CrossFit Athletic Group

"Recovery is more than just the absence of work... I tell my athletes you need to disconnect from your Michigan State student and athlete personalities."

- Tim "Red" Wakeman. Elite Leadership lecture, Spartan Strength Clinic

Although I missed a lot of this talk when it was first given, I got to listen to it a second time around on YouTube and of the many good points coach made, this was one that stood out to me the most. The term I used before was "flipping the switch," but I think this makes more sense.

I have the coaching "switch" turned on just about every waking moment of every day. And while I am not actively coaching every minute of the day, having the switch turned on - or being connected, as Coach Red would say - does take its toll. Whether that means studying material, writing on the site, mopping the floor, working out myself, recruiting, or even just talking to someone with a filter of what I would normally say, the switch is always turned on. When I talk to Shannon, I always make it clear to her that all of those examples counts, in my book at least, as logging coaching hours - even though it's not directly coaching a session at the Champions Club.

Listening to this talk by Coach Red helped me realize why I love College Football so much. It is the one thing that makes me "disconnect" from coaching more than anything else. And after a fall Saturday when I start watching Desmond, Kirk, Reece, and Corso at 10 am and fall asleep watching Boise State vs. Hawaii at 2 am, I feel very rejuvenate and ready to connect to coaching again. On a smaller scale, playing Pokemon and watching Harry Potter also give me an hour or two of the switch being shut off. As I progress in my coaching career, I think this is the one thing I'll have to improve on the most.

What are some of the things that completely "disconnect" you from your job?

"Keep you mind where your feet are"

- Kirk Herbstreit. College Football Playoff Selection Show

Former Georgia All-American defensive lineman and current ESPN announcer David Pollack was challenged live on the set of College GameDay to perform a 50-inch box jump. He didn't even change clothes.

Stuck the jump. Ripped his pants. https://t.co/OHNnd7ACdY

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 3, 2016

It was a great opening Saturday to the College Football season. Here's to all of you having to put up with random Harbaugh posts for the coming months. But in related news, the first Tom Rinaldi feature on College GameDay was about the evolution of college strength and conditioning programs - moving away from traditional machines/body building and introducing more intense routines.