“Consistency in message,” says Kelly of Selking, with whom he meets three or four times a week. Kelly has bought in, and so have the players. “Champions know that stress propels them to productive action…Champions know that pressure is where greatness is made…Pressure is a privilege…Trust dominates stress.” “Building championship mindsets…from the locker room to the board room” speaks to her company’s plan for success in all walks of life. Her speech is littered with phrases that have become the mantras of Notre Dame football…and beyond. You have to do the things a Champion does, the way a Champion does them. To be a Champion, you have to BE a Champion. Amber Selking, the founder and performance consultant at Selking Performance Group with a PhD. That grit and the ability to handle anything that happens - both good and bad, on and off the football field - has been taught to Kelly, his staff and the players by Dr. It’s just a group of guys that buy in to what we’re doing. “You would have thought we got a stop on defense. “We go out there and give up an atrocious play on special teams, but there wasn’t a guy on the sideline that flinched,” said Tranquill of the first-quarter blocked punt by N.C. He’s done a really good job in that respect.”īut all the physical growth would fall short were it not for the ability to take the ups and downs of athletic competition – particularly mixed with the extreme physical nature of football – and put it into a cohesive mental and psychological perspective. On game day, he probably gets his hands on 30 to 40 guys. “We have an entirely different stretching program. “The total preparation of our football team, our whole staff… Dale Jones has done an incredible job with our correctives,” Kelly said. There was the string of ankle injuries in the offensive backfield, a concussion protocol or two, an arthroscopic knee procedure, and a hamstring here and there.īut as the Irish head into November for game nine against Wake Forest, Notre Dame’s best players remain in the starting lineup. Not only are the Irish considerably bigger, faster and stronger, they’re also healthier. “We’re seeing some great results,” Kelly summarized. We’re movin’ some weight.”Īs it pertains to how the Irish have made such rapid physical advancements, Kelly goes into a detail-laced explanation that includes phrases such as speed squats, band work, elite forms, wattage, neuromuscular firing and force against the ground. “We’re workin’,” laughed Hayes, purposely leaving out the specifics. He doesn’t want to cheat his players during workouts. “He’s pushed us,” said defensive end Jay Hayes of Balis. It’s been replaced by an approach that has the players feeling stronger as they head into November. The old concept of simply “maintaining” strength during the season had become obsolete. We’re a stronger football team today than we were in August.” We’ve made incredible strides during the season. “It’s something we can relate to our players weekly. “Our ability to track it has really given us a physical edge as we go into every week. “We have numbers that speak to strength gains in the weight room,” said Irish head coach Brian Kelly earlier this week. They, along with holdovers Jake Flint and David Grimes, instituted a program that would transform the Irish from one of the more finesse-based programs nationally to a physical and mental mindset of a relentless force. The all-encompassing plan began with finding the right coaches to reconfigure a football program that had gone stale, followed by a strength and conditioning approach that was modern-day, cutting-edge, progressive in nature.Įnter Matt Balis. “But if there’s a team that can, it’s this group.” “I haven’t been a part of a team that’s done that,” said Irish captain Drue Tranquill, when asked if he’s ever participated on a squad that went through an entire football season mentally and physically focused for every game. The end result is a focused and detailed message – wrapped around a comprehensive physical plan – that guards against the pitfalls that can sabotage a special football season while building the strength and explosiveness that has the Irish prepared to compete on the highest level.Īll of these factors have created a physical thrashing machine that has systematically taken quality opposition apart at the seams. Notre Dame is back, and the 7-1 Fighting Irish have done it by creating minds and bodies stronger than anyone could have anticipated in the aftermath of the 2016 upheaval. 3 in the college football playoff committee’s first poll - has left no stone unturned, no aspect ignored. It has to be an all-encompassing process.īy going from a 4-8 season to a playoff run, Notre Dame – No. Easy solutions and shortcuts do not exist.
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