Early intel on Florida Gators summer workouts
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators just hosted a huge visit weekend and a quote from Javion Hilson stood out to me.
“I see Florida, I know they didn’t have a good season last year but I see that they’re rebuilding and stuff,” he told Gators Online. “After me seeing the players in there getting after it in the weight room and doing their own work without the coach telling them to do it and stuff, I just see, I know they’re gonna have a good season.”
That made me think back to what I witnessed when I was at Florida’s workouts. Here’s some additional intel from talking with some people on Sunday and from my interviews with Tyler Miles and Jake Sankal.
Something I found interesting from talking with Tyler Miles
I got to speak with Miles after a Florida workout — it was a pretty brutal leg day, Graham Mertz said “I went to a dark place during that one,” to me in passing as we chatted quickly on my way out. Something I found very interesting was that Miles isn’t just programming the Gators’ workouts, he’s going through the program a week ahead of them.
He feels like it gives him a sense of what the players are doing, and how it’s affecting their bodies and recovery. Because he’s a week ahead of the programming he can tinker with it. Say the workout called for a certain prescribed percentage of your one rep max and a specific tempo or rep range and it was too easy or too hard, Miles will know that firsthand and will change it before the programming is given to the players the next week. The program can also change if the work is too much, or a specific area needs more rest than what was originally prescribed. It makes a lot of sense and it’s probably a previously unthought-of benefit of having a young strength coach, not all strength coaches would be able to go through what they’re designing for elite athletes.
What does a typical schedule look like?
The Gators run and work out on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. There are weeks with holidays or just weeks that need to change. It’s always flexible but the coaching staff can’t be “on the grass” with the players right now but they do have meetings. Those meetings also give direction to the player-run practices that the guys are going through now as well.
One thing that I’ve been told has really improved is the work ethic of the players and how much extra everyone does on their own. I watched it firsthand when I was invited to view lifting, as the first group finished their workouts, most of the guys stayed after to catch footballs on the JUGS, do plyometrics, throw and catch passes, and even hit the sled.
This isn’t like the Jim McElwain tenure with MIke Kent, where I would see players doing actual workouts at Gainesville Health and Fitness at 10 pm, this is skill work after brutal workouts in the gym. It’s good to see, it’s what has to be done if you want to take the next step as a player and as a team.
Florida Gators have mandatory meals at the facility
A big part of the reason why Florida is seeing the muscle gains they have early on is nutrition. You can’t outwork a bad diet and the Gators mandate that the players eat breakfast and lunch at the facility when they are in Gainesville, which is year-round.
Players have to sign in with an intern or a staff member before breakfast and lunch. There are nutrition
“Every day, Monday through Friday they have to go breakfast and lunch and eat here. We monitor what they get and that they actually eat what they get.”
Sankal’s assistant nutritionists, Briana Nelson and Rebecca Mergy, are in the dining hall inside the Heavener Complex to monitor and help players as they make their plates.
“They help guys build their plates, answer questions that they have, talking to them about spring ball, ok, yesterday was a super hard practice, today is a recovery day, you need to switch up what you’re eating (to facilitate recovery).”
The post Early intel on Florida Gators summer workouts appeared first on On3.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings