The Football Faq!((PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING A THREAD ABOUT FOOTBALL Q's))

[mrick40]

To be honest, at your size, you will most likely not get a D1 offer for OL, but you have the size to get some offers from D2/NAIA schools.

Best advice is to of course work hard, take your SAT/ACT a couple of times, as you can get academic scholarships, as well at D2/NAIA schools.

Go ahead and send your video to the schools you like.......but if you get no responces by April or May, then move on to D2/NAIA's........they have scholarship money there too.

[grinding77]

I'm an o lineman weighing at 170 lbs. I was best on JV and expected to start varsity this season. I'm wondering how to gain as much weight as possible for next season. My bench max is 425 and my squat is 575. Thnks for replies

[amar654]

I tried to gain as much weight as I could to play the o-line as well, went from 210 to 270 in one offseason. I was a good lineman, but bad at very other thing I could do in life. Walking up stairs winded me. I suggest you just eat right and healthy and aim to gain 1-2 pounds a week while getting stronger/faster, no need to worry to much about ballooning up. Eat quality whole foods 6 times a day and lift like a maniac.

[sowilson]

Crossfit???? totally rubbish for you. As for what to do

1) GET GREAT GRADES
2) Sign up with the NCAA Recruitment Center. Work with your HS to get your transcripts to the NCAA center. Your school will have a compliance
officer who handles this.
3) Take the ACT test (and or SAT) and include the NCAA Recruitment Center as one of your "schools". Their ACT number is 9999
4)Make a list of possible schools you would like to play football for. The NCAA has an interactive map that you can use to search, by sport/division.
5)Network to see if you know anyone with contacts at your preferred school (i.e. coaches, dads, etc. who were former players at those schools)
6) If you feel your HUDL profile is lacking, use one of the recruitment services (some are free) to build a profile that has academic information, your football resume (i.e. the honors you've received), and links to your highlights.
7) Fill in football recruitment questionnaires at the schools you are considering.
8) Make contact with coaches staff at your preferred schools. The position coach at the destination school is a good start. If you have questions about
the program feel free to contact the appropriate coach (i.e S&C, DL, OL, etc.).
9) Go to all of your prospective schools web sites and find out when they have camps.
10) Go to the schools camps this spring, usually starting early June. Hit the Big Man (OL/DL camps) and senior camps. This can get costly, budget upwards of $15K to make the trips you'll need to make
11) Always follow up in a timely manner with those you've spoken to.

That should get you started. As for skills, get faster, get quicker. You will be tested on 225lb or 185lb bench, vertical and horizontal jump, pro agility shuttle, 40 yard dash. Jump rope, ladder drills, sprint drills, learn the long jump. Oh, an if you aren't doing anything this spring go out for track and do the shot put and discus. Throws training is explosive lift training - good stuff for OL.

[grinding77]

Thanks so much for quick reply

[amar654]

Crossfit???? totally rubbish for you. As for what to do

1) GET GREAT GRADES
2) Sign up with the NCAA Recruitment Center. Work with your HS to get your transcripts to the NCAA center. Your school will have a compliance
officer who handles this.
3) Take the ACT test (and or SAT) and include the NCAA Recruitment Center as one of your "schools". Their ACT number is 9999
4)Make a list of possible schools you would like to play football for. The NCAA has an interactive map that you can use to search, by sport/division.
5)Network to see if you know anyone with contacts at your preferred school (i.e. coaches, dads, etc. who were former players at those schools)
6) If you feel your HUDL profile is lacking, use one of the recruitment services (some are free) to build a profile that has academic information, your football resume (i.e. the honors you've received), and links to your highlights.
7) Fill in football recruitment questionnaires at the schools you are considering.
8) Make contact with coaches staff at your preferred schools. The position coach at the destination school is a good start. If you have questions about
the program feel free to contact the appropriate coach (i.e S&C, DL, OL, etc.).
9) Go to all of your prospective schools web sites and find out when they have camps.
10) Go to the schools camps this spring, usually starting early June. Hit the Big Man (OL/DL camps) and senior camps. This can get costly, budget upwards of $15K to make the trips you'll need to make
11) Always follow up in a timely manner with those you've spoken to.

That should get you started. As for skills, get faster, get quicker. You will be tested on 225lb or 185lb bench, vertical and horizontal jump, pro agility shuttle, 40 yard dash. Jump rope, ladder drills, sprint drills, learn the long jump. Oh, an if you aren't doing anything this spring go out for track and do the shot put and discus. Throws training is explosive lift training - good stuff for OL.

All great advice. I second throwing, it really picked up my game and helped me out on the line.

But in all honesty, even if you are an amazing o-lineman the chances of getting a full ride at a D1 school are slim at your size. No mistaking it you are big, but look at most D1 Tackles. They are often 6'4+ and walk into college above 280 pounds, allowing the program to make them in 300+ behemoths. Unless you grow 2-3 inches before your senior season getting into D1 schools will be tough. Look into D2 programs, some of them are just as competitive as D1 schools, they just have players that didnt quite make the cut.

Like stated before in this thread, the 40 yard dash is the holy grail for recruiting. Speed kills and a 40 is the best indicator of speed to coaches. All the D1 camps I went to had the Linemen testing bench at 225, the smaller camps had me doing 185. I went to a few camps that didnt have the bench and instead had us throw a medicine ball as far as we could.

As for affording college; remember scholarships can be taken away. Do well in school and get grants, those are yours to keep. Grades come first, football comes second.

[RexWonder]

Thank you for all of your replies! All great advice. And it's not uncommon to be converted to another position on the line going into college. My primary goal is to go in and convert to guard or center of I have to.

[a_emory]

^^^HAHAHAHAHA is that serious advice? If you're telling a high school football player to do crossfit workouts to help him get a scholarship then, I'm sorry, but you don't belong on this forum.

Rex, if you're serious about getting D1 interest you really have to train hard this off season because most likely the numbers you have in the weight room before the season starts are the ones they are going to look at since signing day is pretty much right after the football season. So yes, squat, deadlift, and bench are all great numbers to focus on BUT the really important numbers that are going to impress the coaches are your Power clean, 40 yard dash, and Pro agility(5-10-5 drill). These numbers are what matter because they are the most relative to your position. Coaches want a tackle who is going to be explosive(Power Clean), have quick feet(pro a) to pick up those all american pass rushers, and be able to block for their running back down the field and not just 5 yards off the line(40 yard dash). So work on those and rack up some All-state honors, get invited to a senior or all american bowl, and you're guaranteed a spot on someones roster!

Youre right. I did not play 11 out of 12 seasons on varsity in high school. I did not play in college. I have not been a dedicated athlete since. And I have no shot of ever getting a professional contract. But most of all, I have nothing to offer to these young athletes that come here with questions and might benefit from my mistakes and experience.

/End sarcasm.

And yes, I was serious. My advice is geared towards doing things right. Towards becoming the real deal. And the fact of the matter is that if you have not gotten exposure to Crossfit or some other good GPP program then you should expose yourself now. It is very simple logic that a GPP foundation comes before specialization. One of the main reasons for this is if you are proficient at, say Crossfit, your body will be prepared for what you want to specialize in. It will highlight your weaknesses and prevent injuries going forward.

People who have not done this will learn so much. They will become different athletes in a good way.

And for the record Crossfit doesn't neglect the things you mentioned. I am not saying only follow the main site and never do other things. I am saying broaden your skills. Give depth to your conditioning. And get some balance in your bodies strength tension relationships.

Most high schoolers bench too much. They waste their time on curls. And they neglect their posterior chain.

Most Crossfit work outs take less than 20 minutes. So, for example, warm up with some skills you suck at. Then go do a couple of rounds of the pro agility drill. Then do some strength work and a metcon or something. This is like an hour or so of work.

And I promise you, it is way better than most people's "arm day, leg day, chest and back day+20 minutes of cardio."

[a_emory]

Crossfit???? totally rubbish for you. As for what to do

1) GET GREAT GRADES
2) Sign up with the NCAA Recruitment Center. Work with your HS to get your transcripts to the NCAA center. Your school will have a compliance
officer who handles this.
3) Take the ACT test (and or SAT) and include the NCAA Recruitment Center as one of your "schools". Their ACT number is 9999
4)Make a list of possible schools you would like to play football for. The NCAA has an interactive map that you can use to search, by sport/division.
5)Network to see if you know anyone with contacts at your preferred school (i.e. coaches, dads, etc. who were former players at those schools)
6) If you feel your HUDL profile is lacking, use one of the recruitment services (some are free) to build a profile that has academic information, your football resume (i.e. the honors you've received), and links to your highlights.
7) Fill in football recruitment questionnaires at the schools you are considering.
8) Make contact with coaches staff at your preferred schools. The position coach at the destination school is a good start. If you have questions about
the program feel free to contact the appropriate coach (i.e S&C, DL, OL, etc.).
9) Go to all of your prospective schools web sites and find out when they have camps.
10) Go to the schools camps this spring, usually starting early June. Hit the Big Man (OL/DL camps) and senior camps. This can get costly, budget upwards of $15K to make the trips you'll need to make
11) Always follow up in a timely manner with those you've spoken to.

That should get you started. As for skills, get faster, get quicker. You will be tested on 225lb or 185lb bench, vertical and horizontal jump, pro agility shuttle, 40 yard dash. Jump rope, ladder drills, sprint drills, learn the long jump. Oh, an if you aren't doing anything this spring go out for track and do the shot put and discus. Throws training is explosive lift training - good stuff for OL.

Yeah, this is very good advice minus the first sentence. I was answering the how to get faster and stronger part of your post.

[SDOptimist]

To be honest, at your size, you will most likely not get a D1 offer for OL, but you have the size to get some offers from D2/NAIA schools.

Best advice is to of course work hard, take your SAT/ACT a couple of times, as you can get academic scholarships, as well at D2/NAIA schools.

Go ahead and send your video to the schools you like.......but if you get no responces by April or May, then move on to D2/NAIA's........they have scholarship money there too.

The SEC isn't the only conference in D1a (FBS). Yes, 6'2 260 probably won't land you at Alabama or Auburn. Or even Kentucky. But, there 60+ other D1a schools outside of the P5, which means 600+ non P5 offensive lineman. There are plenty of scholarship lineman at his size right now. Plus, this kid is a JR. D1 coaches know that the kid is still growing. Secondly, there is FCS (D1aa) which is still D1. And there are 124 schools in that Division. So, to correct you, nothing about his size is saying that he can't get a D1 scholarship. Yes, probabaly out of the reach of an SEC scholarship, but the G5 schols don't have the sizes of P5 players throughout the entire team. How do you think Boise St became so dominate during those years? They found those players who were ignorantly labeled as too short and/or too light by the P5 coaches. Oh, and I just checked the Alabama roster and there are 3 offensive lineman that are the same size of him and that is just 1 team of 252 D1 teams (128 FBS - 124 FCS). Not saying that he has a shot at Bama, just saying that your statement of him being too small is completely baseless. What evidence do you have to backing that statement? Have you looked up the roster of all 252 D1 teams? have you scanned through 18,692 D1 scholarship football players, picked out the offensive lineman, charted their heights and weights, then looked at the current year's high school Sr's who have been offered D1 scholarships, plotted their height and weight, and even charted the heights and weights for previous D1 team's lineman's height and weights dating back a few years and then come to that conclusion? I will guarantee you that if you did that, you will find out that, YES, big time programs offer scholarships to tall and heavy offensive lineman, but them and other d1 programs do offer scholarships to quality offensive lineman who happen to not be tall and heavy. And that because the short guy next to him didn't get a scholarship, doesn't mean he can't due to his height. Or that if one year not many short offensive lineman got offered scholarships, doesn't mean the next year won't be a higher numbers. You can't determine that stuff. So to say someone can't play a position because of his height is a complete idiotic and ignorant statement and is completely baseless.

To sum all that up...you get recruited and offered scholarships for how good of a football player you are. Some people need to be tall or heavy to be a good player, some don't.

Offensive Lineman
D1a:
Max: 6'11 395
Avg: 6'4 298
Min: 5'9 210

D1aa:
Max: 6'8 330
Avg: 6'2 276
Min: 5'10 205

D2:
Max: 6'8 375
Avg: 6'3 287
Min: 5'10 230

D3:
Max: 6'7 360
Avg: 6'1 266
Min: 5'7 200

NAIA:
Max: 6'9 356
Avg: 6'2 271
Min: 5'8 200

The moral of these FACTS: There are HUGE lineman in D2, D3 and NAIA because they are D2, D3 and NAIA caliber FOOTBALL players. And there are "small" D1 players because they are D1 caliber players.

[DCSpartan]

If crossfit really worked for football, NFL teams would do it. They dont.

[a_emory]

If crossfit really worked for football, NFL teams would do it. They dont.

We have had this discussion before. First of all, I was not addressing an NFL athlete. Second of all, Crossfit is not any one thing. It is a theory and approach to training. There are NFL teams that modify Crossfit WODs to suit their needs. Once you understand the models and theories you can adjust a GPP approach to suit your specific needs.

But, IMO, the beginning, the baseline, the place from which you should start, the foundation upon which you should build...is GPP. Diverge from the path if you wish, to suit your needs. But do so consciously. Know what you are doing, understand the trade offs of speeding more time here and less time there.

[SanyYu]

fitness just for make up myself better. that is all girl desire. Some nice items will miss if we are fat. i had bought some items on iluxshop.co, just hope i wear it after i loss weight

[mrleolklk]

Awesome.
Nice thanks for the help man

[lakeybalboa]

People who have experience, what are the most effective footwork/lateral quickness drills you've used? I'm thinking of getting an agility ladder but I've heard they're overrated. I play running back and i really want to improve my quickness/cuts

[PowerBuilder08]

Good to see this thread is still stickied...

I spent some time as a college football coach (even though I've been out of it for a hot minute now), as always I'm still willing to help with any questions y'all may have.

[Billywillykilly]

For all you people on rugy teams what is the size of your smallest guy?

[krakkerz]

For all you people on rugy teams what is the size of your smallest guy?

I'm prepared to bet smaller than you.....

About 5'4" and 55kg

[vankuzzy]

Here's the link for that article on eating for football without breaking the bank, written by Bill Starr:
http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/artic...n-A-Budget.pdf

Nice one, just what I need

[tkfan1000]

Alright guys so I'm in 8th grade, going to 9th. I have a whole summer basically until tryouts, my summer starts june 10th. Not sure about tryouts, my cousin is on the jv, hes a freshman.

but anyways I was thinking if i wanted to be offensive line would these workouts get me conditioned and strong to make at least second string/start? i only played football once when i was 9, but im pretty decent i think. btw im 5'7, 180 pounds. but thats most fat. id say 30-40 pounds of fat. i plan on dropping 10-20 pounds of it this summer, not from dieting but working hard af.

alright so would this be good:

June 1 - july 1st:
(do this 3 times a day)
Burpees - 4 sets of 15 reps
Sit Ups - 4 sets of 25 reps
Pullups -1 set of 5 reps
Pushups - 2 sets of 5 reps
(pushup and pullup low because i can only bench 50 atm, squat 50, deadlift like 120.ik weak, but i need to work on it)
(btw situps ez for me)

July 2nd - football tryouts begin
(do this 3 times a day)
Burpees - 6 sets of 20 reps
Sit ups - 6 sets of 35 reps
Pullups - 3 sets of 15 reps
Pushups - 3 sets of 15 reps

When I say 3 times a day, i mean all the reps and **** listed per workout, 3 times.

I also want to do medhi's stronglift 5x5.

So will this help at all guys? imma run a lot to to practice running stamina. I want to bench at least 120 by the end of summer, squat 120
what are your jvstats from 9th grade if you were fat like me? ty

[cunxinh2088]

wow great thread but most ppl dont read stickies

[tkfan1000]

please answer me

[SLynn46]

Alright guys so I'm in 8th grade, going to 9th. I have a whole summer basically until tryouts, my summer starts june 10th. Not sure about tryouts, my cousin is on the jv, hes a freshman.

but anyways I was thinking if i wanted to be offensive line would these workouts get me conditioned and strong to make at least second string/start? i only played football once when i was 9, but im pretty decent i think. btw im 5'7, 180 pounds. but thats most fat. id say 30-40 pounds of fat. i plan on dropping 10-20 pounds of it this summer, not from dieting but working hard af.

alright so would this be good:

June 1 - july 1st:
(do this 3 times a day)
Burpees - 4 sets of 15 reps
Sit Ups - 4 sets of 25 reps
Pullups -1 set of 5 reps
Pushups - 2 sets of 5 reps
(pushup and pullup low because i can only bench 50 atm, squat 50, deadlift like 120.ik weak, but i need to work on it)
(btw situps ez for me)

July 2nd - football tryouts begin
(do this 3 times a day)
Burpees - 6 sets of 20 reps
Sit ups - 6 sets of 35 reps
Pullups - 3 sets of 15 reps
Pushups - 3 sets of 15 reps

When I say 3 times a day, i mean all the reps and **** listed per workout, 3 times.

I also want to do medhi's stronglift 5x5.

So will this help at all guys? imma run a lot to to practice running stamina. I want to bench at least 120 by the end of summer, squat 120
what are your jvstats from 9th grade if you were fat like me? ty

Does your high school football team have summer workouts? If so, then do everything possible to go to them and do what your coaches tell you.

If they don't have summer workouts then the Stronglift 5x5 program is a good program to do on your own.

I wouldn't recommend doing all of that stuff every single day. Do your burpees, sit ups, pull ups, and pushups on the days you do your lifts (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) then on Tuesdays and Thursdays do your conditioning/running and most importantly focus on doing football specific drill work. You can look up all kinds of lineman drills on youtube that you can use.

Don't worry about other people's stats. Focus on yourself and don't put too much stock in your bench press or squat max. You're trying to be a football player, not a powerlifter. The best football players aren't necessarily the strongest ones, they're the guys who can move the best and understand the game.


Good luck and if you have more questions just ask.

[iwillmakeit786]

6'2 250lbs 17 years old
I'm a junior in highschool and I play football aswell as basketball, the position I play in football is a D-lineman but I am trying to convert into a linebacker so that I can play both sports competitively. But as season starts in September and I have multiple camps to attend I don't know what I should do in. Terms of dieting and lifting as I want to lose weight but gain strength as I'm new to lifting. My aim is to be 220 so that I'm not to light and my speed and agility will improve. I will be weight training Monday to Friday and doing push-ups and abs 3x a week on top of the running at football I will be doin agility training and short sprints to get a fast 40 yard time. My max bench is a 185 which is very weak where as my squat is very high, and I want to improve my bench to a 265 minimum but still cut down on fat? Should I diet for a month going then jus maintain or maybe go a bit over maintenance til season starts? I hope you reply as this could help me get a div 1 scholarship... Also what supplements are needed?

[shadyslimshady]

Any advice for a shorty mcshorty pants TE / NT?

[Workaholic52]

What football position is best for me?
I'm 15 5'9 190 lbs 18-20% body fat
Bench max 205
Squat 230
40 yd dash 5.99

I'm improving my 40 yd dash with the run faster speed program and in one week it's gone from 6.23 to 5.99
What position do you think best suits me? Any training tips? On my rugby team they called me the gremlin for being so aggressive

[Hornet82]

Could somebody point me to some good training tips for defensive backs? Specifically training drills for safeties would be interesting, but the secondary as a whole will do as well. Footwork, positioning etc.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Paulos20]

Workout B:
Barbell Deadlift 3x5 (2 warm up, 1 stabilizer sets)
Standing Press 5x5 (2 warm up, 3 stabilizer sets)
Power Clean 5x5 (2 warm up, 3 stabilizer sets)
Core Work 2xF (multi muscle core and muscular endurance)
BW Chinups 2xF (supplement, muscular endurance)

the sets should look like that:
60% 5rm x 5
80% 5rm x 5
100% 5rm x 5 (3 stabilizer sets)
Yes!

[gnidliubydob58]

Have a look at: forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=7012691

[Megane12]

oh yay