Ashley Jones

2016 Professional Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get team elitefts Columnist Ashley Jones on the podcast. Maybe it was his traveling schedule from Australia to Japan to New Zealand and back. Maybe it was the time difference. Regardless of the reason, it sure wasn't for a lack of interest.

When you read Ashley Jone's articles, you can't help but gain an appreciation for how much Jones's passion emanates through his writing. He hold nothing back when giving out his information and provides detailed programming and rationale from decades of experience. His following has expanded beyond the sport of Rugby and will benefit coaches of all levels of all sports.

Topic Covered in this Podcast

1. How Ashley Started in the Profession
2. Minimum Requirements for Training Athletes: Overseas vs the States
3. Misconception about Rugby Training; Rugby vs Rugby League vs American Football
4. Programming Considerations for Rugby
5. Assessments for Rugby Players
6. Differences Between In-Season and Off-Season Training for Rugby
7. Setting Up the Game Week In-Season
8. Developing A System for Workload, Based on the Individual
9. Similarities to NFL Coaching Philosophies
10. Technical vs Tactical vs Physical Preparation
11. Monitoring Conditioning and Speed Work
12. A More Creative Way to Implement Conditioning
13. Top-Ups to Address Biomotor Qualities
14. Strength Training for Rugby eBook
15. Advice for Young Coaches
16. Future Plans and How to Reach Ashley

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

The Ashley Jones File

Ashley Jones is a rugby strength and conditioning coach who has worked with the elite of the game, having been employed by the Crusaders (Super XV competition), New Zealand All Blacks, and the Australian Wallabies over the last decade. He has been awarded an honorary position at Bond University in Australia as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Jones has worked in the sports physical performance conditioning and fitness industries since 1978 and has worked in three professional sports (basketball, rugby league, and rugby union) across three countries (New Zealand, Australia, and Japan).

Articles by Ashley Jones

Engineering Physical Performance: Strength Training for Rugby: A Neural, Mechanical, & Metabolic Approach

About the Book

New from International Strength and Conditioning Coach Ashley Jones.
Ash shares his thoughts and specific training modalities in a raw cut to the tin information packed bible.
No flashy graphics in this book, it is all about the information and the athletes.
With 89 A4 pages this e-book allows Ash to share much of his world class experience and hands on insights into over 35 years at the coal face of strength training.
Many of the world’s best rugby players have trained under Ash’s careful tuition including the All Blacks, Crusaders and Wallabies.
An absolute must read for strength and conditioning professionals working in rugby.

Joe Kenn

2014 Professional Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

2002 College Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

In January of 2004 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando Florida, I shared an elevator ride with Joe Kenn and Mark Uyeyama. At the risk of appearing like a total dork in front of my girlfriend (now wife), I introduced myself by both praising The Coach's Strength Training Playbook and Joe's presentation that morning at the NSCA Sports-Specific Training Conference. Whether it was through Coach H's Coaching Log or other professional development, "House" and I stayed colleagues and are now friends.

One of my favorites articles on elitefts was when Jim Wendler interviewed Joe Kenn at the compound. This four-part series went through a detailed approach of Joe's Block Zero and Tier System Training, along with his Push-Jump-Punch Technique on the Clean. Now, I don't wave the wit or personality of Jim Wendler, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview Joe again in the same weight room nine years later. A lot has changed but as you will see, the core values of a great coach never do.

“We live in the age of regurgitation of quotes from books. Put that knowledge into practice, then tell me what you think.”

- Joe Kenn

In this Interview:

The Tier System

The Tiers System at the Sports Performance Training Summit
The Most Important of the Four points: Exercise Selection
The Evolution of the Tier System: 6 Years Since the The Wendler Interview
Volume Controlled per Tier vs. Specific Movement Development of Each Tier using Zatsiorsky's Three Methods
Learning from Presenting with Mike Robertson: The Most Important Aspect is the Exercise Pool
The Creation of Inter-Mixed Periodization
Athlete Age Dictates Variability, Regressions, and Progressions
The Integrity of the Tier System is the Template Approach to Exercise Order

Advice for Young Coaches

Research by Way of Athletes Interactions
Law of Individual Differences
Coaches understanding WSBB Principles in an Athletic Setting
Coaches understanding the Demands of Athletes vs. the Demands of Lifters
Young Coaches need to Start with Basics: Most Coaches go from Specific to Basic

