October/November 2020 - 10

Roundtable Discussion
STRENGTH COACH
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
By Wesley Sykes
Managing Editor
F
.or so many strength coaches across the country,
.the fall season has brought a sense of familiarity to
.what was a very unfamiliar summer as the athletic
industry - and everyone else - reacted to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
Remote sessions, finding offbeat tools to train with and
far less group training has become the norm for strength
coaches at all levels. But just like they ask their studentathletes
to do on a daily basis, they must rise in the face of
a challenge. Training & Conditioning magazine spoke with
three strength coaches about the current state of strength
coaches in both high school and collegiate athletics.
Jimmy Prendergast is in his 11th year on the strength
and conditioning staff and his fifth as head strength and
conditioning coach at Hofstra University, working currently
with the Pride men's lacrosse, men's basketball, volleyball,
and wrestling teams. In his day-to-day work, Prendergast
- an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach and
certified by USA Weightlifting - administers drills for
speed, agility and flexibility in addition to instructing the
student-athletes on proper technique and form during
weight training.
Allan Johnson is an assistant on the East Tennessee
State University football team in charge of strength and
conditioning. He has more than 25 years of experience
on the high school, collegiate, and professional levels as
a strength and conditioning coach - including stops at
Northwestern, Ohio State, and the Baltimore Orioles.
Of the thousands of athletes he's trained, 118 football
players, 25 men's and women's basketball players, and 51
baseball players have gone on to be professionally drafted.
He also is certified as a Master Strength Coach by the
Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association. Johnson
was recognized as one of the first 10 Master Strength
& Conditioning Coaches in the World, by the Collegiate
Strength and Conditioning Association in 2002.
Micah Kurtz was named the 2016 National Strength
Coach of the Year by the NSCA. In 2018, he was named
a Top 40 under 40 Sports Professional by the National
High School Athletic Coaches Association. Kurtz serves
as the Strength and Conditioning Consultant Coach to
Oak Hill Academy. He was also named the South Carolina
Strength Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2014 by the state
coaches association. Kurtz has consulted with the NFL, USA
8 | Training & Conditioning | October/November 2020
Basketball, USA Football and Nike Football on youth athletic
development education. He is an active speaker at strength
and fitness conferences across the U.S. and has delivered
presentations in Mexico, China and Hong Kong
Training & Conditioning: Can you describe your
training philosophy? Generally speaking, what do you
hope a student-athlete learns from his or her time with
you?
Micah Kurtz: My training philosophy is based on our five
core values. Those values are: protect, move well, move
strong, move fast, and thrive.
Generally speaking, it is my goal to teach my studentathletes
to set goals, overcome obstacles and instill
them with the self-confidence to know they can conquer
challenges in any area of their life, now and in the future.
Additionally, I want to use my position and program to
help improve their mental health, reduce anxiety, improve
cognitive abilities, strengthen their immune systems and
prepare them to be leaders in their school and community
now and in the future.
Jimmy Prendergast: The training philosophy of our
department strives to maximize athletic performance,
strength, speed, endurance, power, agility, mobility, and
injury prevention. This will be accomplished through wellplanned
and well-executed training programs, researchbased
periodization, sports performance testing, and
ground-based tri-planar multi-joint movements that cater to
the demands of each individual sport.
I believe in showing your student-athletes that you truly
care about them on and off the field of play. Once the
athlete knows that you have their best interest in mind, they
will run through a wall for you. Without the trust and buy-in,
it doesn't matter what you do from an exercise selection
standpoint. Science will support the program, but buy-in will
drive the results.
Allan Johnson: My training philosophy is to train athletes
to maximize their genetic potential, prevent injuries and
train them to be ready to play the game using sound
scientific and practical training methods. I believe in a
phased periodization approach to training that allows
athletes to progress utilizing multi-joint and ground based
movements, prehab, speed, acceleration, deceleration and
agility training. The goal is to develop the total athleticism of
October/November 2020

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