while I wasn’t an exercise science major or anything i’ve been exposed to many different forms of working out and feel can weigh in pretty well. first off all though, during the upcoming workouts for the Steelers this weekend, Troy would’ve just been standing around, since he isn’t cleared for football activities yet. and to touch on something Tomlin said, Troy thinks this stuff works for him, so that alone does help to make it work for him. I know people like to dismiss it because everyone wants to believe there is some workout method that is simply better, but in all reality, the mind controls the body, and if you believe something is working, it partly will work. Like the placebo effect.

As far as workout methods, Marinovich does have a very good point when he is talking about how weight lifting teaches the muscles to move a large amount of weight, yes, but they do it slowly. While this is beneficial and will also make the muscles more explosive when they need to move something fast (like throwing a block on someone, or jamming a receiver at the line), it certainly is better if you actually just practice doing it at that speed. So doing lifting and exercises where you practice explosive movements, with lighter resistance. I’ll use the example of vertical leap. There are all kinds of things HS football coaches do, like squats and calf raises that might help vertical leap a little bit. But the best thing is to just actually stand there and jump as high as you can over and over. Devices like those Jump shoes and what not-while they will accelerate the increases a little bit-are mostly helpful because they exercises they have you do focus on just running fast and jumping high. From what I’ve read of Marinovich’s training it looks pretty good. Nowadays there is alot of sharing in the exercise community for methods so I’m sure the Steelers staff know exactly what Troy is doing and is OK with it. From what I’ve read of what the Steelers do they do alot more “newer” methods as well and have always had some of the best strength & condition staffs in the league, partly owing to their utilization of the UPMC staff in alot of what they do.

Lots of interesting ones here. A couple of reactions.

Troy: Troy is a very unconventional guy and very up front about it. Not flaky, just not out of the conventional mold of the professional football player. He has been extremely successful and it would be foolish to try to deny him some leeway for the sake of being ‘fair’. Troy has had a couple of subpar years due to injury. If hanging out in California will help keep him on the field this year in top form then I nor anyone in the Steeler organization should have a problem with it.

Todd Marinovich: One of the most difficult coaching challenges I’ve ever had was coaching my own daughter. I wouldn’t assume that it is a lack of supervision that leads to these failures. Imagine the pressure on the child of a professional sports superstar. How do you manage the public’s, not to mention your own, expectations to in some way measure up to the achievements of your parent. Not to mention all the conflicts and ambiquities that are contained in a father/child relationship. My daughter was so rebellious that the only way I could coach her was to have my assistant coaches present my instructions as if it was their ideas. And ours was a “normal” relationship. If I were a superstar’s child I might be tempted to go off the deep end too.

Thanks to RickVa and Steev1705 for clarifying this for me. My examples were different from parents who coach their own children. I have only a little experience with this, my dad briefly coaching me in bball. Did not go well. I think parents are inclined to have VERY high expectations for their kids, and can push them too much, esp. as coaches. some respond to this, however. Pistol Pete was a Great player, coach’s son and all. Yet, some argue had he had different coaching other than his father, he would have been more of a team player.

No one can judge Mr. Marinovich where his son is concerned unless you were there and know the family. One thing is for sure- Marv Marinovich was way ahead of his time when it comes to training. Thousands of parents now try to get the same kind of training that Marv provided for his son 30 years ago. Did he make mistakes with his son?...Probably yes…who as a parent, especially the parent of an exceptionally gifted athlete hasn’t? But one thing is certain…he did not cause his son’s addiction problems. Addiction is a disease and it doesn’t play favorites. The Marinovich family should be treated with just as much empathy as any family that has to deal with the tragedy of addiction. Marv has devoted his life to the helping young athletes and interestingly enough, Todd works alongside of his dad, coaching young quarterbacks.