Internship Series: David Land

May-August 2012

As I was midway through the spring semester of my 1^st year of the Masters program here at ETSU, I began searching out potential internships for the coming summer. The internship experience I was searching for would serve as much more than simply a requirement for the coaching and sport performance track for my degree; I knew that a solid internship experience would not only help me grow as a strength and conditioning coach, but also help to bolster my resume and get my face out there. The old saying that in coaching is “it’s all who you know”, that is not entirely true; the more accurate statement would be “it’s all who knows you”.

While I had a couple of possible options for my internship in mind, Meg Stone recommended that I might try an old friend of hers, Bob Alejo. Alejo is an Assistant Athletic Director and the Director of Strength and Conditioning for North Carolina State University [NC State] in Raleigh, North Carolina. Apparently, once Alejo was informed that there was an internship candidate who had worked with Meg and the CESSCE it was a very easy decision for him. North Carolina State is a Division I school, and a member of the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference [ACC]. The ACC is nationally recognized as the premier conference for Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Soccer, in addition to having very successful track & field, swimming & diving, and baseball teams.

When I started my internship, my fellow interns and I were given about a week’s grace period before we were thrown into the fire. For the initial month or so we coached alongside the full-time strength coaches as they worked with their individual teams. This was a very unique experience as any given day I’d be able to work with not only multiple sports, but also multiple strength coaches. It was interesting to see the coaching methods of the different coaches and how they worked with their athletes. After that initial month we were entrusted to run make-up conditioning or lifting sessions and take groups of athletes when the fulltime coaches worked with a different group.

At one point or another I had the opportunity to train men’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, baseball, wrestling, and men’s & women’s soccer. The ability to be around the diversity of teams was one of my greatest experiences from the internship as I had only previously worked with Appalachian State University’s men’s basketball and football teams, along with ETSU’s women’s tennis and ROTC programs. The majority of my experience came with working with the men’s basketball team. I treated this unique opportunity as a privilege as the NC State men’s basketball team was coming off of their 1^st season under new head coach Mark Gottfried. Last season they had a trip to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, and were only a shot away from beating national runner-up Kansas to advance to the Elite 8. The team had very high expectations coming into Coach Gottfried’s second season; nearly every preseason poll has them in the top 10, they have a star-studded incoming freshmen class, and are returning most of the core players from the previous season. The athleticism of some of these players was unmistakable and getting them onto the lifting platform, preparing them for a potential national championship run was exhilarating; the kind of feeling that confirms that you are in the right profession. The high level of accountability they had for themselves and their teammates translated into the focused and productive lifting and conditioning sessions, this was true from the star players all the way down to the walk-ons.

All of NC State’s athletes, regardless of strength coach or sport coach, begin every workout with about a 5-minute foam-rolling session. This was my first experience to foam rolling, professional and personal, and I can tell you that I will never go back. I was able to tell a difference, it was also a great tool for the athletes to use to mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming workout. Every NC State strength program is centered on power from the floor and the primary lifts are pulls from the floor, in addition to squats. While some explosive and Olympic movements were used with the bar for warm-ups and teaching purposes, all incoming athletes clean-form deadlifted until they demonstrated a baseline strength level that their coach deemed sufficient to start incorporating the explosive movements into their lifting regiment. It was from my experience that I gathered that their training focused more on proper form and high bar velocity, as opposed to heavier weights. Outside of squats and Olympic pulls and variations, other typical lower body strength training exercises were step-ups, lunges, 1-legged deadlift/RDL, and leg curls (either via a machine or stability ball). The primary upper body lifts including dumbbell and barbell flat and incline bench, and military press. While the vast majority of their lifts were done on the platform or in the rack with barbells or dumbbells, they also utilized an adjustable cable machine. This was primary used for its lat-pull down capability and for secondary shoulder movements.

Another beneficial aspect of this internship, which I believe is unique, is the weekly intern meetings/discussions we had with Bob Alejo. The first parts of the meetings were focused on getting everyone on the same page, followed by a brief lesson from Alejo on the topic for that week (e.g.- speed development or conditioning progression). After Alejo finished, all of the interns had the chance to voice our opinions and experiences on what we’d seen. This was great as it was refreshing to hear the thought process from the other interns who come from all over the country. We also had the opportunity to speak with Mike Malone, the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Kentucky [UK] basketball team, who was in the area at a conference. He was very happy to share his unique position that he is in at UK with all of the young talent coming in every year, high expectations every year, and the tendency for most of them to leave after a season or two. Another “guest-speaker” Coach Alejo was able to have speak to us interns was Sherad Clinkscales, Associate Athletic Director for Sport Administration & Student Services. In our first initial meeting with Sherard, he made it clear that the goal and expectation of every NC State athletic team was to win conference every year and compete nationally year in and year out. He underlined the importance that the strength and conditioning department has on the success of the programs and told us interns that he holds us to the same expectations as every member of the athletic department. The second meeting with Sherad was more laidback as he took the time to get to meet everyone and learn a little about them. He told about his life in athletics from college baseball to major league baseball to scouting and coaching to serving in an academic support role. He wanted to make it clear to us that we knew what kind of life we would be getting ourselves into with collegiate athletics, and what kind of stress it could put on not only ourselves but our families. I’m glad Sherard took the time to meet with us, which not only says something about him personally, but shows what he thinks of NC State’s strength and conditioning internship program.

Overall I feel like this internship was an invaluable experience for me as I continue to develop as a young strength & conditioning coach. During my time there I was exposed to the intricacies of this trade, including: working with various athlete personalities, high visibility program expectations, dealing with multiple sport coaches, working as a member of a group of strength coaches, facility scheduling, facility remodeling, 100% athletic attire sponsorship turnover, staff transition, shifting of team responsibility between strength coaches, and most importantly learning how to carry yourself professionally and communicate effectively around a very successful athletic department and strength and conditioning program. I would highly recommend that fellow students look at NC State as a potential internship opportunity in the future.

 

Special thanks to Bob Alejo, Meg Stone, Chris Moreland, Gabe Button, Craig Sowers, Brian Tatum, Wright Wayne, Mark Gottfried, the entire NC State Athletic Department, and the Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education for a tremendous internship experience.