UF strength coach Mark Hocke: ‘You can’t train gladiators pillow fighting’

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida football team has spent the past two months going through summer workouts with associate head coach and director of football strength and conditioning Mark Hocke and his staff.

The Regimen phase is a nine-week training block to get players ready for fall training camp, which began on Tuesday. The Gators hold their first practice Wednesday.

Hocke met with the UF media for the start of camp and was asked what fans should expect to see from this team from a physicality standpoint.

“You can’t train gladiators pillow fighting,” Hocke said. “Football is a violent sport. It is a lethal sport. And if you aren’t physical and you aren’t known for being physical, you’re not going to get the results you want. So that’s something that we’re going to be working on daily and we have been working on since day one.

“What I’ve seen so far in spring, these guys are about it. They’re not afraid to buckle up, and they’re not afraid to thud, so I’m hoping that we see even greater transformation going into fall camp. Obviously we hadn’t strapped up, yet but that’s got to be one of the main pillars if we’re going to have success in the SEC.”

Hocke said in the spring that he was instilling a pirate mentality with the football program. His goal was to structure workouts so that the training is more difficult than the competition. 

“This whole process has been about changing how they think,” Hocke said. “The way we think determines our entire day. So, ask yourself, the way I’m thinking right now, is this going to benefit my job, benefit my many roles? And if it’s not, then it’s about changing the way you think to benefit your day and benefit your roles. And then obviously if the guys are thinking right, they’re going to train right. And if they’re going to train right, the right results are going to come.

“That brings us to fall camp. We’re prepared to wipe the slate clean and now attack each day like a new day. Excited to watch all these guys compete for jobs. Got a quote: ‘It’s not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.’ You’ve got to love the challenge, and you got to love the work, and that’s what this is all about. I think at the end of the day winners persist.”

Billy Napier, Hocke recognizes strength staff

Hocke and Florida coach Billy Napier both took time to recognize the strength, performance and nutrition staff for the work they put in this summer to prepare the team for this season.

“Obviously this is a game of speed, and we’re always trying to create more efficient movers,” Hocke said. “So I think of Tiger Jones and Ed Thompson. They’re kind of our speed development guys offensively and defensively, done a really good job. The guys have done a good job buying into what they have been coaching fundamental-wise and just the hard work. I think of Karmichael Dunbar. He does the majority of the training with the bigs. It’s no secret, if you want to have success in the SEC, it starts up front. You got to run the ball and stop the run, and I think Coach Dunbar’s done a really good job of training and developing the guys in the trenches.

“And then I just think about the relationship aspect, how important that is. I think Alex Watkins and Frank Ogas have done a tremendous job creating those tight-knit bonds that’s going to get that player buy-in you need in order to push the gas pedal and get them to work hard and get ’em to work consistently. … My relationship with Joe Danos, our director of athletic development, is so strong. It’s been my experience that sometimes guys in that sector want to hold back the work or water down the work. And that’s why I love Joe Danos. I think he does a good job of knowing when to pull back and when to push even harder. So, I appreciate him for that.”

“I think it’s been a productive seven months really since we got here and really a productive summer. We call that phase of training the regimen. For me personally, it’s been great to see the overall transformation of the entire team from that first team meeting until the last team meeting during the summer.”

Napier added, “When you start talking about Paul [Silvestri] and Toney [Hill] and his (sports health) staff and Kelsee [Gomes], her (nutrition) staff, Joe Danos and his crew, to go along with Mark, that whole performance team and their working relationship I think is a big piece of the puzzle.

“We individualize our development plans for the players, and we’ve seen strides there. I think we’ve made a ton of progress in the testing component, the strength level, speed improvement, the body composition numbers. Really good things there.”