Epley Returns to Nebraska October, 6 2014 Boyd Epley returned to Nebraska as Assistant Athletic Director to oversee the Husker Power Strength and Conditioning Department, the strength and conditioning facilities, budget and staff. His first order of business was to make adjustments to the Husker Circuit in the Alloy Strength Complex to make it completely ground based for the nine sports that train there. Mike Riley is Nebraska s new Football Coach Boyd s new Headquarters Boyd didn t waste any time taking advantage of the five million dollar Nebraska Athletic Performance Research Lab (NAPL) He moved testing for all sports to the NAPL and began creating all new school performance testing records. Soon the Nebraska football team and eleven other sports were setting records in Lab. Coach Mike Riley says We have Boyd Epley, he s like a scientist with research lab expertise to give our players a picture of who they are, but also a vision of where they can go. Vertical Jump on Force Plates Mike Arthur timing the 10 Yard Dash Pro Agility Run on new Red Turf Mike Arthur is shown administering the 10 Yard Dash in the NAPL. Mike s title is now Director of Strength and Conditioning Performance Research. He is instrumental in the evaluation of the testing results Integrating motion capture and force plate data into performance testing results and of course the Performance Index that he and Dr. Chris Eskridge developed in 1985. A section of red field turf with a shorter knapp was installed for the Pro Agility in the NAPL to give the student-athletes the best opportunity for a successful effort.
2015 January 6 Jenna Epley Beideck and husband Chase have a second son named Colt on January 6, 2015. The photo to the right shows Cash seeing his new brother Colt for the first time. 2015 January New Strength Staff NU Football Program Several changes were made to the Nebraska Strength and Conditioning Staff in 2015. The biggest change was hiring Mark Philipp as Head Strength Coach for Football. Cash meets Colt Mark was made Captain for the Suh weight room in the Osborne Complex and hired four assistant strength coaches. His Associate Head Strength coach and longtime friend is Tim Rabas. Willie Jones was the one strength coach that was retained from the previous staff. Jamie Belt and Andrew Erwin were also added as Assistant Strength Coaches for Football. Mark Philipp - Head Men s Football Strength Coach and his staff, on his left is Tim Rabas, on his left is Willie Jones, Andrew Erwin and Jamie Belt. Tim Wilson, CSCS Head Men s Basketball Strength Coach Tim Wilson was made Captain for the Hendricks Strength Complex in the Devaney Sports Center for Rusty Ruffcorn and Jon Pfeifer. Lauren Harris was made Captain for the Alloy Strength Complex in the Hawks Championship Center for Brian Kmitta and Lucas Novotny. Lauren Harris, CSCS Head Softball and Rifle Strength Coach
NEBRASKA 2015 February 1 Boyd and Jane were surprised to be guests of Gatorade at their 50 th anniversary celebration hosted at the Super Bowl in Phoenix. We were very humbled to be included along with some incredible athletes such as Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Usain Boldt, J.J. Watt, Mia Hamm and many others. Peyton, Derek, Mia and Michael Boyd and Jane at Super Bowl Husker Power policies and procedures were updated into a document call THE BLUEPRINT. All phases of the Husker Power Program were reviewed, analyzed and shared with Human Resources to bring the policies into alignment with University policies and Athletic Department policies. THE BLUEPRINT included the new and improved Ten Principles which are now on Display in each of the three weight rooms for student-athletes. What a tremendous experience a Super Bowl is many thanks to Gatorade for including us Husker Power Ten Principles have been updated J. R. Epley is a G.A Strength Coach at the University of Michigan J.R. Epley In Michigan working on his Master s Degree. His mentors are Mike Favre and Bo Sandoval. His Men and Women s Cross Country Teams each won the Big 10 title in 2015. The first since 1998. His Women s Track athletes won in 2016.
2015 June The SUH weight room went through a major facelift as Mark Philipp requested Power Lift to switch out the twenty half racks for twenty double half racks making forty lifting stations in basically the same footprint. Mark also helped design Power Lift drop boxes for Olympic lifts. 2015 July 2015 Suh Strength Complex Steve Waterfield, Executive Associate Athletic Director approved several staff changes for the Husker Power Strength and Conditioning Department. Lauren Harris was promoted to Assistant Director in addition to her duties as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Softball and Rifle. Lucas Novotny was promoted from Intern to Head Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach and Chelsea Barr who was at Indiana has been hired to assist Brian Kmitta with strength and conditioning for Volleyball and Track & Field in addition to being the floor supervisor in the Alloy Strength Complex. Lauren Harris Assistant Director for Strength & Conditioning Lucas Novotny Head Baseball and Soccer Strength Coach Chelsea Barr Assistant Strength Coach for Volleyball and Track 2015 August The NCAA legislation went into effect requiring all Division I Strength and Conditioning Coaches to have accredited Certification. The NCAA recommended CSCS Certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association or SCCC Certification from the CSCCa for all strength and conditioning coaches.
