The Gridiron Warrior Podcast

Football Strength and Conditioning Podcast | The Thousand Pound Club That Predicts a State Title | Coach John Marshall

The Gridiron Warrior Podcast delivers football strength and conditioning insights for high school and college coaches. Every episode brings real strength coach advice from the people doing the work. In this episode, head football coach and strength coach John Marshall breaks down how he built Randolph High School from 17 kids on the roster to a two-time Massachusetts state champion using a weight room system he calls the Thousand Pound Club. Marshall is a strength coach, head football coach, and athletic director. He took over the program in COVID. Five years later he has been to three state title games, won two, and placed 12 athletes at the NCAA level. His Thousand Pound Club uses four lifts. Squat, bench, hex bar deadlift, and power clean. The total predicts the season. 12 guys in the club means a playoff team. 15 means Final Four. 17 means Super Bowl team. Inside this episode: The football strength and conditioning system Marshall uses to develop multi-sport athletes How he runs 6 a.m. weight room sessions for football, basketball, and track athletes at the same time The strength coach tips that turned a small school into a state powerhouse Why he refuses to make athletes pick between sports How the Gridiron Warrior Contact Prep course changed his tackling The blocked punt that won Randolph their first state title If you coach football at the high school level, this episode gives you a Thousand Pound Club blueprint, off-season programming for football strength and conditioning, and a culture model that produces championship teams without elite talent. Coach Marshall is presenting live at the Gridiron Warrior Summer Summit on July 18 at the University of Rhode Island. If you want football coaches insights from strength coaches and head coaches who are actually winning at the high school level, register at [LINK]. --- SPONSORS TrainHeroic. The platform I use to write football strength and conditioning programs and deliver workouts to athletes and teams. Start a free 90-day trial at trainheroic.com/gridironwarrior and reply to your welcome email. I will drop two 12-week training programs into your account. Plyomat. SwitchMat jump training tech for high school and college strength coaches. Instant feedback on jump height, contact time, and RSI. --- CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:33 Sponsor: TrainHeroic 01:32 Sponsor: Plyomat 03:08 Why Coach Marshall is on the show 04:05 Welcome Coach John Marshall 04:30 Taking over Randolph in COVID with 17 kids 05:00 Three state title games in five years 06:15 Why he coaches: Marine background and giving back 08:30 The weight room as the backbone of the program 09:00 The Thousand Pound Club explained 09:30 How the Thousand Pound Club predicts the season 10:15 6 a.m. workouts and the multi-sport athlete philosophy 11:00 Why you never make athletes pick between sports 12:00 The four lifts inside the Thousand Pound Club 12:45 The plyometric box test and the freshman bench rep test 14:30 Standards in the transfer portal era 16:00 Leaders create clarity: the Jocko principle 17:00 Implementing the Gridiron Warrior Contact Prep course 19:30 Competition Thursdays and the off-season point system 20:30 Why a head coach has to give up control 22:00 Blending contact prep into the lift 24:00 The Summer Summit pitch and why it is hands-on 26:00 If I am bored, the kids are bored 27:30 No lines, no lectures 29:00 Why scheme matters less than coaching the details 30:00 The blocked punt that won the 2021 state title 32:30 Where to follow Randolph football 33:00 Eighth graders asking when do we get in the weight room 33:45 Outro --- CONNECT WITH COACH JOHN MARSHALL Instagram and Twitter: @RHSBlueDevilFB JOIN THE GRIDIRON WARRIOR INSIDERS The strength coach community for football coaches who want weekly Film Study, Wildcat Webinars, unreleased podcasts, and discounts on every course in the equipment room. 50+ coaches inside. [INSIDERS LINK] --- The Gridiron Warrior Podcast is the football strength and conditioning podcast for high school and college coaches. New episodes weekly. Real strength coach advice from coaches in the trenches. Keep the Fire Burning, Leech #FootballStrengthAndConditioning #StrengthCoach #FootballCoaches #HighSchoolFootball #StrengthAndConditioning

Gridiron Warrior Podcast - Chris Murdock

The Gridiron Warrior Podcast | "Building a Football Culture from Scratch" with Coach Chris Murdock In this episode, I sit down with Chris Murdock, Head Football Coach at Billings Senior High School in Montana. Coach Murdock is the very first "Gridiron Warrior School," meaning he fully outsources his strength and conditioning programming to the Gridiron Warrior system. We dive deep into the logistics of running a high school weight room with limited space, time constraints (50-minute blocks!), and how to get buy-in from administration, other PE teachers, and parents. Chris shares how shifting from a "lifting weights" mindset to an "athletic development" mindset has transformed his program—from the middle school feeder system all the way to varsity Friday nights. If you are a head coach wearing too many hats (teacher, DC, husband, father), this episode is a blueprint for how to get elite S&C results without having to write every single workout yourself. 👇 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Train Heroic & Plyomat 03:03 – Who is Chris Murdock? Football in Billings, Montana 06:26 – Why Billings Senior became the first "Gridiron Warrior School" 08:05 – The "Head Coach Reality": Wearing too many hats 10:00 – Managing a crowded weight room (16 platforms, 50-minute classes) 12:15 – Implementing the "Zero Period" football class 14:30 – The shift from "lifting weights" to "athletic development" 17:00 – Using weight room drills to teach tackling & block destruction 19:30 – Logistics: How to run a warm-up and lift in a tight time window 23:30 – Using technology (Projectors & Train Heroic) to streamline the flow 26:00 – Creating competition and leadership in the weight room 29:30 – The Middle School Feeder Program: Building the future 33:50 – The pitch to coaches: Why you should outsource your programming 37:20 – Why we coach: Relationships & the love of the game 39:10 – Where to find Billings Senior Football 40:24 – Join the Gridiron Warrior Insiders 🔗 Join the Gridiron Warrior Insiders Weekly film studies, live Q&As, unreleased podcasts, discounts, and a private community of coaches leveling up together. 👉 ScottLeechTraining.com Keep the Fire Burning. 🔥

