what he has learned from there throughout his coaching journey and has been able to establish sound conditioning and sprint programs where he has coached. In this episode, Coach Beckhum shares how he coaches running during speed as well as conditioning workouts, what he looks to identify and how he teaches to correct inefficient patterns.

Coach Tim Campbell puts his toes on the line in todays episode.  Coach Campbell is the Director of Strength & Conditioning with the University of Akron. Coach Campbell has been at Akron for over a decade now and has worked with every sport program there, and currently oversees the Men Soccer & Softball programs. Today's episode we take a deep dive into Coach Campbells time at Akron, how he got to his current roll, and how the Men Soccer program has become a National Championship winning program that has sustained elite play year after year.

Coach Joel Welsh puts his toes on the line today and he is sharing his journey of strength and conditioning throughout his career.  Coach Welsh brings a wealth of knowledge on this episode on what he has done, what he is currently doing, and what he truly believes makes a great strength coach at the collegiate level.

In this episode, I take a small dive into Rate of Force Development and its severe importance in sport.  As strength coaches, we can always get caught up in the "numbers" of how much is on the barbell (I was guilty of that at one point in my career), however when we look at the context of sports it is all about who can produced the most amount of force in as little time as possible. To not upset anyone, there is a time and place for heavy slow muscle contractions during an athletes off-season, as maximal strength gains are very important.  The goal for this episode was to touch on a topic in which I believe is underutilized and overlooked.

Monmouth University Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Tim Rehm puts his Toes on the Line, and he's talking about how we have been success in training the fastest FCS team in the nation during the 2022 football year. Coach Rehm shares his philosophy on what it takes to efficiently develop speed as well as his personal background being a track and football athlete. Tim talks about his time with the New York Giants and legendary Coach Jerry Palmieri, and how they were utilizing advanced methods prior to its popularity.

In this episode I talk about a newly coined term "Hamstring Vaccine". I speak mostly about my personal work, research, and data reviews on how we have been able to stay hamstring injury free over the course of the 2022 Football Season here at Monmouth University.   I cover: My top 4 hamstring injury risks 3 technological platforms that can help identify risk factors How to take data and apply it in a practical setting My top 3 "hamstring vaccine's" that I like to use in season My top 3 modifiable factors  

Season 3 is back, and we are kicking things off with Seton Hall University Strength and Conditioning Coach Angelo Gingerellli. A Strength coach, NSCA State Director, Author, sneaker head, hip hop enthusiast, Angelo is the premier guy to kick off Toes on the Line, Season 3! Angelo has been at Seton Hall University for over a decade and shares his experiences, as well as how he has been able to sustain a long career as a strength coach at one location, as well as progress his career via creating streams of income, becoming an author, and becoming NJ's NSCA State Director. Angelo's book Finish Strong: Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes is a book Angelo has recently written discussing training methods an endurance athlete can sustain.  He explains the difficulties of endurance athletes and the challenges they face, which was one reason why he felt it was necessary to publish the information. At the end of the episode, Angelo shares his TOP 5 Sneakers as well as his TOP 5 Hip Hop artists of all-time. He also shares an extremely interesting connection between a Hip Hop legend and being a Strength and Conditioning Coach in today's world. This is an AWESOME episode, you will want to listen to till the very end.

Bri Rubino puts her Toes on the Line today and she literally brought the heat from the Jersey shore on this episode. Coach Rubino is the Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Monmouth University and has been utilizing sports technology throughout her time there. She oversee's Polar HR data for women basketball, M/W lacrosse.   Throughout this episode, we chat about how Bri has evolved with sports technology, and how she has efficiently been able to monitor and control player loads throughout the years. Believe me, this is an episode you MUST take out the pen and pad for, because I literally learned so much in this episode, AND I WORK IN THE SAME OFFICE AS BRI LOL!

Coach Steve Georgio joins me today and puts his toes on the line, and we talk about how to develop an internship curriculum as well developing a great culture for interns to thrive off of.  Steve and I both coaches together at Fordham University where he interned for me back in 2019. His work ethic was unmatched and he was promoted to a full-time member of the staff and has ever since helped grow the internship program at Fordham Into what it is today. In this episode, Steve explains what it takes to be an intern strength and conditioning coach, his personal journey and various internships, as well as how young interns should approach their internships and time spent working for other coaches.

