2009 Spartan Football Strength & Conditioning Clinic

The 2009 MSU Football S & C Clinic was a huge success.  Coach Mike Vorkapich did a tremendous job of organizing the event, and Head S & C Coach Ken Mannie made sure that everyone knew that Mike pulled it all together. 

The day started off with opening remarks from Coach Mannie, who took 20-30 minutes to introduce some of the speakers and talk about the real purpose for the event – the kids we all deal with.  The main point of his remarks was to remind everyone what an impact we can have on a lot of young people.  He didn’t get too fired up in the A.M. as he was saving some of that for the afternoon.

Coach Mannie also opined about how this clinic was a combination of the old guard and the young guys.  Legendary iron-game pros like Ken Leistner, Ted Lambrinides, Mike Gittleson and Ken Mannie were joined by the new school speakers Carlo Alvarez, Jim Kielbaso and Randy Gillon. 

The audience was full of high school football coaches, but it was amazing how many strength coaches were also on hand including Paul Harker from Wayne State, Steve Murray from Toledo, Kevin Tolbert from U of Michigan and the Detroit Lions, Jeff Watson from Western Ontario, Bob Brooks from Valpo, Nick Wilson from University of Detroit.  By the end of the day, people were networking and commenting on what a great all-around event it was.

Dr. Ken Leistner – Dr. Ken was the first legend of the day, and he went right to work talking about the most effective exercises available.  Of course he covered exercises like the squat, but he really hammered home the importance of doing neck work for football players.

Carlo Alvarez – After serving as a head S & C coach for the Cincinnati Reds, Carlo has moved on to make an impact on many more young athletes at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.  Carlo talked about how to organize a high school strength program, how he prepares for each workout and how they run their program at St. X.

Jim Kielbaso – Jim talked about agility training for football and got into the scientific underpinnings of agility training.  He also had a video of a bunch of different agility drills that we’re told he’s going to make available on www.speedandstrengthcoach.com very soon.

Mike Gittleson – After more than 30 years at University of Michigan, Mike is now touring the country speaking about strength training and consulting with coaches.  Rogers Athletics has acquired his services to create some new equipment including a really cool neck/shrug machine.  Mike gave a great scientific talk on how strength training affects an athlete on the molecular level.  A huge point he made was how fast movements (especially negatives) are very hard on the tendons and actually cause tendon calcification.  He also explained on the molecular level how slower movements do not cause this problem.

Ted Lambrinides – Another legend of the game, Ted brought Wayne State S & C Coach Paul Harker up to demonstrate several exercises including some wicked shoulder work with ropes, plank work for the core and glutes and he, Dr. Ken and Coach Mannie broke down the RDL/Stiff-legged Deadlift.  Of course, he also told some great stories about his clients that everyone could relate to and learn from.

Ken Mannie – Ken brought in a former Spartan football player to demo a workout in which he beat the kid down pretty hard.  He got pretty fired up talking about how he runs his weight room and selects workout partners.  Probably the best line of the day came when he was talking about not pairing up two poor workers as he explained “one small turd plus another small turd equals a big turd, and I’m not having that in here.”  He always has great advice for coaches and this talk was no exception.

Randy Gillon – MSU Sprints coach and new football speed coach Randy Gillon did his talk on the field so he could demonstrate several drills and break down some mechanics.  He had some great information, but the best part was watching him perform the drills.  He is an elite sprinter and it looks like he has springs on his legs when he jumps and bounds. 

If you missed the clinic this year, make plans for 2010.