On March 13 the doors of the Griffin-Oakley Strength and Conditioning Complex were shut indefinitely. Dan Mullen and the Florida coaching staff knew that with the COVID-19 pandemic reaching America that this could happen and they had begun to prepare for it two weeks prior.
Only a handful of Florida football players remain in Gainesville, so the challenge for strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage was to develop individualized plans for each player on the team. No two players will have the same access to weights or space, so the challenge for Savage and his staff was large.
Each player was sent home with a generic plan, one that they could do entirely without weights. Savage and his staff created a YouTube page with private videos that the players can access where he and his staff demonstrate each workout and how it should be safely done for a reference.
Then each member of Savage’s staff was assigned a position group that they check in with daily. Savage himself sends a group team text message every morning, whether it’s a motivational quote or something light and funny, he wants to stay in constant communication with each player. He personally calls, texts or FaceTimes a position group every day as well.
“Basically, so I can hear and see their face. I’ll call them or I’ll FaceTime them. I want to hear their voice or see their face at least once a week to make sure I’m not missing something through text message,” Savage said. “We text daily and then I will have multiple calls to a percentage of the athletes every single day and by the end of the week I have hit everyone.”
Through that process, Savage was able to learn what each player had available to them in terms of space and equipment. Some players are blessed and have access to home gyms, some have dumbbells or bands and can use those. Others are getting more creative.
“Typically, it’s family members or pets,” Savage said when asked what’s the most unusual thing he’s had players lifting in a workout. “It’s been the best. We’ve had everything from buckets and hoses and potting plant pots you would put plants in. Family members, pets, we’ve had a whole bunch of things. It’s been refreshing.”
Through that constant communication, Savage has been able to take that generic plan the players were sent home with and tailor it to each individual. It’s up to them to make sure they’re doing the work. You don’t need a state of the art gym; as long as your intensity and volume are there you can maintain what you’ve built and if you’re not doing the work it will show whenever the all-clear is given to get back on the field.
The players have taken it upon themselves to hold each other accountable
“They basically pick on and egg each other on,” Savage said. “’I did this, I did this many reps,’ and so on and so forth. I think our guys do a great job of not only enjoying hard work and putting in the time and commitment in order to be successful, but they are also very competitive.”
There’s no telling when we will get back to normal. Football won’t return until COVID-19 is under control and even when that happens, what is the timeline to safely return to playing organized football? Even in normal times, there is an acclimation period when beginning fall or spring camp. The first two practices are just in helmets, the next two are just in helmets and shoulder pads by NCAA mandate. What is the timeline to safely return to playing such a violent game when
“It’s hard for me to put a specific day or number on all that cause a lot of it’s gonna be determined what comes our way in the future,” Savage said. “I would like to think what I call, so-called work capacity, basically the level at which we train out is a lot higher than I would say a lot of individuals and I’m confident and believe in our guys in terms of handling the business offsite. So I think it would be a lot lower than maybe general population but a lot of that’s gonna be determined when we return.”
The return is out of anyone’s control but Savage is doing everything he can right now to ensure that his players are, first and foremost, staying healthy and safe, but also that they are in shape and ready to go when the time comes.