Coach Autumn Lockwood, from the University of Houston, puts her Toes on the Line in today's episode.  Coach Lockwood talks about her Three-Tier Athlete Self-Accountability Model System, and how she helps develop her athletes' qualities in: Self-Awareness, Self-Assessment, and Self-Leadership. She explains how she attacks the psychological aspect of her athletes' development, and how she develops their sense of self accountability whilst training. Coach Lockwood not only has a passion to develop her athletes to succeed in their sport, but to also get them to fully develop as a person and to be able to identify markers for self-improvement and continuing to work towards their primary goal. As we get deeper into the conversation, Coach Lockwood touches base on how she specifies her athletes' development with daily checklists to make sure her athletes are guided on the right path to success.  She also talks about her ACL specialization training that she does with her two sports: Women Basketball & Soccer. And the latter portion of the episode we share information on how we utilize GPS tracking with our athletes (Soccer & Football).

Coach Scott Leech, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Rhode Island puts his Toes on the Line! Coach Leech talks about his Football ‘Contact Prep' conditioning work that he has installed with his team. Contact prep is basically preparing the athletes body for the contact they will face once the pads come on.  Players will face a physical cost for colliding with people, and there are things that go on during a tackle, and if the body is not prepared for it, greater soft tissue injuries may occur at the early onset of training camp.  Coach Leech lays out some drills that he uses with his linemen, when he uses them, and how he progresses everything to get his players' bodies prepared for physical collision. Later in the episode, Coach Leech also talks about his vision for the future of the University of Rhode Island Strength and Conditioning department.  He also mentions a few key points to his future additions for what every FCS school should fight to get in their facilities.

Coach Brian Johnson, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cal University has spent much of his career analyzing the demands of the game of football both at the collegiate and professional levels.  In today's episode, Brian shares his process of how he and his staff objectively utilize the information they receive from their GPS monitors in practice. I have personally spent the past year studying the demands of the game both in practice, training, and games...and have concluded with our football staff which positions cover the most ground, accelerate and decelerate the most, and also cover the most high speed distances. This information is great, however if not utilized or communicated properly, it is useless information.  Brian shares how he objectively utilizes the data to ensure his players are being exposed to stress they need without sacrificing performance.

Jason Wooding comes back onto the podcast and shares his coaching techniques and knowledge on speed development. Coach Wooding talks about how he has transformed his sprint coaching techniques based on his testing and feedback he gets from utilizing the 1080 sprint.  Whether its about starting position, foot placement, angular positioning, Coach Wooding understands how to correct inefficient movement patterns to develop a more robust athlete when it comes to sprint at a high level.

Coach Don Day joins the show today and he shares his coaching journey, teams he's coached, and how he has found his passion in coaching athletes. Talk about a guy that really loves what he does, Don Day is just that guy. Don Day is also an author of the book The Servant: Correcting a Flawed System, which he shares his coaching journey, as well as ups and downs, and personal battles he has faced while in the profession.  Don shares his insights on coaching his Rifle team, his personal KPIs in working with smaller teams like that and how he has developed a great training culture in his weight room. We also spent some time talking about training the baseball athlete, and spend some time talking about best practices to train a pitcher to allow for the best form of success when its time for them to take the mound.

Rodney Hill is back on the Toes on the Line podcast, and today we are chopping it up about our personal findings on dealing with force plates. Rodney and I both utilize two different force plate companies with our athletes, and over the past year have compared the data with each other. This episode is solely based on our personal findings and opinions on how to utilize force plates and what metrics we should analyze, track, and worry about at certain times of the year.

Matt Mikulski was one of my former athletes from Fordham University who got drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 2nd Round of the 2021 MLB Draft.  In this episode, Matt talks about his path to the draft, as well as his work ethics on what he believes will help him elevate his game.

This is an episode you won't want to miss ... this is literally and insider's edition of the types of conversations we would have back in the office. We touched on A LOT of topics in this episode, because quite frankly, why not? Coach Joe Gilfedder is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY.  He and I had worked together for 4 years from 2018 to the summer of 2021.  Coach Gilfedder and I have developed such a great relationship over time, that our conversations about training began to mold into the culture of our student-athletes. We begin by tackling the Nordic Hamstring Curl exercise, and if you guys have not noticed over social media, but we were named FordHAMSTRING University by many people because of the amount of athletes (both male and female) being able to perform a Nordic Curl for multiple reps, across many different body weights and sports. We talk about the importance of Posterior Chain development and how we individually progressed/regressed the Nordic's for our athletes, which allowed them to inherit success at this exercise. We then shift over to Squatting progressions. Not only did we touch base on the best way to progress. We specifically touched on the T-Spine and its importance in any squat pattern, and how that is the key to improving squat technique and strength. We then hit left turn down Arthur Ace (not literally) and talked about Nutrition and how to eat for optimal performance and a healthy lifestyle.  Sleep was also talked about in the conversation because I am a HUGE advocate that sleep is the #1 sports performance enhancer and I also mentioned my personal findings with my research in sleep. Coach Gilfedder can be reached via email at: Jgilfedder@fordham.edu Instagram: @jgilfedder Twitter: @JoeGilfedder

Coach Pat Basil is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Hamilton College in upstate New York. He puts his toes on the line on this episode as we chat about the importance of being a business man in strength and conditioning and giving the athletes the best customer service experience possible. Coach Pat Basil has authored many ebooks in which he creates another avenue of income, which will be the main topic of discussion in todays episode. By clicking on this link (https://linktr.ee/giograssi) you will be able to view Coach Pat Basils books.

In this episode, Coach John Patrick joins me today to talk about fatigue assessment and programming modifications he makes to his players during his in season model.  Coach Patrick goes in depth about a few fatigue protocols he runs with his athletes as well as what he looks for when utilizing these assessments. Fatigue will be the #1 reason why athletes will not achieve peak performance in season, and Coach Patrick goes over his 3 pronged approach to combating that issue when his teams are in season and the various ways he programs so that his athletes can continue to develop, even over the course of a long season.

Steve Leo puts his toes on the line today, and we're chatting up about how he coaches his high school track and field team.  Steve Leo is a pioneer of Sports Performance who helped start the Parisi Speed School with Bill Parisi and Martin Rooney (just to name a few). Steve Leo is the Head Coach of the Outdoor Track and Field at Gill St. Bernard's School. Leo is a veteran of the sport, as he has coached middle and high school track programs for the past decade and has also served as a strength and conditioning coach within the private sector for the past 20 years at the collegiate, Olympic, and professional level.

Coach Derek Stein puts his toes on the line.  Coach Stein talks about his journey as well as some things he is currently working on with his team at Eastern Illinois University Football. Coach Stein starts us off with his jump profiling system and what he is looking for with the 3 jump tests he runs his athletes through.  Then he gets into his programming methods as his team prepares for a Spring season.

Welcome back for part 2 ... on this episode, we discuss some of Sully's success with speed and agility training during his tenure at the Parisi Speed School, where he has spent over 10 years training athletes.  Sully touches base on the basics of developing and training speed and agility and some tools in which he finds to be his "go-to".

WELCOME to the first ever Super Bowl Edition of Toes On The Line with Sully Parker. In this casual conversation, Sully and I have fun talking about football, and some throwback wrestling. Sully and I worked together at Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn NJ, where Sully is currently still coaching his athletes. HOWEVER, in this very special Part 1 episode, Sully and I talk about this past football season, the upcoming Super Bowl, and then we take a little throwback turn for the fun of it. Hope you all enjoy the fun and laughter in this episode.

Coach Sam Contorno is the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Stanford University, and she jumps on the episode today to talk about her role at Stanford and her experiences working with Football and Men Volleyball. In this episode we talk about a woman's role in strength and conditioning, how it can be perceived and what it really comes down to.  We also dive into Sam's training, coaching and life philosophies and she also talks about some of the new stuff she is working on from a sports science aspect.

Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Golden State Warriors and Santa Cruz Warriors, Isaiah Covington puts his toes on the line and talks about life as a G-League and NBA Strength Coach.  We touch base on money topics such as: Life in the g league Life in the NBA Return to sport training Small-sided games for conditioning and pre game prep Buy in at the NBA level Player turnover in the G League Forming GREAT HABITS Work ethic from top-level NBA players Different types of training programs I assure you, this is an episode you won't want to miss, as many people do not know, or understand, the life and difficulty as a basketball strength coach, at a high level.

In this episode, I bring on my personal Wealth Advisor, Pat Whelan, MBA.  Pat and I met back when I was a personal trainer and we have been in constant contact ever since. Pat currently is an Investment Advisor with Royal Alliance and has been in the business of investing money for over 30 years, and has helped many people reach their financial and life goals. I know Pat personally, and know for a fact that his best interest, is with his clients' ambitions and goals in mind. Pat offers great initial advice on how to get started in investing your money into the stock market and also what options to read and consider prior to making any decision.  Pat Whelan can be reached at via email at: Pwhelan@iacadvisor.com  

In this episode, Coach Kyle McMinn, Director of Sports Performance with USA Women National Field Hockey, takes the reigns to talk about how he and I developed a Bioanalytics Framework model in order to track athlete wellness and fatigue. Kyle and I coached together while at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where this model was originated. Kyle discusses in detail the process of the framework, as well as the interactions with coaches and players in order to develop the most effective recovery system for our athletes. In this conversation, Kyle talks through the practical application of what he used to gather information, what he was looking for, and how he was able to make individual player adjustments for training.  Overall, coaches and players all bought into this system as it then helped foster a championship culture of team and self accountability. Kyle McMinn can be reached via email at: Kylesmcminn@gmail.com

In this episode, Coach Anthony Grasso from the University of Connecticut Football joins me to discuss his thought process on developing a High Performance Sports Model. Coach Grasso and I share a very similar last name and are both Italian.  We joke around a bit about our Italian parents and some other funny Italian inside jokes. High performance models can stem from everything done in the weight room, to practice tempo, training room rehabs, etc.  Everything is accounted for in these models so that athletes can achieve peak performance without hiccups. I hope you enjoy this fun and educational episode of Toes On The Line, and yes ... I want to apologize in advanced about my language in this episode lol. However aside from that, I believe Coach Grasso lays out a great though process on how High Performance Models should be designed and also what to take into account when drawing one up.

Coach Brian Johnson is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the University of Arizona. Brian Johnson is a former NCAA Football player and National Champion from Louisiana State University, where he played under Nick Saban. He had also spent time playing and coaching in the NFL prior to his arrival at Arizona. He comes from a very strong pedigree of coaching and comes on today to share his experiences and his utilization of athlete monitoring with and without technology and return to practice/play with his athletes. First thing Brian talks about is how when he was at Florida State University, they were one of the first strength staff’s in the country to utilize Catapult GPS technology. At the time the technology was so new and nobody in America was using it, they were just figuring out stuff on the fly. As he moved along in his career, he learned more and more from stops at LSU and San Francisco 49ers. Brian goes in depth with the biggest metric of them all: TIME. How to ready an athlete as per energy system; what happens when an NFL roster goes from 90 to 53; what happens when a player has not received ample amounts of practice reps and has to play a game and vice versa…Coach Johnson attacks the angle most people do not take into account, and that is TIME. Understanding that not a lot of coaches have access to big time technology at their disposal, Brian sheds light on what other metrics can be quantified for athletic performance. Everything from RPEs, Wellness Questionnaires, body weights & body fat percentages, quantifying meal plans, Coach Johnson has damn near figured it out with or without the sexy equipment. The biggest things that technology and data collection are good for: it is that it is a conversation starter, it is a great educational tool for the athlete, it is a daily measurement, and it can lead to an intervention if needed. These are the main reasons Brian and I use technology, because he and I are giving out athletes the opportunity to learn more about themselves in their recovery. If athletes do not know much about their own recovery, then they will not understand what it takes to take their game to an elite level.   Brian Johnson's Instagram tag is: @_Coachbee1

