Don Richards

Who remembers Norm Van Brocklin, the first Vikings coach? If you do, you have a limited time left on earth. Regardless, he was right in this quote: "If I ever needed a brain transplant, I'd choose a sportswriter because I'd want a brain that had never been used." Of course, I'm speaking only of myself, not of the other esteemed sports writers of the PCJ.

Falcon fans need to know about the new strength and conditioning coach Jacob Anderson, hired to replace Carmen Pata. Unsurprisingly, he participated in a variety of sports as a youth.

"As an athlete in a small town I had the opportunity to play nearly every sport but mainly focused on football, basketball, and baseball,” Anderson said. “I was an all-conference player in football and baseball as well as a captain in each of those sports. I was slated to play baseball in college but an injury my senior year ended that plan."

Later, he decided to become a strength coach.

"I have always been interested in athletics, the human body and athletic performance so in the end it was a perfect fit,” Anderson said. “While a student at Iowa State University I saw an opportunity to be an intern strength coach for the Cyclone Athletic Department. I interviewed, got the job, and started the next day. I loved it from the first day. I was fortunate to have an incredible mentor in Coach Rohrk Cutchlow. He provided a platform for me to begin developing as a coach. He is a master communicator and knows how to develop people."

After his time at Iowa State University, he said he was blessed yet again to train under Chris Doyle who was the Director of Athletic Performance for the University of Iowa football program. He, too, was "an incredible mentor." Coach A said he learned many things about yearly programming, creating a powerful training environment, and how to interact with coaches and athletes.

Continuing, he said he had been fortunate to coach at the DI level (Iowa State University and the University of Iowa), DIII level (head strength coach at Central College), and to work internationally with professional and amateur athletes of various ages and talent levels.

"I have loved the opportunity to train both women and men in a variety of sport,” Anderson said. “Each teaches me something new and challenges me to continue to grow as a coach in communication and designing training programs."

I asked him to describe the hiring process at UWRF. He told me he learned about the opportunity earlier this summer and was immediately excited.

"I was well aware of the history of Falcon athletics and knew they had incredible facilities to serve the athletes,” he said. “I applied immediately but because it is a state institution the waiting period from the job posting to the interview was long. I had a video call first, and then was brought on campus. During this time I met a lot of coaches and support staff. Kellen Wells-Mangold was the head of the committee and I was immediately impacted by his leadership, vision, and communication for the position."

Wells-Mangold played a major role in him accepting this position, Coach A said.

"In the end I loved the coaches I got the opportunity to meet and felt like this is a place where I could help build something special,” Anderson said.

In order to build something special, he wants to implement what he sees as the role of strength training in sports and beyond.  

"The main role of a S&C coach is to provide a competitive training environment for the athletes we serve, helping them prevent injuries and increase athletic performance,” he said.

But there are more reasons than to make athletes more powerful and better.

"I love to build relationships with the athletes that go beyond S&C and time spent at UWRF. Coaching is all about relationships with the athletes, other sports coaches, administration etc. My hope is that we, as an athletic performance department, can instill certain qualities and life lessons into young men and women that will carry with them for the rest of their lives."

Beyond the grind of pumping iron, nutrition and recovery are vital to the athlete's success, he added. "When athletes train or compete, they actually break down the tissues of their body. The only way to get stronger and faster is by implementing proper nutrition and recovery methods. It is our role as athletic performance coaches to train and equip all athletes in the area of nutrition and recovery. At the end of the day knowledge isn't power, applied knowledge is power. So, we must continue to educate, encourage and challenge athletes to implement what they know in an effort to maximize their performance and the team's performance."

I wanted to know what level of support he had been given that assures him he can implement the program he wants. He said interactions with the administration, coaches and support staff have all been positive. Everyone seems to value the role S&C can play within the athletics department.

"As a strength coach I know that we serve different roles to different coaches based on how we fit into the vision of their overall program. The key is communication with the head coaches. We need to make sure they know what we can provide and that we know what their program goals are." 

He told me a dual passion of his is developing future strength and conditioning coaches.

"I was beyond blessed to have incredible mentors who poured into me as I set out to become a coach. I knew there was nothing I could do to repay them other than to pay it forward by investing in the next generation of coaches who will, in turn, impact the lives of athletes. This is leadership by multiplication,” Anderson said. "My vision is to partner with the Health & Human Performance department at UWRF and give students a hands-on opportunity to grow as coaches. I have a multilevel comprehensive internship program that helps them grow and develop. This has been one of my greatest joys as a coach over the years whether it be here in the US or internationally. I love it when interns go on to accomplish far more than I could have ever dreamed of. The fun thing now is being able to send current interns to the places where my former interns are now leading their own programs."

Finally, you may remember, though I'm not sure I do, that at the outset I referred to a newspaper guy, a sportswriter. According to a story I read recently, a young Wisconsin kid walks by his neighbor's yard and sees a large, snarling dog about to pounce on a toddler. The kid grabs a stick, rushes into the yard, strikes the dog, chases it away, and saves the infant. The overjoyed parents call a newspaper guy who comes to interview the kid. The newsman, jumping to a conclusion, has already written a headline for his story on a sheet of paper: YOUNG PACKER FAN SAVES BABY FROM ENRAGED DOG. The kid  sees the headline and says, "Hey, I'm no Packer fan. Go Vikes!" This stuns and angers the newsman, so the next day the headline over his story reads: "Crazy Kid Kills Family Pet." Remember two lessons from this story: never jump to a conclusion, great S&C exercise though it is, and newspaper writers always have the last word.