Savage keeps Florida players on edge
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• Saturday Practice: In-depth offensive observations (one)
• Saturday Practice: In-depth defensive observations
• Raymond has a University of Florida legacy to uphold
• Saturday Practice Insider: Offense inconsistent
• Instant Analysis: Henderson makes it two-for-two
• Alley: Live from Saturday (3/17) Spring Practice
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Nick Savage was going for the element of surprise.
As the Florida Gators football team returned from Christmas break, ready to take on their off-season, they had no idea what to expect from their new Strength and Conditioning Coach…and that’s what he was planning on.
“I want it to be a surprise,” Savage explained to reporters following Saturday’s open practice.
“I want them to be uncomfortable. They need to learn how to be uncomfortable, because at some point in the game, in the off-season, whatever it may be, someone's going to be uncomfortable. So my job is to make sure they understand what being uncomfortable is about."
The surprises came in many forms. There was the campus run which the players thought was going to be a quick warm up jog. It turned out to be a 2.7-mile run.
Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson admitted guys were in fact taken aback.
“The first day we went in we ran around campus. We were like, ‘wait, what?’ We thought we were just going to be running just to be running. Once we started, it was more like, more we went we were straining.
“We had four circuits along the way,” explained Savage.
“We had an ab station, a sit-up station. We did push-ups. We did bodyweight squats and then we did bridging. So, nothing too challenging, but in terms of working together as a team, that was the ultimate goal.”
It’s the latter element—coupled with the un-comfortability—that is the driving force behind Savage’s game plan for this squad.
“Bonding to the new culture is one of our ultimate goals.”
But back to that surprise element. Many a S&C coach has seen their job as preparing the players physically. Savage wants to take it a step further and prepare them mentally and he’ll do that in whatever way possible, not matter how out-there.
During the recent Valentine’s Day work out—Savage and staff covered the weight room in hearts, banners and cupids. They donned custom shirts and embraced the holiday as the team went through one of the most strenuous workouts of the off-season.
“We try to change the environment up in terms of decorations and all that. A lot of that is just to shock the system in terms of different atmosphere. We approach it as an away game. You never know what you're walking into. Our main goal is to program that brain, no matter what's in front of us; we're going to go attack. So that was the ultimate goal there."
The team has reacted as expected. Some better than others according to Savage, never negative but immediately an eye-opener. Which isn’t strange considering the program many of the players have been in for the past seven years.
Florida’s strength and conditioning program under Mike Kent received flak for the number of injuries players experienced and just the sheer physical whooping units would take in games. After the 2017 season opening loss against Michigan, then head coach Jim McElwain even referenced the deficiencies.
“I thought we had a good plan, obviously. And then as it turned out, the plan was pretty well foiled by getting physically whooped by big, strong guys,” he said at the time, before going on to add that it would take work in the weight room to improve that area of play.
According to Gardener-Johnson the change with Savage wasn’t something they expected but it has already begun to show impact.
“It’s probably the best program I’ve been in since I started lifting weights when I was a kid…it’s pushing my body. The stuff we’re doing, I feel like we’re going to get better and better. A lot of guys have got way bigger, stronger. You can see improvements in numbers weight-wise.”
The numbers are points of pride for the guys, even only a couple of months into the program. They share them on Twitter, with fans and with the media.
Wide receiver Josh Hammond has gained seven pounds while losing 3% body fat.
Quarterback Feleipe Franks has stayed around the same weight of 235 but dropped his body from 12% to 10%.
Savage said defensive lineman Jachai Polite did the same, gaining weight but losing body fat.
Linebacker David Reese hasn’t seen his numbers yet but says a quick look around the room makes it clear everyone has lowered that evil body fat number in order to become slimmer, faster and more lithe.
And overall there’s a lot of comments like this one from offensive lineman Martez Ivey who has already shown a quicker step in practice; “I feel a lot stronger. Just running, running as well I feel a little bit more conditioned.”
“My whole thing is we want to keep their performance as high as possible,” explained Savage.
“I want them to play at a weight that is as high as possible without their performance dropping. Now I think coaches, if there’s a position change they could cover a weight gain but everyone is just on a normal progression per their position group.”
That perspective, that knowledge, is what has helped Savage rise quickly through the ranks of the college football strength and conditioning world. At 28 years old he’s only been in the field for less than a decade. But being brought on by Mullen to run one of the top programs in the country wasn’t a sign of faith or hope or favoritism. It was based on a track record that has already shown results.
Savage credits a lot of that success to his mentors and what they were able to teach him as he first got started. One of those was Mickey Marotti, the highly acclaimed S&C coach at Ohio State since 2012 and former Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Florida Gators. Marotti lead the department in Gainesville from 2005-2011 through two National Championships.
“I think obviously at some point that extra experience and time with [Mickey] has helped to some extent. Obviously, philosophy and culture since we always talk about culture and how things have got to get done. That was a key point to that there.”
Now however, it’s Savage in charge and his program to run. He has a clear plan for the next year. It is built on a base structure that leaves itself flexible for changes, new goals and, well, surprises.
“Offseason we want to put on as much muscle mass as we can. We’ll transition into the strength phase and the closer we get to the season it strictly turns into more power phase because of the load and the running we do on the field.
“There’s not one style that we hang our hat on at the end of the day. We leave our doors open in terms of what we’re looking for out of the guys and we use all of the modalities that we’ve got.”
What the staff gets out of the guys in season is yet to be seen, but if the results from the past two months are any indication it will be a big surprise for Gator fans—of the best kind.
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