On this episode, Coach David Kitchen joins me today to shed light on Development Psychology. Dave is the Founder & CEO of Edge Leadership Academy, which is committed to training leaders and taking organizational culture to an elite level. Before we kick off Dave takes us through his past experiences of going through his trials and tribulations of becoming a Division I Strength and Conditioning Coach. From running out of money, to sleeping on a couch, Dave figured it out. In this episode we cover many topics such as: Stages of Psycho-Social Development, Identity Crisis, Narcissism, Music and Psych Development, & Mental Health topics. Dave is currently working on his PhD in Development Psychology. Basically, Development Psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans change over the course of their life. Sounds simple, however Coach Kitchens breaks down stages of Development Psychology and WHY human beings change over the course of their personal lifespan, and the influences are stemmed from different motivations at different stages of life. We talk about the work of Erik Erikson, who was a German-American development psychologist, who developed a theory of identity crisis, Stages of Psycho-Social Development. All these points are well spoken of during the episode, as Dave gives examples of each stage crisis. How the brain begins to develop and change over time is a huge interesting mystery to me, and we speak about how we can imply development psychology theories to athletes in the weight room. David Kitchen can be reached via email or social media at: Dkitchen7863@gmail.com @coachDkitch

On this episode, Coach David Kitchen joins me today to shed light on Development Psychology. Dave is the Founder & CEO of Edge Leadership Academy, which is committed to training leaders and taking organizational culture to an elite level. Before we kick off Dave takes us through his past experiences of going through his trials and tribulations of becoming a Division I Strength and Conditioning Coach. From running out of money, to sleeping on a couch, Dave figured it out. In this episode we cover many topics such as: Stages of Psycho-Social Development, Identity Crisis, Narcissism, Music and Psych Development, & Mental Health topics. Dave is currently working on his PhD in Development Psychology. Basically, Development Psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans change over the course of their life. Sounds simple, however Coach Kitchens breaks down stages of Development Psychology and WHY human beings change over the course of their personal lifespan, and the influences are stemmed from different motivations at different stages of life. We talk about the work of Erik Erikson, who was a German-American development psychologist, who developed a theory of identity crisis, Stages of Psycho-Social Development. All these points are well spoken of during the episode, as Dave gives examples of each stage crisis. How the brain begins to develop and change over time is a huge interesting mystery to me, and we speak about how we can imply development psychology theories to athletes in the weight room. Dave can be reached via email or social media at: Dkitchen7863@gmail.com @coachDkitch

Ted Lambrinidis is a Sports Performance Consultant, who works with plenty of NFL, NBA, NCAA, Professional Football Athletics Trainers Society, Government bodies, and has also lectured across the USA, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia.  Ted and I break down sports science on this episode as we touch on topics surrounding player gps. Ted has been in the game for a long time and has been utilizing his approach to sports science since the 1980's.  Now that technology has boomed in the S&C field, Ted talks about some metrics that serve as importance, while also keep a gauge on the athlete without losing a sense of a realistic approach.

On this very latest episode of Toes On The Line, I bring on my former colleague when I was an Intern Strength Coach with the New York Giants, Pratik Patel, Director of Performance Nutrition/Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. Currently still with the New York Giants, Pratik was the first ever Dietician brought on to Big Blue, and has filled a dual capacity role as both Sports Dietician and Assistant Strength Coach. Pratik starts us off by talking about his dual role with Big Blue, and also how he has been able to become extremely successful within the organization, surviving multiple coaching turnovers. Many of the things he utilizes in his career are lessons from previous experiences, which he has managed to optimize his for his career path. During this episode, Pratik and I wanted to take a different approach than a typical "nutrition" conversation.  We took time to focus on the state of the sport nutrition role, and how it is negatively viewed by most people.  Pratik takes extreme measures in his position and lays out foundational guidelines as to what helped him become successful.  He also talks about his role with the club, and how his interactions and relationships with other coaches and staff members has helped him excel in collaborative efforts between himself and the strength staff. Pratik mentions many fallacies he personally sees in the field of sports, and how most people view dieticians and sport nutritionists in general, and speaks of the root cause of these issues.  He starts by explaining how internships today are not allowing dieticians in the sports industry to fully excel and become indispensable within their organization.  He talks about, education and how many people graduate with no practical experience or any idea of how to apply their knowledge. As Pratik goes on in the episode, he mentions how one day he would hope to fill an administrative role, encouraging the importance of a sports dietician. Pratik's respectful approach is all in essence to aid the sporting industry become full circle at the collegiate level so that athletes can be better guided for greater life choices in their dietary habits.

