The NFL combine finished last weekend and what the eight former Notre Dame stars did was impressive as a whole. A lot of that credit has to go to Matt Balis, the Director of Football Performance AKA strength coach for the Blue and Gold. Balis is responsible for getting the players in optimal playing shape, and those skills translated to many performing extremely well for NFL personnel.
Charles Power, of 247Sports looked over some of the data after the combine and some strength coaches stood out to him. Balis was one of them, as he has made many players improve their athletic traits. Power had a very interesting stat to go along with the success Balis has had “noting the Fighting Irish are 33-6 since Balis arrived in South Bend.”
2020 Combine Medal Count recap
Medals were awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers in each drill within each position group@NDFootball had the most total medals (7)@UMichFootball @MizzouFootball & @HawkeyeFootball tied for the most Gold medals (3) pic.twitter.com/LSWrsPg5w7
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) March 2, 2020
In Olympic style scoring, the Irish would have taken the crown as they finished inside the top three in 7 different events. Individually it was TE Cole Kmet that stood out as he was named to NFL.com’s All-Combine Offensive Team.
Introducing https://t.co/TAuzHi7hnf’s All-Combine Offensive Team! pic.twitter.com/YixsyEt31v
— NFL (@NFL) March 4, 2020
Kmet and WR Chase Claypool were two of the former Irish star’s that made noise during the workouts and that is a direct reflection of the work that Balis has put in with those players. It’s safe to say his methods are among the best in the country, giving Brian Kelly’s team a leg up against many opponents.