University of North Carolina Athletics
A Q&A With Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeff Connors: Part I
By: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: How do you prepare an athlete to win?
Jeff Connors: "I think an athlete has to be prepared to win mentally, physically and emotionally, so preparing an athlete to win encompasses a lot of areas of preparation. If an athlete is challenged in his training he develops the proper attitude and discipline, which I think definitely transfers to winning.
"Emotionally, athletes have to have a passion for the game and a passion for the program, and believe wholeheartedly in their preparation for competition.
"Mentally, athletes have to develop toughness by enduring hard forms of training, and they have to be focused. I think that many things that an athlete learns through training are transferable to the playing field.
"I like a military-like mentality because it's based on discipline and close supervision. There's an old saying that athletes do what you inspect, not what you expect. We would like it if all athletes were self motivated to the point that they gave 100% all the time, but unfortunately we find very few individuals like that.
"I don't think it's a negative thing to say that you have to closely supervise athletes, I think it's something that's just necessary if you're going to work them to their full potential. I think that's true of all of us. I think everyone performs better under pressure.
"We've been saying for years that stress exposes the heart, so I'm all about implementing the amount of stress it takes to show me what's inside a guy. There's going to be pressure to perform. Obviously, coaches at this level are under enormous stress, so if we expect our players to perform, they're going to be under some stress, too.
"Everyone has to understand the urgency and importance of whatever it is we're trying to do to be successful."
TarHeelBlue: How would you assess the physical condition of the squad that you inherited?
Jeff Connors: "I think what happened here is that when the reality set in that there was going to be a coaching change, a lot of the team shut down their training. For a period of four to six weeks, they essentially did very little. Your body only takes 72 hours to atrophy and lose the training effect, so when you shut it down for four to six weeks, there's going to be a problem.
"What I observed when I first came in I was very concerned with, because I knew these guys hadn't been training for a while. I have no criticisms of the previous staff and what they were doing. I'll just say that what I do is different. In relationship to the standards that I have developed over the years, there was a lot left to be desired.
"In looking statistically at what the team has tested out at, comparing those stats to the standards I had set where I just came from, they were behind. We have a lot of work to do to get up to my standards and expectations by August."
TarHeelBlue: What have you had the guys doing since you got here?
Jeff Connors: "You could say that my training program is simple and complex at the same time. It's simple in that we don't do anything magic. We don't have any magic potions or supplements.
"What we have is old-school mentality where we lift multi-joint, free weight exercises that people have been doing for years. We're very detailed in teaching technique and supervising what we think is perfect technique before we start to add a lot of weight. So, immediately we started to coach very hard.
"I started to coach speed development very aggressively. Even though we have respectable team speed, I think that team speed can always be improved. I wanted to implement an aggressive speed development program, and make sure we were doing everything we could to enhance our change of direction and agility.
"The other thing that we looked at is our level of conditioning. Our level of conditioning is nowhere near what I need it to be by the time we kick off. Usually during this time of year I only do speed development and very little conditioning, but what I'm doing now is a contingency approach.
"What I prescribe week-to-week is contingent upon what I saw in the previous week. What I'm seeing now is a team that's not at the conditioning level I want, so I'm starting now. I'm not waiting until summer to start conditioning.
"I separate speed development from conditioning, because they're not the same thing. When I talk about conditioning, it's anaerobic conditioning, not aerobic. We have anaerobic conditioning, we have speed development, linear speed development, and also speed endurance, which is a form of conditioning itself. I want a guy to be able to run a 4.5 in the fourth quarter if he can run a 4.5 in the first quarter. I don't want a 4.5 in the first quarter and a 5.5 in the fourth quarter.
"I want these guys to go through very challenging forms of training because I want to improve and test their mental toughness. For example, we do a stadium workout, and at the end of the workout we'll piggyback a partner to the top of the stadium.
"I have a lot of different drill progressions I use that help develop mental toughness. That's one of the reasons I'm going to build a Marine Corps style obstacle course here.
"You have to develop mental toughness to discover that you can overcome pretty much any challenge that's presented to you within the parameters of a football game. I want our players to experience something that's much harder than a football game, so that when they get in a game, they will have been somewhere beyond what the football game presents to them.
"When an athlete gets fatigued he loses focus, passion and desire. Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
"I'm from the old-school type mentality. I was really honored when I was contacted by Coach Bunting and Coach Webster, because I knew they would be looking for someone who ran a very tough and disciplined program. That's the type of people I want to work with, people who will run a tough and disciplined program that will not compromise that approach, and that will hold everybody to the same standard.
"Whether you're an elite athlete or a walk-on, everybody's got to be treated the same. That's the way I've always tried to operate."
TarHeelBlue: I run a lot, and I think of it as fun. Can you get the players to develop a mentality where they look forward to working out?
Jeff Connors: "I think we've already developed that mentality here. I'm very happy with what I'm seeing. I think the majority of our players now can't wait to get here to train. I really believe that they are excited, and it excites me.