Philadelphia Eagles Director of Sports Performance, Ted Rath, joins me on this episode. Coach Rath has been coaching in the NFL most of his career working with the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and most recently with the L.A. Rams. We start off by talking about this importance of data collection and how it has changed over time. Ted also goes into talking about how technology helps make some decisions in his programming, and how they can progress during a long 16 week season where they are looking to PEAK every Sunday, and where he can fit his super compensation effects. Coach Rath touches base on what pieces of technology he believes to be the best to use, and also what internal measures he utilizes and believes to be the best.   We chat a bit about GymAware units as well, and tracking change over time. I personally love to utilize the GymAware for all the same reason Coach Rath does, and I believe that he hits the nail on the head with quantifying “work sets” and athlete improvements based on power outputs.   DATA CONFIRMS THE COACHES EYE – IT IS NOT THE COACHES EYE   During the middle of the episode, Coach Rath and I talk about how, in the game of American Football, the old adage of “hey you’re a linebacker you need to be 'X' weight”, and talk about how certain athletes perform optimally at a certain body weight based on their frame and body composition. Athletes come out of the NFL Combine every year, Coach Rath talks about how his system of “body typing” for placing athletes in generalized categories in order to develop the most efficient player for on field performance.   Franchise players are the cornerstone to an NFL team’s success and Coach Rath has worked with many players of this stature. We get into the talk of how to keep these guys healthy and on the field all the time and what happens when a franchise player becomes a chronic injured guy, and how programming and thought process changes. Older athletes (veterans in their 30s) versus younger athletes (rookies, guys in their mid 20’s), very different type of training for these two age groups, and Ted attacks how your thought process should shift attention to other key areas such as: joint degradation, spinal stenosis, disc degradation.   To wrap things up, Coach Rath sheds light on how the COVID pandemic could probably have made a larger impact on athlete performance and nutritional digestion. Nobody is in their “normal” routines and how a lot of things that were once at our immediate disposal are not there anymore and could have an effect on how the stomach digests and absorbs certain nutrients they have not consumed in over a couple of months.

Coach Barry Rubin joins me on this episode of Toes On The Line and chats it up about how keeping everything basic has been his bread and butter to his athletes’ success in the NFL, helping his teams very successfully win Division Titles, Conference Titles, and Super Bowl Titles. Coach Rubin highlights the rookie season shock experienced by incoming players and the major difference between playing in college and playing in the pros. The NFL is a very long season and Coach Rubin’s programming style shifts gears to keep his players motivated as the playoffs approach. We spend some time talking about off season, in season, and post season athlete development programs and Coach Rubin sheds some light on how he progresses his conditioning as well as continues to manipulate his strength program to keep his players motivated. However the biggest factor that motivates the players the most: WINNING. Strong leadership can do big things for any organization, and Coach Rubin talks about some those qualities he sees in his players, which overall help drive the culture. Personally, I believe a team with strong leadership culture brings home more success. Outside of strength and conditioning, we touched on topics such as how the game has changed from when Coach Rubin first got to the NFL to now. Overall, it was a fun and interesting conversation from an NFL veteran. Please don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review!

