Notre Dame Notebook: Loren Landow Has A Key Role In Shaping The Irish
Perhaps the most expected (if not anticipated) change to Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame football staff heading into 2024 is the addition of a new Director of Football Performance. The position opened late last summer when Matt Balis abruptly resigned just before the start of fall training camp. Freeman filled it with Loren Landow before the Irish played in the Sun Bowl and the veteran is already leading the Fighting Irish through their first offseason of workouts in the leadup to spring practice.
"It's as-advertised here,” Landow said of his first impressions of life at Notre Dame. "These kids are hardworking, they're great kids and they're smart. Anytime a new coach comes in, whether it's a strength coach or a position coach or coordinator, you're going to learn something a little bit different, how well do you adjust to the learning? These kids have been incredible. It surprised me because I didn't know what to expect, but I'd heard that coming in that the kids are incredible and that's been held true."
High Profile Clientele
Landow’s 25-plus years in the arena of training athletes is well chronicled. He worked for the Denver Broncos for five years and has also trained UFC fighters, Olympic caliber gymnasts and NFL players like current San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. His background looks good on paper, but he must now put it to practical use with his new pupils at Notre Dame.
"I think it gives you credibility,” Landow said of his past work with professional athletes. "But as I told the guys, when I first met with the players, I told them, 'In your eyes, I haven't done anything to you or for you.' So yeah, that might be great and let's see what this coach is about and it's been a great experience with those athletes, but today is now. So for me, it's important that they get this version of me and I'm not living on my past. I think it does help with a little bit of credibility where I can talk to a player and say, 'I worked with this player in the NFL and you remind me a lot of him. Here's what he did to stay at that level.' Or you know, 'Hey, I tell the story, with Christian McCaffrey since he was eight years old,' those kinds of things. Those are those are great stories.”
Time In The Trust Bank
After Notre Dame made the move to hire Balis prior to the 2017 season, it only took one offseason to see tangible differences what he brought to the players training efforts. “Body by Balis” was the mantra the players would recite when asked what an offseason working with Balis meant to them. Balis built his trust with the team and that is what Landow has begun to do in his first weeks working with the Irish.
"I think when you say gaining trust, it takes forever, it takes a long time,” Landow explained. "I can sit there and I can hit you with my principles and my beliefs and and here's our training plan, but at the end of the day, I have to make sure that I'm consistent in my message. Number one, these athletes don't want to see this and this, they want to see that I can be consistent. So, I think that's number how you build trust, and number two is you connect with everybody. I'm not just sitting here talking to a couple guys who are the starter of this or the starter of that. It's the ability to connect with everybody and give everybody constructive criticism, constructive coaching, I think those are the ways that you build trust. Doing it in a short time, I would say there's probably some places that are pretty challenging. And for here, the student athletes here are incredible. And in their ability to buy in, whether it's me or someone else, they're going to buy in, that's just who they are."
Cultivating Culture
Training camp lasts about a month in the summer. The season lasts roughly four months and spring practice lasts about another month. Those seasonal intervals comprise about half of the year. Those are the primary times that the coaching staff has the most consistent contact with the team. But the strength staff is with the team during those periods as well as through winter and summer conditioning periods. That extra contact puts Landow in the unique position to help shape the culture of the football program.
"I think what I do is I listen to Coach Freeman and I try to echo his messages,” Landow said of his role in culture shaping. "I think that's why he and I probably hit it off so well in the interview process, because we speak the same language. We have the same expectations; we have the same standards and what our principles are in development. So, I think from my standpoint, I look at it as a challenge to be able to be able to walk lockstep my head coach, and know that I'm being held accountable to his message and his staff's message. For me, I take it as a great opportunity of responsibility.”
The Mental Game
Intense physical conditioning helps build mental strength as well. As the great Vince Lombardi once said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all”.
"From the mental side of things, I'm not the yell at the top of my voice and run through that wall for me,” Landow explained. "It's can you handle the details when you're fatigued? Can you stay mentally sharp when you're under duress? I tell these guys all the time, every sport I've worked with, every sport, the number one thing that happens when we get fatigued, two things happen, we lose bend, and we lose coordination. So, I challenged them, as you're getting fatigued, can you maintain your bend, your leverage positions that we talked about in sport and then your coordination to do the task that you have to for your job? Those are the things that I talked to them about with the mental conditioning and the mental toughness. These kids are mentally strong as it is. I'm just adding my wrinkle to it.”
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