By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
In the world of keeping a program competitive, changes and adding programs has become imperative.
Yukon has made those changes to their football program to help the team become more competitive in the always tough class 6AI.
The football program has implemented a new strength and conditioning program by bringing in a full time strength coach to work with the players during both the off-season and season.
Also, the program has hired a nutrition expect to help guide the players with better eating habits to aid in strength and conditioning program and give the athletes a better chance of being in peak physical condition for the season.
YHS head football coach Jeremy Reed said Performance Course, a company based out of Texas, has been hired to run the strength and conditioning program. Funds to pay the company are coming from private donations.
“I interviewed multiple individuals and companies and we decided on the group Performance Course,” Reed said. “They are based out of Texas for a long time and in tons of schools in Texas. They have been in Oklahoma about four or five years and do their thing with several schools in Oklahoma. We are the first to do what we are doing here.
“They are mainly a summer group, meaning they will go in for eight weeks and work your summer program,” he said. “They have never been asked to do at the high school level what we are asking them do to of starting now and going all the way through July. They are really excited about this different opportunity.”
The group has already come in and worked with the athletes through part of December. Jeff Diamond and Jeff Waters will be running the program.
Those two were here through December and then Waters will run the program through May. During the summer, the group will have four working with the athletes as well as the Miller coaching staff.
“We talked that it would be a good idea to introduce the program through Christmas break and when we come back from the break, it will all be go, go, go,” Reed said. “We started with the teaching process now.
“The thing about having strength coach is not that myself or any of the assistants can’t do it, it is just that when you wear a lot of hats, whether it is having to teach multiple classes or multiple preps, or me being an assistant athletic director with the obligations to things on that side of it as well as the day to day operations of a football program you get spread a little thin.
“The purpose of hiring these guys they way I put it to our players is they look at me as probably 10 out of 10 in intensity and likeness of football. Now they are getting a strength coach that are a 10 out of 10 in that side of things. There are some new things we are doing in the weight room, new movemants and lifts as well as the same things, it is now there are getting someone who is pouring every bit of their energy into our strength department.
“They are totally in conjunction with us as far as our culture. We sit down and go over the program with them, but they are in charge of what we do, how we do it and in running of the weight room.”
The program is something that Reed has been talking about since coming to Yukon in an effort to help the team become more competitive.
Yukon is one of the first programs on the west side of the state to implement this program.
“It is a phenomenal opportunity for our program,” Reed said. “We finally decided we couldn’t talk about it any longer and had to go and do it. We are excited about the possibilities that it is going to bring.
“We know teams on the east side of the state have similiar programs, but I’m not aware of any on the west side of the state,” he said. “It is beginning to be talked more about and it is another big thing on everyone’s plate. You can’t neglect it and I hear about it more in coaching circles. No one wants to not be competitive. It is something different that we are a part of.
“They have praised our kids highly in the first few days and are impressed with how our kids work and detailed they are. It has been great to hear from an outside group what I already knew and that is we have a great group of kids.”
The second part of the new program is bringing in a nutritionist to work with the athletes on.
The program has hired Justin Klein out of Fort Riley, KS.
“He is a licensed dietician and used to be at the University of Georgia before starting his own private business,” Reed said. “He will meet with every player 20 to 30 minutes and talk to them about their own nutrition of gaining weight, losing weight or redistribute weight. He will put that plan out there.
The program will also feature a “fuel bar” that will allow the athletes to put fuel back in their body after the workout.”
