Elitefts SPP: Fred Eaves Interview

Fred Eaves

Director of Wellness and Athletic Performance

Battle Ground Academy

Topics in this Podcast

Topics Covered in this Podcast

How Coach Eaves got started in the profession

Taking over a New Program

Assessing the situation 

Identifying roadblocks

Exceed expectations

Under-promise over-deliver

The Multi-Sport Athlete

Over-specialized and under-generalized

The correlation between the number of sports played and injury rates

The throwback kid: physicality, mentality, and resiliency

The benefits of competing in other sports year round

Assessments

Block Zero (Wildcat) assessments

The Dynamic Movement Screen

Relative strength

Movement quality

Scheduling

8-period rotating schedule

Tier System for everyone

Regressing non-athletes in class

Wildcat, white, grey, gold, blue programs

Technique then Velocity then Load

Counter-culture what the world tells us

Do more of what they are not getting

In-Season Adjustments with the Tier System

Manipulating sessions, volume, and intensity

In-season: keep high intensity and control the volume

Empowering older athletes

RPE scales and HS athletes

Programming

Rotating schedules for athletes

30 minute sessions during school hours

MWF = Strength training, TH = Movement and Restoration

Complex for the strength coach = simple for the kids and coaches

Mixed gender versus boys and girls only

Go to Exercises/ Drills

Trap Bar DL

OlympicLifts

Every situation is unique

Overhead Squat

Swiss Bar Presses

Exercise selection for stress management

Baseline with 3 regressions and 3 progressions

Monitoring/ feedback

Why monitor if we can't do the basics

 Be the best you that you can be

APRE numbers for tracking

Can't be numbers driven

If you are only looking at the end number, you are not getting the whole picture

Fighting against the Culture

Mentoring/ Character Development

The most important aspect of the job

Model the behavior

Be accessible

Transactional versus transformational

All you leave behind is how you effect, Trickle down, cyclical

Set the legacy

Perception is reality

Put accountability back on the player

Advice for young coaches

Differentiate yourself

Humility

It is a unique field.. Sacrifice

Bringing others down to build your up

Stay in the Eye of the Storm

How to contact you/ social media

The Fred Eaves File

Fred Eaves is currently the Director of Wellness and Athletic Performance at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, TN. He has 16 years of experience in the field that includes stops at UT-Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee, and Louisiana State University as well as multiple high schools in the state of Tennessee. Eaves was voted the 2013 Samson Equipment and American Football Monthly Central Region High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. Battle Ground Academy’s Athletic Program has had tremendous success in the last year with state championships in men’s basketball, men’s soccer, Final Four appearances from baseball, women’s soccer, and a State Quarterfinal appearance from the football team. Eaves holds degrees from UT-Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech University, Lincoln Memorial University, and the University of Missouri. He currently serves as the Tennessee State Director for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Coach Fred Eaves is entering his second season as the Defensive Line Coach for the Wildcats.  This is also Coach Eaves 16th year coaching overall. Coach Eaves coached three State Championship football teams and 1 state championship weightlifting team before coming to BGA. In addition to coaching, Coach Eaves is the Wellness and Athletic Performance Coordinator for all BGA students and athletic teams. Coach Eaves has trained 32 NFL Draft picks as well as 10 NCAA All-Americans. Among these players are Jerod Mayo, Arian Foster, and Randall Cobb. Coach Eaves has also been a featured author for American Football Monthly and Gridiron Strategies. He is also a featured speaker at the Hammer Strength clinic series. Coach Eaves has been a strength coach collegiately at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, The University of Tennessee, and Louisiana State University. He is married to Kristy Eaves and has two step children: Savanna and Grant Allen.

- Battle Ground Academy

www.elitefts.com