Tag: training staff

Commanders continue to make important hires under owner Josh Harris

Josh Harris continues to make significant investments in the most important areas of the franchise.

The Washington Commanders made two significant hires on Monday, naming Ryan Juarez as the team’s director of rehabilitation and Jamal Randall Sr. as the team’s senior physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer.

It’s part of owner Josh Harris’s continued effort to beef up the organization’s infrastructure. In addition to hiring Eugene Shen as senior vice president of football strategy late last season, Harris hired Adam Peters as general manager and has made other critical business hires.

Juarez and Randall are important because Washington received failing grades in the NFLPA survey for its training room (F-) and training staff (F). Among the players’ complaints were that the Commanders didn’t have enough trainers or physical therapists. Harris will prioritize these types of hires, as he’s done with his other organizations in the NBA and NHL.

Here’s this from commanders.com:

With the additions of both Juarez and Randall Sr., Washington has formed their new Rehabilitation Unit. This unit is a newly dedicated and streamlined process which will work in collaboration with the performance department and is designed to coordinate the rehab process for injured players in the most effective way possible. This function will play a vital role in return to play decision-making.

Juarez comes to Washington directly from the University of Nebraska, where he served as the director of rehabilitation. Before his time at Nebraska, Juarez spent time at Mercer University, the San Diego Chargers, the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Fresno State football program. 

Randall spent the past seven seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as the athletic trainer and physical therapist.

How Saints players graded the team’s travel strategy, training staff, and more

How Saints players graded the team’s travel strategy, training staff, and more from the NFLPA team report card:

We’ve already gone over the strangely-low grade that New Orleans Saints players gave their team for its cafeteria and nutrition options, but that’s just one area they were surveyed about on the first-ever NFL Players Association team report cards.

Ultimately, the Saints have built a great place to work, with players rating them 10th-best out of the league’s 32 teams — putting an emphasis on quality travel arrangements for road games, an intelligent and resourceful training staff, and good facilities at the team headquarters in Metairie.

But let’s go under the hood on each of the eight categories and where Saints players ranked their workplace around the NFL:

NFLPA releases team report cards; Saints players grade team cafeteria an F-minus

The NFLPA released team report cards. New Orleans Saints players graded their team well, but the cafeteria and nutrition program somehow got an F-minus:

This is cool: the NFL Players Association released its first-ever report cards assembled from player surveys for their current teams. And for the most part, the New Orleans Saints drew rave reviews. They’re ranked 10th out of the league’s 32 teams.

Saints players graded the team with an A-minus or better in the weight room, strength coaches, training staff, locker room, and team travel (which got an A-plus, tied for first place around the league). They also awarded New Orleans with grades of B or better in its training room and treatment of players’ families. It’s a little odd to see the training staff and trainers’ room graded so highly in the wake of last year’s injury bug, but players have only spoken glowingly of sports science director Matt Rhea, strength and conditioning coach Matt Clapp, and their assistants after the Saints hired them. If the players are frustrated, they aren’t taking it out on their trainers.

But there’s one area in which the Saints were found lacking, and it’s shocking: food service and nutrition, which got a rare F-minus. From the NFLPA report card: “The most common concern for Saints players is the cafeteria, as they are only one of three teams in the NFL that do not provide three meals per day to their players, and the food is rated as the 4th worst in the NFL.”

Now, how is the NFL’s team based in the greatest food city in the country going to rank among the worst in the league for its team cafeteria and pro nutrition program? There are award-winning gas station deli counters a stone’s throw from Airline Drive, for goodness’ sake. And it’s inexcusable that a billion-dollar operation like the Saints can’t find room to offer its players three nutritionist-approved meals a day.

So it’s a good thing they know where they need to improve. And this problem could get addressed quickly. The NFLPA report added that, “93% of the players believe that owner Gayle Benson is willing to spend money to upgrade the facility and improve things, ranking them 16th overall in this  category.” Benson hasn’t been shy about spending on upgrades in the past, and making improvements to the team cafeteria and nutrition program to at least match league-averages could get the Saints ranked among the best operations in the NFL.

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How the Detroit Lions fared in the NFLPA team report cards

The Lions graded out very well in some areas but near the bottom in others

It’s one thing to experience the Detroit Lions as a fan or media member. Playing for the team is a completely different level. Learning how the players really feel about their experience with various facets of the team is often an interesting revelation.

The NFLPA did just that. Players were polled about different aspects of the experience of being on a team, from travel to the training staff and the actual locker room.

From the NFLPA and president JC Tretter,

1,300 of our players provided information to share with one another about their current club, to not only help them make important career decisions, but also help raise standards across the league.

In the polling released by the NFLPA, the Detroit Lions fared well in some areas but rated poorly in others.