"I try to show up here every day with the same amount of intensity and enthusiasm, and I've told my players that's what I expect of them. I think they have bought into what we are doing because they want to be successful. These guys want to win.
"They want an emotional spark, and I believe that Coach Bunting is going to provide that emotional spark. I know that Coach Webster and Coach Huxtable are those type of coaches, and I know that I'm that type of coach. It doesn't take much for me to get emotional and passionate about football."
TarHeelBlue: Some times the strength coach is the one who helps to whip the team into a frenzy just before kickoff. Do you know if you'll have that role here?
Jeff Connors: "When I was at East Carolina, about seven years ago I got real excited one summer day. I was upset at the lack of respect we were getting. Some our leaders at that time went to Coach Logan and asked if I could give some pregame talks. So, I fell into that role there.
"Then, after I gave about seventy straight pregame talks, I asked Coach if I could alternate with some of the other coaches because I had given so many I sometimes didn't know what to talk about. For the last couple of years we alternated those, and I gave two a year.
"That's the way it evolved in that program. Normally, your head coach is the guy who gives the pregame talk. However, if Coach Bunting wants me to have some input into that process, I'll be happy to. Otherwise, I'll just sit back and listen to him and get myself fired up.
"I'll try to contribute to the program in any way that I possibly can. I'm always ready."
TarHeelBlue: I understand that you've had the guys doing some wrestling.
Jeff Connors: "Yes, I have. I've had a lot of experience training guys to wrestle over the years, I was a high school wrestling coach. When you see what those guys can endure, it's amazing.
"We do a form of wrestling which is safer than regular wrestling, because I don't want to get anybody's knee blown out. Wrestling is a great way to develop physical and mental toughness."
TarHeelBlue: What made you come to Chapel Hill? Was there any particular thing?
Jeff Connors: "Well, I've been under a barrage of various attacks since I've taken this job. A lot of people don't understand it, because I left a situation that was very favorable to me and my family.
"I had a fairly secure situation for the future, and I had a business in town. Plus, my wife's a realtor and she does very well.
"But, I think it was a combination of things. Having been there for ten years, I felt like I had maybe reached a plateau as to what else I could do in my role in that program. I was very excited about the challenge that's facing this program in Chapel Hill, plus the fact that they were looking for someone to come in and make changes. That really excited me, because that's what I feel like I do best.
"All during my career when I've come into a new program, we've had success. That's why I feel very confident about myself and what I do. I just feel like I can make things happen. I feel like I've been successful because I've been able to develop the minds of the players.
"Some people refer to the heart of a player, but the heart is the innermost part of the mind. That's what I'm trying to do, develop the minds of the players along with the physical part so that they have confidence and enthusiasm.
"I feel like at North Carolina I will have the resources necessary to be successful.
"Having been down there, we always looked at this program like 'Wow, they get a lot of elite athletes up there.' Now we had a lot of elite athletes down there, but the number of elite athletes that North Carolina gets in various position groups across the board is exciting. You have the potential to have a very strong team in all areas.
"I'm excited about the athletes and what they can potentially do. This challenge is new and exciting for me, because I felt like I needed a new challenge at this point in my career. I'm 45 years old, I don't know how many more opportunities I would have had like this.
"I was offered the Miami job last year with Butch Davis, but I turned it down. ut, when this thing came about, it was different. I just felt like this program, particularly from a strength and conditioning standpoint, is one of the most highly respected programs in the country. Whoever is Director of Strength & Conditioning here has the potential to have a lot of exposure and to develop one of the top programs in the country, one that can be recognized as such.
"Carolina has had a good reputation for strength and conditioning. Rich Tuten was a great strength coach here, and Jeff Madden did a great job here. Over the years there has been some groundwork laid to having a successful program here."
TarHeelBlue: What do you think of the weight room here?
Jeff Connors: "I think the facility is great, but I do have some changes that I want to make. I think it can be a little more functional. Right now it's a little bit too cosmetic and not functional enough.
"I think that we need to have more multiple-unit stations where we can do every bar bell exercise within that station. We're going to put in two more platform areas for Olympic lifts, which will give us eight platform areas and sixteen multi-units, which will make it more functional.
"I'm not a big machine person, so we'll remove some of the machine-oriented type of equipment in here. That will enable us to clear out enough room for an area where we can do some plyometric exercises in this room, because right now there's no space in here. There's machines just kind of thrown in here, some of which have no rhyme or reason to me.
"I want to reorganize this room and make it as functional as possible.
"Now our indoor facility is going to be fantastic, but I just wish it wasn't going to be so far away, because there is time involved to get there. Right now I have the guys running to the field, and running back, and I run with them."
TarHeelBlue: Will they have to run to the field once practice begins?
Jeff Connors: "If it's up to me, they'll run to the field. I'm just saying what the policy is here in the winter months. All I know is that right now, when we train, we will always run to whatever field we're training on, and we will run back. That's coaches and players."