Three Critical Points for Young Coaches

Don't Chase: The Job You have Now is the Most Important Job You Have
Be Yourself: If It's Truly your Passion, It Shouldn't Be Hard.
Find a Niche: GPS, VBT, HRV

Joe Kenn “House” has established himself as one of the top strength coaches and sought after clinician in the world. As the author of The Coach’s Strength training Playbook, Joe Kenn started as a regular contributor on the elitefts Q&A known as Coach H. The inventor of the Tier System of Strength Training and owner of Big House Power Competitive Athletic Training, Joe was won numerous awards and the only coach to win the NSCA Professional and Collegiate Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2002 respectively. Kenn has coached multiple future NFL Hall-of-Famers including Steve Smith and Terrell Suggs.

The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook

The Tier System Training DVD

The Sled Work Outs DVD

Interview with Joe Kenn

Articles by Joe Kenn

Interview with Joe Kenn

Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

Carolina Panthers

Joe Kenn is one of the most influential strength and conditioning coaches in the industry. The number of coaches that "House" has had an impact on stretches throughout the professional, collegiate, high school, and private sectors. Coach Kenn has been a mentor to me since I started reading his articles on elitefts™ and read The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook which outlines the Tier System; a system that I have used with my athletes with great success.

Joe has become a friend and I am able to speak to him regularly. I was honored to introduce him when he presented at the NSCA National Conference this past summer and privileged to be one of the first to review his new eBook: The Coach's Strength Training Playbook for Football, before it was released. Here is my review of his manual:

In today’s saturated sports performance market, there are eBooks that surface left and right on various topics with an underlying motivation to make a profit. Most of these manuals turn out to be promotional platforms written by individuals who have never actually coached athletes in a team setting. Real coaches want to cut through the creative formatting and flashy marketing without reading through another theoretical guide based not on anecdotal evidence but on personal beliefs. This is not that kind of eBook.

Make no mistake, Joe Kenn’s “The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook for Football: A Championship Program” is anything but watered down and solely theoretical. Coach Kenn opens the door to an entire off-season of training in a detailed format. This data was collected during the off-season training of a highly successful team in a BCS conference with a number of NFL drafted players. No component of preparation was left undocumented including sets, reps, percentages, target times, and performance testing data.

There is a reason Joe “House” Kenn is arguably the most decorated and influential strength and conditioning coach in the industry. His attention to detail, straightforward guidance, and unwavering integrity is evident in every one of the 280+ pages. Coaches that truly want to help their athletes succeed on the football field and in the weight room will appreciate the effort and honesty of coach Kenn’s writing. This is the type of information that strength coaches covet and will flourish with. This is a must-read for any coach beyond the over-simplification of athletic performance. “The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook for Football: A Championship Program” is written from the sack. Words Win.

It was an honor to do this interview, although it didn't feel much like one. It was more of a conversation that we've had many times before.

Part 1

Topics Covered in Part 1

Coaching in the grid of the NFL season
The transition from the collegiate setting to the professional level
In-season training and exercise density
The evolution of the Tier System
Limitations on coaching at the college level

</p> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Part 2</span></h2> <p>

Topics Covered in Part 2

Maximum Effort Training for the Front Seven
Mental toughness
Young coaches platform and the"new methods"
Embracing the process
Surviving the profession
Advice for young coaches
The Coach's Strength Training Playbook for Football: A Championship Program

</p> <h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/elitefts-sports-performance/id780826169?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;">Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes</span></a></span></h3> <h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><a href="#" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;">Elitefts™ Iron Subcultrue Podcast on iTunes</span></a></span></h3> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2609024/height/360/width/640/theme/legacy/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/" scrolling="no" width="600" height="338"/></p> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>More from Joe Kenn</strong></span></h2> <p>

Ron McKeefery

2016 College Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

Ron McKeefery cares about the strength and conditioning field almost as much as his own athletes. It's hard to imagine any other coaches who has done as much as McKeefery when it comes to providing real-world knowledge to strength coaches. McKeefery's approach has been to provide the most pertinent information for coaches to better themselves in all aspects of the profession. However, the information McKeefery dispenses is just as valuable for business owners, educators, and students as well as coaches.

