So Far, Ben Sowders' New Strength Program Showing Results

Razorbacks faster these days, thanks to new strength and conditioning coach's program

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Aug 4, 2023 4:48 PM EDT
Original:
Aug 4, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Whatever all this new speed stuff on football players means, us old guys just know the bigger the number is obviously better. They are hooking them up with GPS things nowadays to take advantage of the new technology.

Arkansas has gotten faster in just a few months under new strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders. Everybody either has it or is chasing it is how the cliche goes and it's actually true in the real world. Don't worry, this won't be an angle for a different criticism, but speed solves a lot of any problems in the football world.

"We’ve gotten faster," Sowders said in a press conference after Friday morning's first practice of fall camp. "We’ve got 36% of our guys that wear the GPS that can run 21 miles an hour or faster. We’ve got 5 guys who can run 22 or faster and then 61% off our team that can over 20 mph. That’s everybody. I’m talking about O-line, D-line, tight ends and your skills. You’ve got over half your team being able to run 20. So, we got faster, and our strength numbers went up."

The speed analytics was what got my attention. Lifting weights and being stronger than a Greek god is fine and dandy, but speed covers up an awful lot of mistakes or at least minimize the damage any of those cause.

That 22 number Sowders was throwing out is blazing fast. The five guys who ran that number in workouts are AJ Green, Tyrone Broden, Andrew Armstrong, Isaiah Sategna and Malik Chavis. Not everyone who's fast runs those kinds of numbers, yet the names attached to the achievement aren't really surprising. Three are wide receivers, one is a defensive back and the final one is a running back. All are good positions to have that kind of speed.

"We have doubled the amount of guys that are running 21 (mph) and we only had one guy last year who ran 22 (mph)," Sowders said. "So, we’ve improved." That's not throwing shade at the previous guys before him. "We inherited a good situation," he said. "It’s not like I came into this big, bad thing. The staff before us did a really good job. Every staff does the little things different."

Sowders wasn't taking the credit for the results. "The way we structured the training program so they can handle certain loads and certain doses appropriately to hit those speeds," he said. "It goes back to our athletic training staff, our staff, the kids because they have to go do what we're asking them to do. But honestly, none of us in this room are going to run 21 or 22, so it goes back to them. It goes back to their effort, their consistent work that they put in all offseason."

He may not want the credit, but the reality is somebody has to put it all together in a plan and be able to monitor the results. Oh, and provide the motivation in a way the players can relate to, then get better on the field. Sowders is obviously doing all that. We'll find out when the games start how much that improved attitude translates in the final score.