Q&A with Drew Wilson (Part II)
Just days after being hired as Colorado's new head strength and conditioning coach, Drew Wilson took time out to talk with BuffStampede.com. Below is Part II of our interview with Wilson. You can read Part I of the interview by clicking here.
In what ways do you feel like your strength and conditioning program will promote competition with Colorado's players?
Drew Wilson: "We always compete. If you walk in this weight room, you are competing. I always tell guys, 'If you and me are running next to each other, you bet we're competing, we're racing.' Every day we're out there, we're competing. If we are going to do broad jumps with the guys as a plyo drill, we're going to line up five guys and see who jumped the furthest and see who could hold that jump. We're always competing. We'll compete to see where guys are at. In the weight room we'll have competitions to find out which linemen got the highest, which d-lineman, which linebacker, which skill guy. I don't care what we're doing, we're competing. If we're doing 10-yard starts, every time we put our hand down, we're competing. That is not just football, that is life. Whether you play football beyond Colorado or not, you are going to be competing in the work force. I want to try to prepare them and get them to understand this is a 24-7 profession. I am a 24-7 coach, I expect a 24-7 athlete. So for example, if you skip class, you are not competing."
Has Mike MacIntyre mentioned certain goals that he has for your off-season work, or has he just kind of handed you the keys to the strength and conditioning program?
"He has given me leeway for me to implement my system. He has told me the things he wants. He obviously wants to get bigger and stronger, especially on both lines. He is enthusiastic about the fact I do Olympic lifting and the package that drives this program and what we do with the guys. Also, getting faster and staying healthy, things you try to do every year. But I think a big emphasis is on getting them bigger and stronger up front and then just making this team be able to have the mental edge in the fourth quarter and win those close games that maybe slipped through the cracks the past couple seasons."
Do you feel what you did at Maryland and UConn will translate well to the Pac-12, or do you make some tweaks given the conference's reputation for speed and tempo?
"As strength coaches, we always try to emphasize strength, size and speed. I just think my previous jobs have made me smarter. I know the missteps that I took in the past, so now you try to avoid those mistakes going into a new situation. But I am not looking at it from [a conference] perspective. I am looking at how can I fit what kind of offensive system we run, what kind of team system we run on defense and as a whole, where do we need to get bigger, stronger, faster? So I am looking at that from a Colorado perspective and how can I help Mike MacIntyre and the coordinators and the position coaches to make their positions better. So that is how I view it, from a team perspective. If we do a good job with that, we're going to win a lot of football games."
Have you had a chance to meet with Laura Anderson, CU's nutritionist yet? I would imagine you will have a pretty collaborative relationship with her?
"We talk daily. We are scheduled to meet tomorrow to sit down and go over each player and find out the system they have implemented thus far with the guys' nutrition. I told her, 'I am just here to assist you and promote you in what you do so the players understand that I am on your team and that they need to buy in to what we're doing.' I am going to give my input on things that we've done, and see where I can help in terms of being an asset to her, and also what I can learn from her. I don't think players understand how much nutrition plays a role in getting bigger, faster, stronger. If you fully buy into the nutrition and recovery part of it, you will understand real fast why you got faster, why you got stronger, why you got bigger, why you were able to not get injured as much as the other guys who cut corners a little bit."
Do you have any idea when you will get to start using the indoor practice facility for winter conditioning?
"It is still up-in-the-air. I get to stare at it every day right now and salivate. Right now if you just give me a room and an opportunity, we're going to get work done. But as soon as we get to step foot in there, we're going to take full advantage of that space every day. It is definitely eye-opening, a first-class commitment by everybody here at Colorado."
What can you tell Buffs fans about yourself away from the job? Do you have some hobbies?
"I like weight lifting, I think people could have guessed that. I like spending time with my wife (Marguerite) and my three children (Makaela, Isaac, Andrew Jr.) and just doing whatever they want to do. They are going to make the commitment to come out to Colorado with me and support everything I do, so when I get time to get away from the weight room and football, I like to just do the things that they want to do. Because that is what makes this all go, when it is a family commitment and a family goal to want to be in a place. I know it kind of leaves it open-ended, but my wife and kids have a lot of interests, so I just try to support them because they support me in my career."
