I was recently asked to appear on a local radio station to share about the Desert Speed School. The host, Chris DeSimone, asked if I would bring an athlete with me to share their perspective on the training. Immediately, I called up Jason Sweet, who to this day remains one of my favorite athletes I’ve worked with.
Jason’s background as part of an elite special operations unit of the military had him in excellent physical condition, and he had the size at 225 lbs. to accomplish his goal of playing D-I football. He lacked one thing: Speed. Over the course of a year, we worked to improve his hip mobility, change his running mechanics, and improve his fast-twitch muscles – all with the goal of improving his 40-yard dash time.
When Jason started training with us, I initially clocked his 40 time at 5.1 seconds (laser timed). At the peak of our training, he ran as fast as 4.7, and dropped his agility shuttle down to a very competitive time as well. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I got the text message from him in the fall of 2014 announcing that he had run 4.63 in his tryout…and made the University of Arizona football team. It wasn’t long before he worked his way into the starting lineup on special teams and into the rotation as a linebacker. His unique background determination picked up some press along the way.
Jason set big goals for himself. It was far from a sure thing that he’d reach those goals, but he committed himself 100% to the process. It is this same mindset that I try and pass on to the young athletes I work with today: Set big goals and go after them with everything you’ve got.
