Feb. 14--The NFL scouting combine has arrived, another major piece of the pre-draft puzzle with 323 college standouts invited to Indianapolis this week to partake in medical testing, interviews with teams and, of course, the all-important strength and speed testing the event is best known for.
Over the past decade, the increased exposure on the combine has fueled an explosion in pre-combine training programs, set up at athletic performance facilities nationwide with an aim to help aspiring prospects prepare for all they'll face.
EXOS, formerly known as Athletes' Performance Institute, has become one of the industry leaders in combine training, hosting prospects at sites in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Frisco, Tex., and Pensacola, Fla., and pushing to aid players across four phases: movement (which includes strength and speed training), mindset, nutrition and recovery.
A year ago, more than a third of the players who participated in the combine did their training for the event with EXOS. And since 2011, the EXOS programs have hosted and trained 123 players who went on to be selected in the first three rounds of the draft with players like Giants receiver Odell Beckham, Chiefs defensive tackle Dontari Poe, Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Packers receiver Randall Cobb emerging as success stories.
The Tribune recently visited with Nick Winkelman, the director of performance at the EXOS facility in Phoenix to glean more insight into all that goes into the process.
**--
The sophistication of training has gone up exponentially in big part because the focus and exposure on the combine has gone up exponentially. What do you attribute that to?
Winkelman: "To be completely honest, the NFL has one of the best marketing machines in the world. Simply put, they saw the combine as something that could keep their fan base engaged and interested on top of the event obviously fitting utility for the scouts and the team.
"So it's like, 'Why not put it on NFL Network and bring some exposure to this process?' You put it between the Super Bowl and the draft. The draft then leads you toward preseason and there you go. That's part of the reason the NFL has the following it does. And because of the combine's glamour, guys have increased their concentration on it. Look, players were training for this long before it was ever on TV. Because obviously you wanted to show out quite well for the NFL teams. But now, because it's become such a huge event and because you're going to be on TV, that has added to these guys' desires to show out well. It's human nature and this all kind of starts there. This is essentially a national interview."
The buzz level is undeniable. Yet the made-for-TV spectacle and the meaning of the event for teams can be two different things. How do you help players differentiate the substance from the hype?
Winkelman: "A big key for them is being able to get as much out of this process as possible. It's very easy for guys, as they go through this, to think, hey, all my talent and all my skill has gotten me to this point, let me just bring that same energy and attitude. But the problem when you're going up against all these other guys who are just like you, you have to bring something else. That's why for us we try to convey a message that you have to attack this process not as if you are earmarked for the first round but as if you're earmarked to not be drafted at all and really bring a humility to your level of effort and timeliness and execution. Overall this program helps guys do that."
There's an emphasis here not only on getting faster and stronger but eating right, getting the right kinds of therapy and recovery, sharpening the mindset. With so many different facets, what do you sense resonates most with guys?
Winkelman: "Our major goal is that they start to realize that the same systematic approach they take to learning a playbook and developing a technical, tactical strategy to prepare for a game and to beat an opponent, can be replicated. You have to channel and apply that same logic and systematic approach to your body. Which is the thing that's getting plugged into that system. Your body becomes the system within the system. So what we try to do here is teach these guys that all of this is multi-dimensional. You can physically have a bad day when mentally you're having a bad day. So how do you approach your mindset understanding then that your mindset is impacted by your nutrition, your recovery, your sleep patterns.
"It's a sophisticated process, educating them on how to optimize each of those different facets. And it's understanding that the second that they're not strong enough or fast enough, no matter how much skill and intelligence they have to read and understand the playbook, if they don't have that first step any more, that's also going to take them off a roster pretty quickly. ... It's a big burden to bear.
"And it's very difficult to apply that approach to your body. Look at how many people in this country are morbidly obese. It's not easy in this day and age to take care of your body, let alone do it at the level that these guys need to to have success. So what we try to do with the NFL athletes and the future NFL athletes is provide a system by which you can manage your body with simple, integrated strategies. Strength. Nurtition. (Physical therapy). Massage.
"This is teaching them to be resourceful. ... Our big word is empowerment. We're the guide. You're the one who has to climb Everest."
Obviously guys know what a strong combine can mean. And they have to be conditioned to realize a bad combine isn't the end of the world. How do you convey those two messages with what's at stake?
Winkelman: "You don't want to downplay it. Because if you downplay it, you might not get the effort out of the process that you want. At the same time, you don't want to mentally put guys in a position to think their 40 time is going to shatter the rest of their career. So at the outset, we try to frame it up this way: Right or wrong, these are the interview questions that the NFL is asking you. There are literal questions and then there are the questions answered by the (athletic) tests. That's what they want to learn.
"You've been playing the game, in many cases for 10 years, the last three or four at a very high level. Teams know what your film looks like. This is simply now to remind them of what you are physically capable of. Because maybe, in the scheme you played, in the system where you were slotted with your college team, you weren't able to showcase all of your athleticism. So you want to be able to go through this process, hit the combine and say here's my athletic signature. Right there on the line. ... You have to do everything you can to check these boxes. Because there are going to be 20 other guys who have the same quality football tape.
"Think of this as the tiebreaker. That's one context. ... Those kinds of things cultivate a healthy mindset and just reframe their approach. Because there are more than a few guys, especially the bigger guys who this can be '(Screw) these drills.' And I tell them that attitude then gives a big middle finger to the process of the teams that are lining up to pay you millions of dollars. This is the gateway into the league. You better respect it."