McKeefery has been on the forefront of strength and conditioning coach education for his entire career. From his extensive intern program to his website, McKeeferey has given coaches the opportunity to develop as practitioners, mentors, and people. McKeefery hosts his own podcast, The Iron Game Chalk Talk, presents at multiple conferences, and still educates his own staff at eastern Michigan University. Listening to the interview will give you a much more clearer insight on the profession and what it takes to succeed in it.

Topics in the Podcast

1. His Presentation at the 2014 NSCA Coaches Conference
"Only if you sacrifice for a cause will you truly love it"

2. The "How to" of relationship building.
"We are in this instant gratification society"

3. The 3 Roles of being a Strength Coach (Technician, Manager, Entrepreneur)

4. Paying your dues in the field.
"Seventeen years in this profession and I am just learning how to ask the right questions."

5 The Internship Program and Hiring Assistants
"I try to hire what I'm not."
"Hire slow and fire fast."

6. Coach McKeefery's Biggest Influences

7. The first things that need to happen when taking over a program.
"Get the right thought into the player's head instead of their own."

8. How the weight room relates to the field

9. The importance of the lifting partner

10. The Iron Game Chalk Talk, Strength on Demand, and his transparent view on why he started his website.

11. Coach's Future Speaking Engagements

Ron McKeefery is in his first year as a member of the Eastern Michigan University athletics department. The 2008 Under Armour Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, McKeefery has served as a strength and conditioning coach at both the professional and collegiate level.

McKeefery spent the 2013 season working with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals after serving as the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of South Florida and the University of Tennessee. In total, he has coached 27 NFL Draft Picks, including First Round Draft Pick and Pro Bowlers Mike Jenkins and Jason Pierre-Paul, along with Cordarrelle Patterson. Additionally, he has coached numerous all-conference, All-Americans and NFL free agents selections.

"I had the honor of coaching Ron in his senior year of college and watched him lead a team from 1-8 to 9-1," said EMU Head Football Coach Chris Creighton. "He was special then and he is special now. He is an expert at his craft but what separates him from so many are his intangibles. Our team already knows that he cares about them and he is already making us better."

Before heading to Cincinnati, McKeefery was the football head strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee for three seasons. He was also the human performance coordinator for the United States Army Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, in Fort Campbell, Ky.

McKeefery got his collegiate start at the University of South Florida, where he served as assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning and the head strength and conditioning coach from 2000-10.

A key member of the South Florida coaching staff, McKeefery's tenure with the Bulls coincided with that program's rise from Division I-AA to perennial Big East Conference contender. In addition to six consecutive bowl games and 16 NFL draft picks, the success of his strength and conditioning program is best exemplified by the fact that South Florida was 10-0 in overtime during his tenure.

The Missouri native owns a bachelor of arts in biology from Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., and a master of arts in adult education from South Florida. McKeefery earned all-conference honors in both football and track at Ottawa and was also a two-time Academic All-American.

After spending one season as a coach with Ottawa, McKeefery worked as an intern with the Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball. He also worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1999 season, a year in which the Bucs played in the NFC Championship Game. McKeefery also spent the 2000 season as the head strength and conditioning coach with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe.

In addition, he has lectured for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association, and numerous major universities. McKeefery has been published in the National Strength and Conditioning Journal, American Football Monthly and Stack Magazine.

He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist w/Distinction (CSCS*D) and Coach Practitioner under the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as well as a Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) under the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). He also served as the state NSCA Director for Florida (North) and is certified by both the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA).

Coaching Experience
2013 Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) Strength and Conditioning Coach
2011-13 University of Tennessee Director of Strength & Conditioning-Football
2001-10 University of South Florida Asst. AD/Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
2000-01 University of South Florida Asst. Strength & Conditioning Coach
2000 Berlin Thunder Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
1999-00 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Part-Time Asst. Strength and Conditioning Coach
1998-99 Kansas City Royals Intern Strength and Conditioning Coach
1998-99 Ottawa University Assistant Defensive Backs/Strength Coach

Coaching Honors
2013 Master Strength and Conditioning Coach Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association
2008 Under Armour Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year
2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl Champions
2010 International Bowl Champions
2008 St. Petersburg Bowl Champions
2007 Brut Sun Bowl
2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl Champions
2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl

Courtesy of Eastern Michigan University

Fred Eaves

2016 High School Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

Not every high school's strength and conditioning program is the same. The differences between facilities, staffing, and especially the culture can be night and day across the country. These differences can be attributed to geography, funding, community support, and hiring the right people in the right positions. Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee figured that last part out by hiring Fred Eaves three years ago.

