From trenches to training, Tom Farniok helps FSU football strength staff stay on cutting edge

Editor’s Note: Over the next week, Warchant will be profiling all five members of Florida State football’s strength and conditioning staff individually and then examining the impact of the entire group as a whole.

Tom Farniok had every reason to believe he would be an offensive line coach one day.

He was a standout center at Iowa State from 2010-14, and he comes from a self-described “offensive live family.” Younger brothers Derek, Matt and Will all played the position at Division-I schools, and Matt is currently with the NFL’s Detroit Lions. The boys’ father was a college lineman as well.

So since he knew he wanted to work in football and because he possessed a wealth of knowledge about the offensive line, it only seemed natural that Farniok would pursue a career coaching that position.

Until he had somewhat of a revelation midway through his five years at Iowa State.

As impactful as position coaches are on the lives and careers of young football players, strength and conditioning coaches play an extremely important role as well. And with position coaches more limited by NCAA rules during the offseason, it often is the strength coaches who are instrumental in developing a team’s chemistry and camaraderie during grueling winter and summer workouts.

“I think a big part of what appealed to me was just being the person that helps develop the brotherhood [of a team],” Farniok said. “And being able to do it year-round.”

Following a stellar career with the Cyclones — starting 47 games, earning All-Big 12 honors three times and being named a team captain as a senior — and after a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings, Farniok started his journey as a strength coach at Buffalo in 2016 before moving on to Houston.

It was there that Farniok learned about the harsh realities of college football. Head coach Major Applewhite’s staff was fired following the 2018 season, and Farniok was caught up in that turnover. He fortunately was able to find a new job quickly at Louisiana Tech, but he also realized that he needed to expand his professional network.

Since he had a little free time between semesters, he decided to see if he could do some networking and professional development on his own.

“I just loaded up my truck and hit a whole bunch of different schools,” Farniok explained.

The University of Memphis was high on his list because the Tigers had beaten Houston in each of Farniok’s years there, and he liked the way they played. So he reached out to then-Memphis strength coach Josh Storms to see if he could come check out their operation.

The visit went so well that when Florida State hired Memphis head coach Mike Norvell following the 2019 season and Storms started putting together a staff for the move to Tallahassee, Farniok was one of the first people he contacted.

“Let’s talk if you’ve got time today,” Storms texted him.

“Of course I had time for that,” Farniok said with a smile. “And the rest is history.”

Farniok was impressed with Storms immediately during that visit in early 2019. Not only did Storms remind him of his own strength coach at Iowa State, Yancy McKnight, who inspired him to get into the profession, but he had a welcoming and earnest nature.

Storms clearly knew what he was doing — Farniok could tell that by seeing how physical and tough Memphis’ players were on the field — and he could not have been more helpful when Farniok went on his networking tour.

The young strength coach also loved Storms’ passion and consistency. It’s something that still motivates him today, as he enters his fifth season with the Seminoles.

“He really means everything he says,” Farniok said of Storms. “And you know Coach Norvell’s the same way. Whatever he says is real. He is honest, he’s truthful, he cares, and he is invested in the betterment of the team. On a personal level, I think it just means a lot when the leader truly, genuinely cares about the athletes. I think that’s something that’s awesome about the whole program.”

Farniok is one of four full-time strength coaches on Storms’ staff. They each have slightly specialized roles, and one of Farniok’s is working with the offensive linemen.

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While Alex Atkins is the position coach and he has the help of an analyst and graduate assistant on the field and in the classroom, Farniok can help by emphasizing the same messages and teaching points during workouts. Farniok also can draw upon the knowledge he picked up during his own playing days and those of his brothers — Matt played at Nebraska and is now with the Lions; Derek played at Oklahoma; and Will played at Nebraska and Tulsa.

“We all redshirted and played offensive line for five years,” Tom Farniok said. “So that’s 20 years of college football between us.”

Farniok also considers himself an avid learner, who is always seeking better methods of training athletes. One cutting-edge technique he has delved into recently is called the Square 1 system, which involves neuro training.

“The best way I can sum it up is it’s like a chiropractor for your nervous system,” said Farniok, whose official title at Florida State is Associate Director of Football Strength and Conditioning. “I’m not a doctor. I’m not a chiropractor. But it just helps the nervous system work better. I really like it, and it’s helped some of our guys.

“I just like to look for new training modalities to try to help keep us on the forefront of what is out there. There are a bunch of different philosophies, and we’re not looking to make wholesale philosophical changes to what we do. But if there are little things from different methodologies that we can implement in our program, that can keep us on the forefront of what is going on.”

And while he might sometimes miss the thrill of on-field competition as a player, Farniok said Florida State’s strength coaches are constantly experiencing the thrill of victory.

Instead of directly changing numbers on a scoreboard, the wins come when players transform their bodies, when they push past previous limits, and when they carry their improved strength, speed and agility into competition on Saturdays in the fall.

“You literally can help guys change their bodies and their lives,” Farniok said. “You can help someone who was a two-star, 250-pound offensive lineman develop into a guy who has a chance to play in the NFL.”

And when all of those individual victories manifest in team success, that’s when Farniok and Florida State’s other strength coaches truly feel the rewards of their work.

To reflect on what the roster looked like when they arrived in December 2019 and then watch Norvell and the Florida State players hoist an ACC championship trophy four years later, it can be almost overwhelming.

“It’s great any time you see guys come together and actually achieve goals and accomplish dreams,” Farniok said. “That’s why I do this. It’s a lot of long hours. It’s a lot of hard work with guys that … they didn’t come here to lift weights. They came here to play ball and they came here to win games. So we’re kind of behind the scenes working with them so that when they get their moment, they can shine.”

In some ways, Farniok says, being a strength coach is like being an offensive lineman.

As a center, he had to execute his assignments so the quarterback had time to throw and the running backs had holes to run through. As a strength and conditioning coach, he has to help lay the foundation before the players ever get to the field.

“On the offensive line, the only time you notice me is if I did something wrong,” he said. “So I like that aspect of helping guys be the best they can be. So when they get the opportunity, they can go achieve their goals.”

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Next in our series: Senior Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach Nick Dowdy

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.