Jason Wooding, Associate Strength and Conditioning Coach with Texas Tech Football, joins me on this episode of Toes On The Line, as he talks about building your athlete from the ground up. Coach Wooding discusses how he assesses his athletes when they arrive and why it is important to look at the mobility of the joint prior to applying a strength program to an athlete. Coach Wooding also talks about his TOP 6 movements that should be taught and utilized in the weight room, and explains why the Bench Press isn’t one of them.  You really have to listen to the conversation to understand WHY he is making his case. He also talks about how being a African-American Strength and Conditioning Coach in the collegiate setting has helped him become a greater mentor to his athletes, especially those who share the same life experiences, culture and background.   Coach Jason Wooding can be reached at: @Coach_Wooding – Twitter/Instagram Jason.Wooding@ttu.edu - email

Quinn Barham is currently an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with The Ohio State University. Before we get into the topics of today’s discussion, Quinn takes a stand against racial inequality in America, and talks about ways of how EVERYONE can develop awareness and come together as ONE for the same goals. One thing Quinn mentions, are the things we want in life as people, and how color has nothing to do them. As we get into today's episode, Quinn talks about managing egos of high profiled football athletes,  how to get freshmen to adapt to their new culture of winning at a high level, and how every singe person plays a huge role in the championship culture at Ohio State Football. We get into topics such as: After winning BIG-10 title, how are they able to re-gain focus in the off-season and keep their eyes on the prize, again? How do you apply new 'goals' to the training program during the off-season? How does the conversation, and the way you talk to athletes, change from freshman year to junior/senior year? Towards the end of the show, we touched base on athlete managing systems, how they can be useful and also how just the basics without the fancy technology work just as great.   Best way to reach out to Quinn: Twitter – @QuinnBarham Instagram – @QuinnBarham Linked In – Samuel (Quinn) Barham

An internationally recognized trainer, speaker, author and pioneer of strength and conditioning, Martin Rooney had paved the way for many coaches, AND JOBS, that exist today!  Martin Rooney is an international Coach, motivational speaker, CEO of Training for Warriors, author of 8 books, and has coached many Olympians, MMA/UFC fighters, and professional athletes, as well as developed the top NFL Combine training systems in the early 2000's. Martin also brings on his oldest daughter, Sofia, on today's episode to talk some father/daughter stuff. Martin Rooney takes us on his journey of life and how he became the Ultimate Warrior he is today. He is a man of many hats, and we get to see a plethora of those on today's episode as Martin touches on topics such as: Coaching to coach, motivation versus discipline, timing in life, wearing the parent hat and the coach hat, inspiring people, the coaching process, how to get your kids to eat veggies, and MUCH MORE!  Martin's experiences throughout his career has lead him to a pretty successful career as he is now the CEO of Training for Warriors & his daughter Sofia is a nationally ranked high school track athlete. IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT HOW TO UNLEASH THE WARRIOR WITHIN, TAKE A LISTEN, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!   Martin can be reached at www.trainingforwarriors.com

You want entertainment with a mix of real talk?  This episode is as entertaining and real as it gets.  My guest, and very good friend, RJ Cobbs comes on and shares with us his experiences in his adult life that have lead him to where he is now.  From all-time highs to all-time lows, RJ shares his stories on how setbacks and losses in life have never stopped him from accomplishing greater things and setting the bar higher than the previous standard. Currently RJ is owner of Inception Sports, in Cedar Knolls NJ.  RJ has had many great moments in his life, such as All-American honors as a collegiate football player, to spending time in the NFL; as well as some set backs that brought him from his highest points in life to the lowest.  However RJ's ambition for greatness, love and happiness have allowed him to continue to strive for greatness and not settle for less when he knew what his own personal worth was.    

In this very first episode, I wanted to bring on a very good friend of mine, Rodney Hill.  Rodney and I met back in 2017 as we both interned with the New York Giants.  Ever since then Rod and I have been in contact damn near every day. Rod has been a huge help in my career, as he as helped introduce me to many people, and he has also helped me develop a greater sense of what networking is all about. In this episode, Rodney explains the power of having a great network and how he has gotten to were he is at today.  Rodney's coaching background includes Division 1 Universities and two NFL teams.  And he truly admits that it is the people in his network that have helped recommend him for the various positions for places he has coached. Rodney will share with us his style of networking, things he feels are important, as well as how to go about building personal and professional relationships.  He also shares some stories of his interview process with the New York Giants, and how his recommendations within his network helped overcome a rocky interview process (funny story about that). At the end of the podcast, Rodney also shares with us a Return-to-Training presentation which he did over Zoom this past week with over 100 high school coaches from across the country. Rodney Hill can be reached via email @ Rodney.Hill.91@gmail.com