Looking for "Super Trainers" in the Sports World

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I thought I'd take a look this morning and see if I could find an equivalent to horse racings "super trainer" in the sports world.

I knew for sure I'd find a pile of shady guys if I looked at juice age Baseball, Track and Field, Bicycling etc. etc. - but I wanted to start with NFL football.

After searching for all of 4 seconds - I think I found my guy.



No, that isn't the Geico Caveman's face superimposed on Tom Brady's body - it's actually current New England Patriots Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Woicik.

Woicik is the only player or coach in NFL history who has won six or more Super Bowl rings.

Before coming to the NFL, he was also the strength and conditioning coach of the HIGHLY improbable undefeated 1987 Syracuse football team.

Here is what my research of him has uncovered over the last half hour...

* First NFL job Dallas Cowboys ('90 to '96) The 1989 Cowboys were one of the worst teams in NFL history. They had a 1-15 record. The offense was dead last in the NFL in points scored. And only 4 other teams allowed more points than there defense did. So he wasn't inheriting a great team.

The Cowboys won at least 10 games for all six years from '91 through '96 .. they also won 3 Super Bowls. Each Super Bowl win was by a double digit point margin.


* Third NFL job New England Patriots (2000 to current) Bill Belichick brought him in when he took over the Patriots in 2000. The Patriots were improbable Super Bowl champions in 2001 - beating the heavily favored "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams. They won two more Super Bowls in '03 and '04. The '07 team is the only team in NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season. They've had a winning record ten years in a row.


* Second NFL job New Orleans Saints ('97 to '99) The '96 Saints were 3-13. They were 29th out of 30 in points scored. 20th out of 30 in points allowed. So, he was inheriting a very bad team.

Worse than inheriting a horrible team - the Saints were coached by an irrational Mike Ditka those three years. Ditka famously traded every single one of his draft picks - plus his 1st and 3rd round pick the following year - just so he could move up slightly and take Ricky Williams.

The Saints started 4 different QB's in '97, 4 different QB's in '98, and 4 different QB's in '99 ... how is that possible? Despite Ditka's sanity lapse - the Saints did improve under Woicik .. but did not have a winning season.


* Syracuse Magic Going into 1987, Syracuse hadn't had a top 20 finish since the 1961 season a mere 26 years earlier. They had won just a single bowl game over that 26 year stretch .. that lone bowl win came in the 1979 Indepencance Bowl over the McNeese State Cowboys (<-- who?)

The 1986 Syracuse team was just 5-6. They lost to teams like Army and Rutgers. The only nationally ranked team Syracuse played in '86 was Penn State - and Penn State beat them 42-3.

The 1987 Syracuse team went 11-0 in the regular season. They beat Penn State 48-21. The 48 points Syracuse scored on Penn State was the most points scored on Penn State since UCLA put 51 on them in 1966. That '66 UCLA team eventually won the Rose Bowl over the nations #1 ranked team.

After going 11-0 - Syracuse faced Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Auburn went through the SEC undefeated - and beat the Texas Longhorns 31-3 in non-confrence play. Syracuse led 16-13 late ... but a last second Auburn field goal made the game end in a 16-16 tie.

After the impossible undefeated season of '87 .. Syracuse went 10-2 in 1988 and beat that years SEC Champion LSU 23-10 in Bowl play. Syracuse won the 1989 Peach Bowl over the Georgia Bulldogs in Woicik's final year as a college Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Amusingly - it's only Bill Belichick who has the reputation of being a "cheater" on the Patriots coaching staff. Not the man who Belichick could have probably used during his unsucessful 36-44 five year coaching stint with the Cleveland Browns (current Baltimore Ravens) in the 90's.