Coach Eaves will be the first to admit he is fortunate to be in the situation he is in at Battle Ground. Nonetheless, Eaves has developed a system and a culture that not only develops young people physically, but as young men and women as well. Eaves admits and relishes in the fact that the most important part of his job is the growth of his students and athletes off the field or court.

After following and interacting with Fred over the last few years, I finally got to meet him in person at the NSCA National Conference where he was a presenter and received the NSCA High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award. After talking with him in Orlando and conducting this interview, it was easy to see why he is one of the most respected coaches in our industry. Eaves has developed a very creative system of training athletes at the high school level my adapting the Tier System and adjusting to the school curriculum and schedule. Fred Eaves has dedicated his life to getting others better. This interview will relate to anyone wanting to do the same.

Topics Covered in this Podcast

How Coach Eaves Got Started in the Profession

Taking Over a New Program

Assessing the Situation
Identifying Roadblocks
Exceed Expectations
Under-Promise, Over-Deliver

The Multi-Sport Athlete

Over-Specialized and Under-Generalized
The Correlation Between the Number of Sports Played and Injury Rates
The Throwback Kid: Physicality, Mentality, and Resiliency
The Benefits of Competing in Other Sports Year Round

Assessments

Block Zero (Wildcat) Assessments
The Dynamic Movement Screen
Relative Strength
Movement Quality

Scheduling

Eight-period Rotating Schedule
Tier System for Everyone
Regressing Non-Athletes in Class
Wildcat, White, Grey, Gold, Blue Programs
Technique, Velocity, Load
Counter-Culture What the World Tells Us
Do More of What They Are Not Getting

In-Season Adjustments with the Tier System

Manipulating Sessions, Volume, and Intensity
In-Season: Keep High Intensity and Control the Volume
Empowering Older Athletes
RPE Scales and HS Athletes

Programming

Rotating Schedules for Athletes
30-Minute Sessions During School Hours
MWF = Strength training, TH = Movement and Restoration
Complex for the Strength Coach = Simple for the Kids and Coaches
Mixed Gender Versus Boys and Girls Only

Go-To Exercises/ Drills

Trap Bar DL
OlympicLifts
Overhead Squat
Swiss Bar Presses
Exercise Selection for Stress Management
Baseline with 3 Regressions and 3 Progressions

Monitoring/Feedback

Why Monitor If We Can't Do the Basics
Be the Best You Can Be
APRE Numbers for Tracking
Can't Be Numbers-Driven
If You Only Look at the End Number, You Miss the Big Picture
Fighting against the Culture

Mentoring/Character Development

The Most Important Aspect of the Job
Model the Behavior
Be Accessible
Transactional Versus Transformational
All You Leave Behind is How You Effect, Trickle Down, Cyclical
Set the Legacy
Perception is Reality
Put Accountability Back on the Player

Advice for Young Coaches

Differentiate Yourself
Humility
It Is A Unique Field: Sacrifice
Bringing Others Down to Build You Up
Stay in the Eye of the Storm

How to Contact Coach Eaves

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

The Fred Eaves File

Fred Eaves is currently the Director of Wellness and Athletic Performance at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, TN. He has 16 years of experience in the field that includes stops at UT-Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee, and Louisiana State University as well as multiple high schools in the state of Tennessee. Eaves was voted the 2013 Samson Equipment and American Football Monthly Central Region High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. Battle Ground Academy’s Athletic Program has had tremendous success in the last year with state championships in men’s basketball, men’s soccer, Final Four appearances from baseball, women’s soccer, and a State Quarterfinal appearance from the football team. Eaves holds degrees from UT-Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech University, Lincoln Memorial University, and the University of Missouri. He currently serves as the Tennessee State Director for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Coach Fred Eaves is entering his second season as the Defensive Line Coach for the Wildcats. This is also Coach Eaves 16th year coaching overall. Coach Eaves coached three State Championship football teams and 1 state championship weightlifting team before coming to BGA. In addition to coaching, Coach Eaves is the Wellness and Athletic Performance Coordinator for all BGA students and athletic teams. Coach Eaves has trained 32 NFL Draft picks as well as 10 NCAA All-Americans. Among these players are Jerod Mayo, Arian Foster, and Randall Cobb. Coach Eaves has also been a featured author for American Football Monthly and Gridiron Strategies. He is also a featured speaker at the Hammer Strength clinic series. Coach Eaves has been a strength coach collegiately at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, The University of Tennessee, and Louisiana State University. He is married to Kristy Eaves and has two step children: Savanna and Grant Allen.

