Method to the Madness: Gators S&C Coach Mark Hocke Breaks Down New Approach
It's typical that the strength coach of a football team is the most energetic, outspoken member of a given staff, and that's no different with Florida Gators strength coach Mark Hocke.
He brings an infectious charisma that captivates an audience like none other, something that was made obvious when speaking with him at his first media availability on Tuesday earlier this week. That energy - and likely five times over with the team itself - has already been felt by the team itself, too.
Of course, it's not just Hocke who brings the juice, the entire staff has worked towards changing the energy. Gators QB Anthony Richardson says there's already a difference he can feel with the transition to a new staff.
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"The energy is a lot different," Richardson said. "There’s more structure so a lot of people are at a different place at a different time, so you can work with different people at a different time. I feel like it’s a good thing that will help with the team.”
Part of the differences comes in the weight room, though and the conditioning portion of football - a year-round process, Hocke emphasized.
Each strength coach for the various position groups has had experience with that position in the past, having played it. That's something new Hocke is bringing to the table at Florida this year, which allows the various position groups to understand exactly what they need to get done to perform at the best of their abilities.
“We’re going to train them to be the best at their position. How do we do that? We hire position coaches within the weight room. All of our strength coaches have played the position," Hocke said.
Tiger Jones, a former receiver at Louisville and someone who spent nine years in the NFL will work with the offensive skills guys. Alex Watkins, who played linebacker in the SEC and in the NFL briefly will work with the inside-outside linebackers. Ed Thompson will work with the defensive skill guys, he played with UL as a defensive back from 2014-16.
Finally, Karmichael Dunbar will work with the players in the trenches, a place the game is won and lost with, Hocke exclaimed. Dunbar, of course, was a defensive lineman with the Ragin' Cajuns from 2012-16.
"Those position coaches in the weight room work hand in hand with the position coaches that have them in season," Hocke explained.
"That’s where colleges differ. You’re just with the strength staff four months of the year. You’re not with your position coach so it’s really important to have synergy between your position strength coaches and position on-field coaches."
Coupled with the team's use of position-oriented strength coaches, the program is taking a different approach to how the players train, too.
"For the last staff, they were trying to get us to bulk up and be a lot stronger," Richardson explained. "But, coach Hocke, he wants us to be like, a faster team, because you can't really teach speed, but you can get guy's body right so they can move a little faster. And that's pretty much been their focus."
That new approach is what could change the way players stay healthy throughout the season and move as they continue developing at a young age. In fact, Florida's staff under the previous regime never had much in the way of speed coaching or training, now they do.
That's just one way the team will be different moving forward when it comes to training and practicing. The program wants to create an environment,ent where the training is more difficult than the competition itself, something Hocke says is what HOF NBA player Michael Jordan has stated his approach to things was during his playing career.
"It's a physical game. It's a violent game. So getting under a heavy back-squat bar, that's demanding, that’s adverse situations. Sprint-repeatability, right, the days of running miles and three hundreds are over," Hocke said.
"We’re running 40-yard sprints, 20-yard sprints, repeatedly. 25 seconds, hurry-up offense, can you strain your gut for four to five seconds, rest for 25 seconds with great body language, and then do it again over and over and over."
The Gators are building something and it's clear these changes are more than just the position coaches themselves, but in the weight room, nutrition and sports science department, too.
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