The Right Kind of Speed
November 10th, 2008 - byIts no secret that college coaches crave speed. It should come as no surprise that Florida Coach Urban Meyer was nearly drooling upon hearing the news last spring that incoming recruit Jeffrey Demps ran the fifth-fastest 100m (10.17) by an American high school sprinter. While he is considered perhaps the fastest running-back in the history of college football, Demps still had his share of critics among the Gator coaching staff. The New York Times on the evolution of Demps as a football player:
But upon his arrival at Florida after the Olympic trials, questions lingered about Demps’s football ability. Sprinting is essentially controlled falling. It requires linear speed, feet close together, always parallel. Football also requires cutting and lateral speed, with feet set wider apart to maintain balance, change direction, throw a block.
During summer workouts, when coaches were not permitted to oversee the players, Meyer had two questions about Demps: Could he change direction? Could he catch the ball? The answers were sometimes troubling.
“Coach, his feet are too fast for his body,” Harvin told Meyer. “He falls down a lot.”
During the first practice in pads, Meyer grew more encouraged. Demps maintained his blistering speed in his football gear. When he stood his ground in a hitting drill, Meyer pumped his fist and told Marotti, the strength coach, “We got us one!”
Extensive work with cutting drills has sharpened Demps’s maneuverability. Now he knows to plant his outside leg when changing direction. And he no longer falls down. (“In a short period, he’s improved more than any athlete I’ve seen,” Marotti said.) Against Miami on Sept. 6, Demps crouched in a sprinter’s stance and blocked a punt. He has since become the Gators’ most aggressive player on kickoff coverage.
“It’s not even close,” Meyer said. “He’s as valuable a guy as we’ve got.”
Recruits can learn from this example in a few ways. One, recruits should strongly consider running track to gain an edge. Two, they need to be training for football speed as much as track speed. By displaying both, you may find yourself with an athletic scholarship,
