The summer of a Charger: drills, weights, pain and gain
Daniel J. Williams
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Sports
At 6:47 a.m. on a Thursday in June, quarterback Mark Nicolet, a senior, awoke and stretched tired legs and sore arms. It was a speed-training day and Nicolet knew the weight room awaited him.
As he pushed through the lower-body routine, he checked off exercises in his team-issued manual, its soiled and worn cover emblazoned with the Charger logo and the words "Hillsdale College Charger Football: Power and Pride, Summer 2007." That evening, after a day of camp coaching, speed drills and passing, he went to bed and rested. Tomorrow was Friday, a conditioning day, and the weights awaited him yet again.
"The most important thing coming back to school is knowing that you're healthy," said Nicolet, fresh off the field after one of last week's practices. "You don't want a day to go by where you don't get better, you don't get faster, you don't get stronger, because you know 90-some other guys are doing the exact same thing you are."
Unlike other football teams, Hillsdale's coaches do not require players return to campus for summer training. So when the players finished final exams, they left with a mandate from the coaches: Get in shape.
Their highly detailed summer regimen consisted of speed, agility and quickness drills, weight lifting, abdominal work and a conditioning program. All players, including incoming freshmen, received the program and worked individually throughout
the summer.
Head coach Keith Otterbein said a purpose of the program is to develop trust and accountability between coaches and teammates.
"That's just part of the deal," Otterbein said. "Show up in shape, and knowing that their buddy's counting on them, knowing that there's a hundred people associated with this thing, and they've gotta be in shape, and there's no exception, no excuse."
To remain accountable, each player was required to communicate with his position coach at the end of each day's assigned workout.
Twice during the summer, on June 24 and July 14, players voluntarily returned to campus for one-day practices led by the team captains and for physical fitness tests. Most of the team returned for both captains' practices.
Otterbein said the anticipation of returning to campus in August is an element of the summer program's success.
"I always liked, as a player, that excitement and anticipation that August was getting near and feeling really excited to get back to campus," Otterbein said. "So for that reason, I like our guys to go home.
The wait ended on Aug. 5 when the Chargers reported back to campus for mandatory training camp. Those players who had not passed the physical fitness test in June or July, which consisted of 16 consecutive timed 110-yard runs, were tested at the beginning of camp. Out of 97 players, only one failed for fitness reasons.
"Physically, we're as good as we've been in a long time," said Nate Shreffler, strength and conditioning coach for the Chargers.
"I've been here 9 years, and I can't think of a group of guys, collectively, that are more ready physically than these guys. They've put in the time and the work, and they're ready to go."
As he pushed through the lower-body routine, he checked off exercises in his team-issued manual, its soiled and worn cover emblazoned with the Charger logo and the words "Hillsdale College Charger Football: Power and Pride, Summer 2007." That evening, after a day of camp coaching, speed drills and passing, he went to bed and rested. Tomorrow was Friday, a conditioning day, and the weights awaited him yet again.
"The most important thing coming back to school is knowing that you're healthy," said Nicolet, fresh off the field after one of last week's practices. "You don't want a day to go by where you don't get better, you don't get faster, you don't get stronger, because you know 90-some other guys are doing the exact same thing you are."
Unlike other football teams, Hillsdale's coaches do not require players return to campus for summer training. So when the players finished final exams, they left with a mandate from the coaches: Get in shape.
Their highly detailed summer regimen consisted of speed, agility and quickness drills, weight lifting, abdominal work and a conditioning program. All players, including incoming freshmen, received the program and worked individually throughout
the summer.
Head coach Keith Otterbein said a purpose of the program is to develop trust and accountability between coaches and teammates.
"That's just part of the deal," Otterbein said. "Show up in shape, and knowing that their buddy's counting on them, knowing that there's a hundred people associated with this thing, and they've gotta be in shape, and there's no exception, no excuse."
To remain accountable, each player was required to communicate with his position coach at the end of each day's assigned workout.
Twice during the summer, on June 24 and July 14, players voluntarily returned to campus for one-day practices led by the team captains and for physical fitness tests. Most of the team returned for both captains' practices.
Otterbein said the anticipation of returning to campus in August is an element of the summer program's success.
"I always liked, as a player, that excitement and anticipation that August was getting near and feeling really excited to get back to campus," Otterbein said. "So for that reason, I like our guys to go home.
The wait ended on Aug. 5 when the Chargers reported back to campus for mandatory training camp. Those players who had not passed the physical fitness test in June or July, which consisted of 16 consecutive timed 110-yard runs, were tested at the beginning of camp. Out of 97 players, only one failed for fitness reasons.
"Physically, we're as good as we've been in a long time," said Nate Shreffler, strength and conditioning coach for the Chargers.
"I've been here 9 years, and I can't think of a group of guys, collectively, that are more ready physically than these guys. They've put in the time and the work, and they're ready to go."
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