Tulsa coach: Doyle wouldn’t endanger athletes’ health
A Division I strength and conditioning coach who attended the University of Iowa and knows Hawkeyes strength coach Chris Doyle voiced support for the man who oversees workout programs in Iowa City.
Paul Arndorfer, the assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at the University of Tulsa, said Doyle always has put athlete well-being first.
“I know Doyle well, and I can say that he is probably one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the business,” said Arndorfer, who contended that the difficult weight-lifting workouts last weekend described by Hawkeye players on social media have been used before at Iowa — and he has used them, as well.
“I truly believe that he would never knowingly put an athlete in harm’s way. He also doesn’t ask the players to do anything he has never done before — so I guarantee he’s done that workout himself.
“He might be the most researched guy, most well-read guy out there. It’s not his nature to make a workout to kill a guy, so to speak. His workouts have a purpose.”
Arndorfer also was an assistant for three years at Utah State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science at Eastern Michigan University, Tulsa’s website says.
Doyle, named Big Ten strength coach of the year in 1999 by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, is partially credited — according to Iowa’s website — for helping 68 of 78 senior starters to be picked in the National Football League draft or sign NFL free-agent contracts the past nine seasons.
“He knows his stuff,” Arndorfer said.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
This quote –
“He also doesn’t ask the players to do anything he has never done before — so I guarantee he’s done that workout himself.”
– is quite literally what I predicted in an earlier thread. And I’m sure it’s true.
The problem, however, is that there’s a HUGE difference between the body of a life-long strength and conditioning coach and the bodies of young men who may still be in their teens. I don’t question Doyle’s knowledge or his heart. But given the McMinnville rhabdo cluster, it’s clear that a certain percentage of any youth population exposed to this kind of workout is going to have potentially life-threatening consequences. So why risk it?
I’d also like to know what the athletic justification is for these kinds of workouts. Are they meant to build mass quickly, or are they primarily psychological tests of endurance and commitment?
The current assumption is that most of the other players were okay after the workouts, but I don’t think ‘doesn’t need hospitalization’ equates to ‘okay’. How many other players were so sore they needed large doses of NSAD’s or other medications? How long of a recovery window are the non-hospitalized players getting?
There a lot of questions that need answering. I understand why the program is trotting out character witnesses like this strength coach or the father who joined the press conference, character isn’t the issue. The issue is that this training method had results that — apparently — nobody expected. And that means that no matter what Doyle’s intentions, he didn’t have the workout under control.
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You fooled me with the first few paragraphs as someone who knew what they were talking about and then you revealed your ignorance by jumping to a conclusion that you don’t have proof of. This is what feeds the rumor mills. “lost of control”…would apply to your opinion here.
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Chris Doyle is, “probably one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the business.” The b-ball team got the best coach in America available after a nation-wide search. Kirk Ferentz is one of the most-respected if not most-absent (and highest paid) coaches in America. Lisa Bluder was ripped away form little Drake to build up a women’s b-ball team that C. Vivian Stringer had smokin’ before she left. These and other contributing factors make Iowa athletics what they are today — mediocre.
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He Ace, Bluder diddn’t follow C. Viv so give her a break. Women’s b-ball seems fine to me. Maybe you need to root for a different institution if you are so down on Iowa.
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Joe, seriously, what is your problem? You seemed to be OBSESSED with Iowa athletics. Dude, get some help, please. You are always the first one to comment on any new article, or rather should I say spew your hatred, so it would seem to me that you must spend your entire day doing nothing but watching for an article to pounce on. You might want to try getting a life, because to all of those people out in cyberspace, you are coming across as totally pathetic. You’re embarrassing.
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Couldn’t agree more. He must either be so jealous of Iowa he has nothing better to do then spend his time on this site and try and put in his two cents or he actually is a cyclone fan. That might explain everything.
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