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Football

WRESTLING HELPS FOOTBALL

ARCHER HEAD FOOTBALL COACH ANDY DYER ON HOW WRESTLING HAS HELPED QUINN MILLER BECOME ONE OF THE BEST LINEBACKERS IN GWINNETT CO. HISTORY

“If he gets his hands on you, you’re tackled,” Dyer said of how Miller’s wrestling past helps in football. “His hand strength is incredible. If he gets one hand on the back, the guy’s tackled. Leverage is a big deal, being able to defeat blocks and I think it helps his conditioning. He’s always in great condition. He can go, go and go. Even when he’s exhausted, he can still go..."

 

Go to You Tube - search "Jon Gruden Wrestling Helps Football" great video on how wrestling will help improve your skills as a football player, and why college football coaches love wrestlers.

THE benefits of wrestling for the football players

2015.10.02

Football + Wrestling = Success

The benefits of wrestling for the football player – What to tell the High School Football Coach
 

Written by: 

Mitch Hull
Head Coach Wisconsin RTC
National Teams Director USAW 1992-2013


One of the questions I used to get asked all the time by High School Coaches when I was National Teams Director at USA Wrestling was “How do I convince the Football Coach to support having athletes wrestle after the football season”. What is great about having this conversation with the Football coach is it is not a sales job-it is how you can truly help improve the football team.     
USA Wresting has been getting NFL players and coaches to support efforts to communicate this message by telling their story. This effort has players in "skill" positions to those who compete in the "trenches". A couple of higher profile athletes that have helped in this effort are Atlanta receiver Roddy White and former Raven great Ray Lewis (on a side note I helped recruit Ray Lewis while I was coaching at Purdue as the football coaches were offering Ray the opportunity to play football and wrestle).  USA Wrestling recently interviewed Viking Coach Mike Zimmer and Tony Dungy regarding the value of wrestling. That link and the link to the USAW Roddy White poster are below.   

 
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2015/September/17/Going-the-Extra-Mile
 
One of the Badger greats that credits wrestling as part of his College and NFL success is Tim Krumrie. Tim was a state champion for Mondovi. His junior year of college he came out for the Badger wrestling team following the Badger football season. Tim was a high energy football player who transferred his physical play on the field to the mat. Even wrestling just the one year, Badger Coach Dave McLain said made him better. Tim went on to become a Pro Bowl player and an integral member of the Super Bowl Team for the Cincinnati Bengals.       
 
It is not only the players that have recognized the value of wrestling but some of the most successful coaches have as well. John Madden would make a point to talk about the wrestling background of a football player when he served as a commentator for NFL games. Badger Head Coach Paul Chryst has discussed with Coach Davis and me about how athletes that he is recruiting that have a wrestling background are more appealing to him. To paraphrase the discussion his position is the individuals have better awareness of their positioning and leverage. He also stated that he knows they have a capacity to work.   
 
What may be the most telling is the scientific graph below. OK, this may not be a research paper but it is a factual result of the recruits of Urban Meyer at OSU. This is the result-not an opinion-of what Coach Meyer did in his recruiting. This does not specifically refer to wrestling as it is from an article about the benefit of the multi-sport athlete compared to a single sport athlete. What we all understand is wrestling is the best of the other sports to compliment the physical nature of football. If you would like to read the article you can click on the link below.
 

Visit the link below to see the article Football + Wrestling = Success from USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program (NCEP)

Football + Wrestling = Success

Roddy White at the Olympic Training Center

Roddy White at the Olympic Training Center