I have joked with my friends that there are two kinds of ex-players - those who continue to eat as if they were still playing and those who cut back. Some guys just do not adjust their eating habits when they are done.
In the case of big-time coaches, these guys work long (unhealthy) hours and spend a huge deal of it watching film. In an environment where your internal clock is screwed up and you are spending a ton of time in front of a screen, it is easy to develop bad snacking habits. I got the sense that Rich Rod maintained a high level of personal discipline and worked out most days with Barwis. Tony Dungy is another coach who apparently made time for exercise. It's probably not easy though.
I've never really understood that about college coaches, either. Personally, I know I put on weight during football season. I just don't have much time to cook, so I eat a lot of fast food and/or prepackaged food and/or calorie-laden team meals.
However, if I were a college coach or an NFL coach making hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars, I would certainly order a healthy meal for lunch and dinner. It wouldn't take much to find a healthy meal when you have so much disposable income.
It really comes down to healthy food choices. If you look at the last couple staffs at Michigan, the only guys I would call "fat" are Borges and Calvin Magee; but all the coaches are presumably doing the same types of things on the job each day. So I think it's pretty representative of American society in general.
Yeah, the Rodriguez staff seemed better than most. I'm not sure if coaches reflect the population or not, but it would seem that in a field where they're pushing so hard for players to be fit and disciplined, they'd be more believable if they didn't look like hypocrites.
Agree that work-habits and diet are obviously factors. OTOH, Hoke seems almost proud of his terrible eating habits but then goes on to talk about how his wife has Pizza-night every week. If you're so busy that you have to eat junk food and make poor choices because you're around training table, maybe the few times that you eat at home shouldn't include pizza every week.
It just seems to me that more coaches would make it a goal. But maybe there is something to the idea that pure size brings with it some degree of respect, regardless of how it was achieved.
It seems to me that at least S+C coaches are all physically fit. I certainly wouldn't have a problem be motivated under Barwis. Aaron Wellman also takes fitness seriously.
He appears to be sitting up just slightly in a Craftmatic adjustable bed. I see lots of "Al" but his head is pretty far back.
ReplyDeleteWhy are so many football coaches fat? Wouldn't they command more authority and respect if they weren't so hopelessly out of shape?
ReplyDelete-Lank
Lank,
ReplyDeleteI would say a decent number of football coaches were players, then once their careers were over, they had burnout from working out all the time.
I don't know about commanding respect...Rex Ryan appears to have the attention of his players, loathsome human being though he is.
I have joked with my friends that there are two kinds of ex-players - those who continue to eat as if they were still playing and those who cut back. Some guys just do not adjust their eating habits when they are done.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of big-time coaches, these guys work long (unhealthy) hours and spend a huge deal of it watching film. In an environment where your internal clock is screwed up and you are spending a ton of time in front of a screen, it is easy to develop bad snacking habits. I got the sense that Rich Rod maintained a high level of personal discipline and worked out most days with Barwis. Tony Dungy is another coach who apparently made time for exercise. It's probably not easy though.
@ Lankownia 5:27 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI've never really understood that about college coaches, either. Personally, I know I put on weight during football season. I just don't have much time to cook, so I eat a lot of fast food and/or prepackaged food and/or calorie-laden team meals.
However, if I were a college coach or an NFL coach making hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars, I would certainly order a healthy meal for lunch and dinner. It wouldn't take much to find a healthy meal when you have so much disposable income.
It really comes down to healthy food choices. If you look at the last couple staffs at Michigan, the only guys I would call "fat" are Borges and Calvin Magee; but all the coaches are presumably doing the same types of things on the job each day. So I think it's pretty representative of American society in general.
@ Painter Smurf
ReplyDeleteRodriguez ran a few miles a day on a treadmill at Schembechler Hall, IIRC.
Yeah, the Rodriguez staff seemed better than most. I'm not sure if coaches reflect the population or not, but it would seem that in a field where they're pushing so hard for players to be fit and disciplined, they'd be more believable if they didn't look like hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteAgree that work-habits and diet are obviously factors. OTOH, Hoke seems almost proud of his terrible eating habits but then goes on to talk about how his wife has Pizza-night every week. If you're so busy that you have to eat junk food and make poor choices because you're around training table, maybe the few times that you eat at home shouldn't include pizza every week.
It just seems to me that more coaches would make it a goal. But maybe there is something to the idea that pure size brings with it some degree of respect, regardless of how it was achieved.
-Lank
Lank,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that at least S+C coaches are all physically fit. I certainly wouldn't have a problem be motivated under Barwis. Aaron Wellman also takes fitness seriously.
Is it just me, or does Al look a LOT like Kingpin from the Daredevil comics?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about a LOT...but a little.
ReplyDelete