It's an answer to prayer! One of my closest friends, who's also a Mike Storms 2nd Degree Black Belt, was a 2-time All American, and had 2 national championships in Nebraska. Bo pellini, the former LSU Defensive Coordinator who coached during their national Championships is now head coach there.
Day report: Up at 5am, ate fruits, nuts, water, n coffee, leave for airport, check in carry on only! Head to chicago, then meet up with jared Tomich, and head to Nebraska from there.
Jared and I met when I was the assistant to the defensive line coach at the New Orleans Saints with Mike Ditka. I had done Martial arts consulting and coaching with the Saints since 1994. He was a drafter after a great college career, in the second round. Super guy, hard hard worker. We go over the lesson plan, Jared and I have a few laughs talking about the world, and noticing how many people dont smile. We go out of our way to help the elderly, and the moms with kids in the airports. Meet a few folks smile and head to Lincoln with one of the assistant strength coaches.
When we get there, i am blown away. The weight room is 5x as big as any pro team. They have to train in volleyball, basketball and all the other sports. It's equipped with the best of everything. I then meet Coach James Dobson, the head strength coach. What a great guy, we go over the program, go into equipment, get our staff shirts and shorts, and head off to do my presentation with the coaches. At 4:30 the coaches come in, all of them. I never know who's gonna show, who's busy in a meeting or just doesn't want to see it.
You see COMBAT FOOTBALL is an unknown. Just like with the Mike Storms Karate program, I have to overcome alot of stereotypes with the martial arts at the NFL and college teams I work with. They all have had, and still have, 100 people a year telling them they can help their team get better. Their main concerns:
Is it gonna work with our team?
Can Storms present it in a way the players and coaches understand it?
Is it repeatable, can we continue to train in it in between when you come back to coach again.?
Is Storms tough enough to gain the respect of our players, and coaches?
Does he understand football?
Answers to all are an enthusiastic YES! 45 minutes into the coach session, Bo Pellini, head coach, asked when can I come back!I show the drills, and explain the principles, Jared shares how it helped him, and why the players get better, and why he still trains with me. Its very very well received. I answer some specific questions, JT and I pound on each other, and the coaches are sitting up and nodding their heads. We finish, and head out for a famous Nebraska steak! Rare filet for me! Up n at em early the next day! 5am eat fruit, bran, coffee, water, and some eggs.
I'll tell you about the team in the next blog install...go Big Red! Huskers!
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