- Battle Ground Academy

Gary Schofield

2012 High School Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year

In 2012, Gary Schofield won the NSCA High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year honor. Two years later, Greater Atlanta Christian School, where Schofield is the Director of Sports Performance, received the Strength of America Award from the same organization. Schofield is the first to admit those awards are not about him, but about the athletes he is able to interact with on a daily basis.

I have been privileged to see Gary present at multiple conferences and have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from our correspondence. Coach Schofield has the rare combination of humility and wisdom when sharing all his experiences and knowledge.

The common theme that has solidified our friendship over the years is a common vision to empower our athletes and other coaches. Selfless sharing of ideas, mistakes, and the clarity to identify a rationale are characteristics you will always find in Gary Schofield.

Schofield is one of the most well-rounded coaches I have ever been around. This well-roundness does not stop at his equally thorough understanding of training, programming, and performance — his ability to understand athletes, coaches, and administrators with an equitable amount of compassion and conviction is a quality rarely seen in the agenda-based constructs of the fitness industry.

Topics in this Podcast

How Gary Schofield Started
From D3 Baseball to the NBA
Think Different, Make A Difference
High School Strength and Conditioning in the Southeast
A Typical
Adapting the Training for In-Season Athletes
Monitoring Athletes at the High School Level
What Gets Measured Matters
The Role of an Educator in a Physical Education Setting
Five Premises for Every High School Strength Coach
What Does a High School Plan Look Like?
Three Factors When Developing A Plan
Speed and Agility Progressions for Athletes
Rest and Recovery: The Best Thing Added to the Program
Four phases of Agility Training
Four Phases of Linear Speed Development
Sports Are Not Played for Sports; Sports Are Played for Scholarships
The Criticism of CrossFit. Why?
Coaches Rock, Experts Rule
Can’t Have Impact Without Connection
Coach Schofield’s Biggest Influences

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

Gary Schofield, Jr. ATC/L, CSCS

Director of Sports Performance Training - Greater Atlanta Christian School

NSCA Southeast Regional Coordinator

Director of Sports Performance Training, Gary Schofield is a nationally certified and state licensed athletic trainer (NATA) and strength & conditioning specialist (NSCA). Coach Schofield’s unique background of athletic training and strength and conditioning has allowed him to coach and assist in the athletic development of athletes with teams and organizations such as the Atlanta Hawks (NBA), Georgia Force (Arena Football), Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL), Atlanta Trojans (USBL), WCW Wrestling, Atlanta Silverbacks Pro Soccer (A-League), Georgia State Olympic Development Program, USA Track & Field Indoor Championships and many other pro and amateur organizations.

Also, he has worked individually with over 500 high school athletes that have gone on to NCAA D1 scholarships, over 100 professional athletes, and even 3 Olympians! Coach Schofield received a BS in Sports Medicine, with special emphasis in athletic training, from Marietta College (Ohio) in 1993. He continued his education with the graduate program in athletic training at Georgia State University. He served as an athletic trainer with Georgia Sports Medicine from 1994-95.

During that time he was also an assistant athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks (1994-1999) and WCW Wrestling (1995-1996). In 1997, Coach Schofield was named Director of Outpatient Physical Therapy at Eastside Medical Center and served in that role until co-founding a private training facility in 1999. Coach Schofield is a sought after speaker and has presented at several local, state, and regional clinics and conferences. He has hosted the NSCA Georgia Fall and Spring Conference’s for the last three years. A GAC parent himself, he and his wife Amanda, son Brett (12) and daughter Savannah (5), live in McDonough, Georgia.