I have to laugh when I hear people justify how good of strength coach you are by who you have trained. Ninety-five percent of the time they want to hear names of players who are in the professional ranks or high profiled college players. As if these are the guys that don’t already have God-given ability.

What I have always said is show me what you can do as a strength and conditioning coach with a 13-year-old who doesn’t have much ability. You have to take someone who doesn’t have incredible power and coordination, and teach them to move correctly. I laugh when they guys who say, “My guys scored best at the NFL combine. Yeah they may have gone from a 4.40 to a 4.39.” The point is, they could still run a 4.40 without you. These guys are the easy ones to train. They come with a full tank of gas ready to go and are highly motivated.

Have you ever trained an 11-year-old who is overweight, wants to play soccer, and doesn’t know how to skip yet? Every aspect of your coaching ability gets challenged. You have to know how to break skills down once you have assessed their limitations. You have to understand how much you can give them without overwhelming them. You have to have patience and to be prepared to change your entire plan of action simply because it isn’t working.

I have spent my time with the professionals and enjoyed it. But it wasn’t hard. They were already great at what they do. I just needed to keep them healthy and improve certain aspects of their ability. I have worked with hundreds of college athletes, and they also bring a lot to the table.

Regardless if the athlete is a 10-year-old or in the pros, they are need great training. But don’t tell me a strength coach’s merit is based on who they have in the big leagues.

If you ever saw some of the kids I have trained you would say there is no way you can improve them. But with consistent effort and constant adjustments they became very good movers. It is because of patience and understanding what they need. So rather than telling me who you have trained in the pros, tell me what young kids you have trained and how they turned out after being under your program. And tell me if they still enjoy training or are they burned-out and psychologically hurt because of your harshness. Did you make a difference in their life?

We all have tough jobs, and I will never say anyone has it easier than the next guy, but don’t use the name dropping game to put gold medals next to your name.

I believe every sport coach and trainer at some point in their career, preferable when they first start out, should work with beginner athletes and have to teach fundamentals. That alone will make you appreciate coaching and development.