We need to speak in generalities otherwise we would have posts that make SWC's posts look brief. Even this will be long. Also "it depends" is going to be applied a lot. In reality nothing can be applied across the board.
Kids 18-22 are going to add natural bulk. Not necessarily muscle but size. Doesn't matter if you are an athlete or some kid playing video games all day. They are still kids and growing. And I would also say the kids are generally speaking, novice lifters. They are nowhere near their peak physically. A kid 18-22 can add muscle at a higher rate than a man 28-32. Yes, that 18-22 year old kid has likely been lifting for 3-6 years, but they are usually well short of their potential and will make gains at a much faster rate.
Plus how many kids will have had a dedicated S&C coach in HS? Maybe in Texas and Florida but most in the Northeast are more likely to have a meathead OL coach giving bodybuilding style workout which has no application to football. Or the kids will be running corners for conditioning which also has zero application.
On top of that how many kids just play football. Again more likely in Florida or Texas but less likely in the Northeast. You are going to have multi sport kids who play year round. So chances are they haven't been strength training anywhere near full capacity.
That being said the S&C coach has about 3 months to make gains. The kids shouldn't be trying to get stronger or add muscle from August through December. January through March is available but then in April you have Spring ball which will scale things back. May through July the kids are off campus, it is entirely on them.
So generally speaking a kid adding 5-6 lbs of muscle a year is pretty good. But like I said before they should also be adding natural bulk. And again it depends. Certain positions will be closer to that 5-6 lbs while others will be further away. Same with a Freshman vs a Senior.
As to nutrition, most kids do not eat enough calories. Ideally they would be eating clean and have no need for supplements. But in reality that rarely happens. So a kid not eating clean and hitting their caloric goals is something you have to put up with. Additionally having them use "fast food" protein and greens shakes is needed. If you want an 18-22 year old to make gains, in most cases they are going to need to eat dirty to get there.
Generally speaking the S&C coach should be trying to make the kids bigger, stronger, and faster. But that too depends on one's position. The closer you are pre snap to the ball, the more important being bigger is, and less important being fast is. The further away from the ball the more important being fast is, and the less important being bigger is. And even on top of that a WR should be training slightly different than a CB. The positions have different physical needs.
You need both fast and slow twitch in football. If you are only training fast twitch you will be more likely to get hurt on the field. Bruce Lee was a physical freak. But that does not apply to football. If you have a team of 100 Bruce Lees you will never win a game. Just being explosive isn't enough. Some sports, sure. But football has physical impacts over and over again.
The game of football has changed. Exercise science has changed. So the old school way is very dated. But at the same time going to the other extreme is just as bad. Will Hicks trained for explosiveness. Back then it wasn't a priority, but let's not act like he was trying to build bodybuilders.
Exercise selection is also important. Power cleans are great but they probably shouldn't be used more than once every 2-3 weeks. The risk is not worth the added reward. They are other exercises that can be used. Overhead pressing should be used minimally. It is just not worth it. This all applies to other exercises as well.
Then we get to the issue of 18-22 year olds ego lifting. A S&C coach cannot micro manage all 100 players. Kids that age are a lot more likely to ego lift, especially a competitive athlete. So the risk of injury in the gym, which sometimes is not realized until you get on the field, will always be high. I would bet some of our injuries are gym related. But again that might not be of any fault of the S&C coach.
Our kids compared to other ACC teams are small. Some of that is recruiting smaller kids. If you are starting behind you will stay behind. But at the same time we have kids you look like they haven't gotten any bigger over the last 3-4 years. That should NOT happen.
SU used to be great at getting DBs bigger and making them LBs, and making and making LBs into DLmen. Other schools have had success making WRs in TEs, and TEs into Ts. It was part of what closed the recruiting gap.
I have no clue what Edinger is doing. What I do know is that we are small and get injured a lot (that being said being small leads to more injuries). These issues could have 0.0% to do with his programing. But we should review to make sure that is the case.
