Tyler Miles talks strength and conditioning numbers

Strength and Conditioning coach Tyler Miles met with the media on Tuesday to discuss some of the progress made this offseason. Miles’ program puts an emphasis on tracking progress using numbers, whether that’s max velocity, percentage of body fat, or lifting weights.

One of the ways they can track progress is max speed, which is done by a player wearing a tracker and running in a straight line without pads on.

“We got a couple guys running 23 mph now, we got 15 guys running 22, 43 guys running 21, 62 running 20 and then bigs, we have a handful of bigs running 19 and weighing at least 330 pounds,” Miles said.

Miles puts these numbers in perspective based on his coaching history, which includes Duke, Miami, Tennessee, and one year at Florida in 2023.

“I know the most anyone on my staff has seen anywhere we’ve been in the past for 22s was five. I’ve only ever seen one 23 in my career at the college level and I know there’s more out there but just where I’ve been. We have two on one team and that’s phenomenal,” Miles said.

Miles breaks down Florida’s progress made in the weight room this offseason.

“Strength numbers, we went from 15 guys cleaning 300 pounds to 45 guys. Our average squat weight was around 365 pounds around the end of winter and now our average is 425. Bench I can’t remember, but I don’t put as much emphasis on bench. The weight has increased but squat is kind of the no-brainer. We kind of define that as our identity because to drop down low it takes no fear with that much weight on your back. We take a lot of pride in that,” Miles said.

  “We’ve gotten faster, we’ve gotten stronger – more muscle helps you get faster,” Miles said. “To put it in perspective we’ve gained 575 pounds of muscle and we lost 475 pounds of fat – that’s around 1,030-pound swing. And even in the summer we had some skinny guys putting on some fat so it doesn’t even tell the whole story. So 600 pounds of muscle during the offseason that’s how it translates to speed.”

 Miles believes that his players’ character and confidence led to the increase in numbers this offseason.

 “I’m really proud of the numbers but I’m really just proud of how they conducted themselves,” Miles said. “We talk about being a pro but also just being a man every single day. You come to work and you do what you’re supposed to do and I think that is what led to the increase in numbers. The speed numbers are great and the strength numbers are great and the body composition numbers are also great. They’re all phenomenal and I’m very proud of that. I’m more proud of how these guys have conducted themselves and attacked everything throughout the entire summer.”

 The goal of the strength and conditioning program is to position the players to make a significant impact on game day, whether that’s by increasing speed, strength, or stamina to help finish games.

 “There’s that saying you can’t win the season in the beginning, the offseason, but you can certainly lose it,” Miles said. “So not always keeping the guys all the way up here all the time but undulating those volumes to get them where they need to be… but at the same time, not over-trained, after camp, or in season, hopefully bowl games and so on, that’s a long time so you have to really modify those volumes and intensities not just when you get to the season but when you start an offseason.”

 The Florida Gators have made significant progress from a numbers perspective this offseason. Other sources have told Gator Country that the team looks entirely different in 2024.