The Lions fared best in team travel accommodations, treatment of families and the weight room. Detroit ranked poorly in the training room, training staff and food service/nutrition.

From the more detailed notes in the report card,

The Detroit Lions were ranked 15th overall in the team guide. Most categories reviewed came back with generally positive reviews.

The two issues that were highlighted as areas for improvement were first, a feeling that the training room was understaffed, and second, that the food service was significantly lacking.

88% of respondents to our survey believe that the club ownership is willing to invest money to upgrade their facilities, ranking 21st in the league.

The data was compiled between March and April of 2022.

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Saints kick off the Dennis Allen era, begin Phase 1 of offseason workouts

The Saints are kicking off the Dennis Allen era, beginning Phase 1 of their offseason workouts alongside three other teams with first-year head coaches:

And we’re off: the New Orleans Saints officially started the Dennis Allen era on Monday, April 4, as one of four teams with first-year head coaches starting their offseason workout program. The Chicago Bears (under Matt Eberflus), Miami Dolphins (under Mike McDaniel), and New York Giants (under Brian Daboll) were each given a two-week head start on the rest of the NFL. Players who choose to participate in the first phase of the offseason will have an opportunity to work out in the team facility and spend time on the practice field with their new training staff, though it’ll be a while before helmets come on and any full-speed drills start being run.

But what do these workouts entail? The NFL Players Association describes Phase 1 as a two-week period of four-hour sessions at the team facility, with two hours of work with strength and conditioning coaches and another two hours of independent training in the weight room. Of those two hours with the strength coach, only ninety minutes can be spent on the field. It’s a strictly-regulated part of the league calendar with player safety in mind. No one is wearing helmets, and all contact drills are prohibited.

For the Saints specifically, this will be their first opportunity to meet the team’s new director of sports science, Matt Rhea, who was hired away from Alabama. Rhea brought New Orleans’  new strength coach Matt Clapp along with him from the Crimson Tide, so this is a good opportunity for players to get to work and familiarize themselves with some new faces and new processes around the facility. Assistant strength and conditioning coaches Charles Byrd and Rob Wenning were each retained, so there is some continuity.

Participation is strictly voluntary at this early stage in the offseason, and the Saints haven’t really taken pains to incentivize it through contractual workout bonuses. Only three players have workout bonuses written into their contracts, per Over The Cap: wide receiver Michael Thomas ($200,000), defensive end Cameron Jordan ($100,000), and kicker Wil Lutz ($50,000).

Thomas has been rehabbing his surgically-repaired ankle in Southern California in recent months, so it’s unclear if he’ll make it out to join the team in New Orleans just yet. It’s worth noting that his $200,000 bonus is the highest on the team and one of the largest figures around the league, though. Lutz was cleared from core muscle surgery earlier this offseason and should be readying to reassert himself as one of the NFL’s best kickers.

Football activities will ramp up in the weeks ahead. Phase 2 allows all position coaches to get on the field for individual drills ahead of a three-day voluntary minicamp starting April 25, and Phase 3 introduces large-scale organized team activities (OTAs) over the summer, some of which will be open to fans. That coincides with the arrival of rookies following the 2022 NFL draft, and should be an exciting time in New Orleans. The first full-team mandatory three-day minicamp starts June 14. Here’s the full offseason workouts calendar:

  • Phase 1: April 4 to April 17
  • Phase 2: April 18 to May 8
  • Voluntary minicamps: April 25 to April 27
  • Phase 3: May 9 to June 6
  • OTA workouts: May 24 to 26, May 31 to June 2, June 7 to 10
  • Mandatory minicamp: June 14 to 16

This all leads up to training camp beginning at the end of July, so keep an eye out for updates on when fans can be allowed to observe practice and when camp begins. Before we know it we’ll be sweating at practice in Metairie and getting ready to watch preseason games. It feels like kickoff at the Caesars Superdome will be here before we know it.

Lions dismiss head trainer Dave Granito before preseason opener

The Lions fired head athletic trainer Dave Granito just before the preseason opener. Granito had been with the team since 2019.

In a surprising development, the Detroit Lions dismissed head athletic trainer Dave Granito just hours before the team’s preseason opener against the Buffalo Bills.

In his postgame press conference, coach Dan Campbell confirmed an earlier report from Kory Woods of Woodward Sports that the team did dump Granito. Campbell did not go into great detail on the move other than to indicate that the physical treatment of players was not the issue.

Granito had been with the Lions since 2019, when he was hired away from the University of Michigan. He was the Wolverines’ director of athletic training for two years and also had NFL experience with the Patriots and Giants prior to coming to Detroit.

A replacement head trainer has not yet been named.

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