2015 October Boyd was asked to judge the 2015 Mr. America contest in Rodchester, New York. Bruce Ebel purchased the rights to the Mr. America event and cleaned up the drug issues. He asked Boyd if he would judge this year. He new that Boyd had judged the Mr. America contest in Santa Monica, California in 1977 and afterward was asked to replace R. Countryman as the National Physique Judge. Boyd declined the offer in 1977 and voiced his displeasure for the rampant drug use that was involved at that time and never judged a physique competition again until Ebel called. The 2015 winner, Cleveland Thomas was the first Mr. America winner to be drug tested. Ebel then came to Nebraska to interview Epley for a documentary film he is making and had his cameras rolling for parts of the upset win over Michigan State. 2015 Mr. America Cleveland Thomas 2015 November Boyd took a new approach to motivating the Nebraska student-athletes to train hard in their off-season programs. Only the most talented student-athletes will be invited to a competition in the NAPL. To qualify they must finish in the top 10% of their team on the Performance Index which includes the Vertical Jump, 10 Yard Dash, and the Pro Agility Run. T-shirt for Participating in the Husker Power Athlete of the Year T-shirt for scoring 500 points on the Performance Index T-shirt for 2000 or more points on the Combined Index
2015 November Baseball Strength Coach Lucas Novotny with Ryan Boldt Ryan Boldt wins the first ever winner of the Husker Power Athlete of the Year Competition. The top 5 Baseball players from the three Performance Index scores are invited to the NAPL to Squat. The Squat Index is added to the Performance Index to see which student-athlete has the highest Combined Index. Ryan posted a 2240 Combined Index to edge out Elijay Dilday for the Husker Power Athlete of the Year Award. Softball Strength Coach Lauren Harris with Kikki Stokes Kikki Stokes pictured with her strength coach (L) is the first Softball Winner of new the Husker Power Athlete of the Year Award. She combined her 1916 Performance Index points with a 476 Squat Index for a record setting Combined Index of 2392.
Husker Power Athlete of the Year for Track and Field Track Strength Coach Brian Kmitta with Nicholas Bartels with a combined total of 1934 Track Strength Coach Brian Kmitta with Tristen Sharp with a combined total of 2380 HP Athletes of the Year for Tennis Tennis Strength Coach Jon Pfeifer with Scott Elsass with a combined total of 1438 Tennis Strength Coach Jon Pfeifer with Mackenna Maddox-Herr with a combined total of 2006
2015 December The Tom Heiser Award was presented for the fourteenth time to a Husker Power staff member who has overcome all obstacles to succeed. The winner this year is Karen Cook. Previous winners of the Heiser Award are: Nate Thomas, Curt Thompson, Ken Williams, Rob Kobza, John Archer, Tony Swenson, Danny Noonan, Rodger DeGarmo, Zach Duval, Chris Wieseman, David Hofmaier, Shaun Huls, and Josh Hingst. Boyd with new Director of the NAPL Dr. Jack Ransone Dr. Jack Ransone is hired as the Director of the NAPL. He comes from Texas State University but has worked with the San Antionio Spurs and represented several sports at the Olympic games. He is a Certified Athletic Trainer and has a passion for improving athletic performance. He will be a great help to Husker Power. Nebraska Volleyball Wins fourth NCAA Championship in Omaha, Nebraska in front of the largest crowd to ever view a volleyball game live. Strength Coaches Brian Kmitta and Chelsea Barr have much to celebrate. Mike Arthur Director Strength and Conditioning Performance Research Dr. Jack Ransone and Mike Arthur developed a Movement Screen for football players to identify possible postural imbalances. Mike and his assistant Dan Ridenour will then conduct a Durability Program for select football players in the NAPL utilizing the technologies available in the performance lab. 2015 NCAA Champions Nebraska defeats UCLA in Foster Farms Bowl Coach Mike Riley relies on Husker Power in the running game to defeat UCLA. Strength Coaches Mark Philipp, Tim Rabas, Willie Jones, Andrew Ervin, and Jamie Belt have the Big Red Machine headed in the right direction. What a way to finish the 2015 season. Nebraska wins 4 th National Championship with 3-0 win over Texas