TarHeelBlue: Do the workouts vary depending upon a player's position?
Jeff Connors: "There are some things you can do from a specificity standpoint by position, but by and large this whole team will do the core multi-joint movements. They will all do the Olympic lifts, including kickers, snappers, holders, it doesn't matter.
"We're looking to develop overall power for every athlete, along with total body strength and joint balance, so that we can prevent injury.
"By and large, everybody's going to do the same workout. But at the same time, we can do some things with medicine ball training, for example, with a torso movement that may be specific to quarterbacks. We may do more grip strengthening with receivers and quarterbacks.
"But, these are subtle differences. It's not like a different program for different positions. We train heavy, we train hard, and we really pride ourselves in teaching technique. We try to perfect technique to the point that we don't injure anyone in the weight room.
"Look at some of the quarterbacks I've trained over the years, such as Jeff Blake, Marcus Crandell, David Garrard and Richard Alston, who's at ECU right now. Alston bench presses 420 pounds, Garrard can squat 600 pounds.
"If you look at Garrard's film you can see that he just flat runs over people, plus he's got real good arm strength. I didn't protect him from any part of the workout. I think the way that he's trained, plus the attitude he has about training, has helped to make him very successful.
"We don't have the mentality that, well you're a quarterback, so you'll do something less strenuous or something that's safer.
"I want every athlete to have mental toughness. I want a kicker to kick the ball downfield, then be tough enough to tackle someone if he needs to."
TarHeelBlue: Is mental toughness as important as physical toughness?
Jeff Connors: "No question about it. It's every bit as important. I aspire to teach mental toughness just as much as physical toughness.
"That's why I require all position groups to make the runs, as well. Whatever position you play, you have to meet the condition requirements. Everybody is required to meet the standards for each position."
TarHeelBlue: What will your guys be doing over the summer?
Jeff Connors: "What I'm doing right now is looking at this team and trying to determine which athletes for whom I can individualize a program. For instance, I've got 8 to 10 athletes who are going to be in great condition from a running standpoint, but at the same time those individuals need to put on 15 to 30 pounds of lean mass, which takes time. So, I will limit their running and upgrade their lifting. Plus, I'll expect them to eat a lot of good food, and eat frequently throughout the day. They'll probably be lifting twice a day.
"There are five individuals who have way too high a percentage of body fat. I'm going to make sure that those individuals, if they plan on playing here, are going to reduce their amount of body fat. They're going to have to show me that they have the commitment. I'm going to be very aggressive with them.
"They're about to experience very intense forms of motivation.
"When Steve Logan used to go speak to Pirate Clubs, he used to describe me as a "Son of Satan" during the summer months, which may have been a little extreme, but not by much. When we finish spring ball I'm going to be flying around here like my hair's on fire, because I want to make sure we are prepared to the utmost when this season rolls around.
"You know we open with Oklahoma. Their coach (Bob Stoops) has given his strength coach an enormous amount of publicity. When they won the national championship last year, he talked very highly of Jerry Schmidt and gave him a lot of credit for what happened. Now, that has been excellent for our profession, but at the same time it presents a great challenge for me, because I know what a great strength program they have.
"That's our first game, that's what we have to prepare for. I like the challenge, but at the same time it's going to be a tough challenge for all of us. So, I'm probably going to be more intense this year than I have been since I first got to East Carolina.
"What I want to bring to this program is a high level of conditioning and a great mentality and attitude that no matter how deep we get into a game, and whatever the challenge is at the end of that game, that we always have a chance to win. We are going to know in our minds that nobody in the country has conditioned any harder than we have. It will be impossible for somebody to have run harder than we have.
"How can we expect our team to physically dominate teams like Oklahoma, like Florida State, like East Carolina, teams that I know are very physical and strong? The only way that we can do that is to make sure we're at that level.
"I want as many athletes as possible on this team to stay in Chapel Hill for the entire summer, because that's what I believe we need to do. I don't need for the guys to go home for the first session, then come back for the second. I need them here for the whole summer.
"There's no way they're going to go home and work even half as hard as we're going to work here. They're not going to do it, I'll tell you right now. So, I need them here.
"I love to golf, but I'll be lucky to get in nine holes this summer, based on what I'm planning to do. I like to go on vacation, but I'm not so sure I'll go on vacation this summer.
"I've got a big job to do. I've got a lot of work to do to get these guys where they need to be. There's no time to waste. I want to make sure they understand my sense of urgency and my commitment.
"I want to make sure I'm outworking every other strength coach. I want to make sure our players are outworking other players.
"We will run all summer in the sun. It'll be tough, it'll be challenging to a lot of people. I want us to know that we are prepared for any challenge we face in a football game, no matter who we play."
In Part II on Friday, Connors will mention some of the players who have stood out with their work ethic since he's been here, discuss speed and nutrition, tell us about War Day, talk about how he tries to build up players through discipline, plus much more.