Gridiron Warrior Podcast - Jack Dustin

utrition with NSF-certified protein in a preloaded FlipTech bottle. Trusted by 150+ college and pro teams. Reach out for team pricing. Chapters 00:00 Cold open 00:33 Sponsor: TrainHeroic 01:32 Sponsor: Plyomat 03:08 Why Dustin is on the show + Summer Summit preview 04:05 Welcome Coach Jack Dustin 04:30 From Compete S&C to Coastal Carolina under Joe Moglia 07:45 Why he chose strength over football coaching at Assumption 09:30 Becoming the first head strength coach at Endicott 10:00 Endicott's run of athletic success across every sport 12:30 Building a culture of competition in the weight room 13:45 The off-season program structure and periodization 15:30 Programming competition vs spontaneous competition 17:30 The "money in the bank" idea Dustin is stealing from Gilfedder 21:00 Why the Summer Summit is hands-on, not PowerPoint 22:00 The visual learner assessment from Coastal 22:45 The 77-hour warm-up math 23:30 The four-day theme system: vertical, lateral, multi-directional 24:00 Day 1 vertical breakdown: jumps, throws, fly 10s 26:00 Day 2 lateral: skater hops, hip tosses, reactive acceleration 27:30 Med ball variations and the violence of the throw 28:30 Sponsor: Enduraphin 29:30 Adding warm-up wrinkles on the practice field 32:00 The med ball over the field goal post competition 33:45 In-season warm-ups extend to 25 minutes 35:30 Why Scott cuts accessory work before he cuts athletic work 37:15 The travel game primer protocol for road games 38:30 The Summer Summit speaker lineup 40:00 "What a privilege it is to be tired from what you once prayed for" 43:30 Where to find Coach Dustin 44:30 Outro Connect with Coach Jack Dustin Instagram: @dustinsportsperformance Personal: @coach_jack_d Email: jdustin@endicott.edu Join the Gridiron Warrior Insiders Weekly Film Study, Wildcat Webinars, unreleased podcasts, equipment discounts, and 50+ coaches sharing real questions and real answers.  https://scottleechtraining.com/insiders/ Keep the Fire Burning, Leech

Gridiron Warrior Podcast - Nick DiMarco

Nick DiMarco, Assistant AD for Peak Performance at Elon, just released "The Director's Manual." It is the book every assistant should read before they take the head job, and every director should read after they take it. We get into hiring, system building, managing up to your AD, getting admin to fund your vision, and why most strength coaches burn out trying to do everything themselves. If you want to run a department instead of just lift weights, this one is for you. Pick up The Director's Manual on Amazon. 0:00 Intro 3:00 Nick's path from William Penn to NFL to Iowa to Elon 14:00 Why he wrote The Director's Manual 17:00 Autonomy inside a system, not outside of it 20:00 Hiring: the internship pipeline, the trusted network, the open posting 28:00 Patrick Lencioni - humble, hungry, smart 32:00 Aggressive patience and getting admin to fund the vision 37:00 Eliminating the negatives going upstairs 40:00 Building outside projects without burning out 43:00 Unlimited hours - what would you actually do 47:00 Where to find Nick

Gridiron Warrior Podcast - George Adams

The Gridiron Warrior Podcast | "Game Speed, Conditioning & Identity" with Coach George Adams In this episode, I sit down with George Adams, Head Athletic Performance Coach at Madison Ridgeland Academy in Mississippi. We dive into the difference between track speed and game speed. We talk about why running cone drills often doesn't transfer to Friday nights and how to actually fix it. Coach Adams shares his approach to the conditioning debate. He explains why he sits in the middle ground between high-volume tempo runs and the "sprint only" crowd. We also break down how MRA uses shared struggle to build team identity and leadership in a program that constantly plays bigger schools. If you’re tired of athletes looking great in drills but slow on the field, or you’re looking for a better way to structure your conditioning, this one hits home. 👇 Timestamps 00:00 – What the Gridiron Warrior Podcast is about  01:50 – Coach Adams’ journey to MRA  05:30 – Why we stay in Strength & Conditioning  09:50 – Mississippi private school football is different  15:40 – Game speed vs. track speed  19:00 – Why cone drills don't always transfer  22:00 – Skipping robotic arm drills and using constraints  27:50 – How MRA structures the training week  35:00 – The conditioning debate: Tempo vs. Sprints  41:00 – Using GPS to backfill conditioning volume  43:00 – Conditioning for Linemen vs. Skill positions  49:00 – Building identity through shared struggle  52:00 – Decision making under fatigue  57:30 – Where to find Coach Adams  58:45 – Gridiron Warrior Insiders community  🔗 Join the Gridiron Warrior Insiders Weekly film studies, live Q&As, unreleased podcasts, discounts, and a private community of coaches leveling up together. 👉 ScottLeechTraining.com Keep the Fire Burning. 🔥