Speed Kills - How to Develop Explosive Speed in All of Your Athletes
Feb 02, 2026 6:30 pm
Coach ,
Watching a week full of combine coverage is fun. Yes, all of this speed and explosiveness will have to translate to gameday, but we all marvel at the 40-yard dash times, especially extremely fast times put in by the bigger men.
One characteristic of your team that is guaranteed to make a difference on the field is SPEED!
Having spent 30 years coaching, I can admit that unless a football coach has experience in track, he really doesn’t know how to train speed. I see the same mistakes made over and over, and utilizing track knowledge would be an incredibly smart decision.
The other mistake I see is equating speed training as something only applying to skill players. IT IS FOR EVERY ATHLETE ON YOUR TEAM!
Your players need to get off the ball and be explosive! They may not carry that explosion down the field for 40 yards, but I promise, a big man with the explosiveness off the line will be winning his match-up often.
So how do you and your staff upgrade your team speed?
Study what the elite do.
And the good news is that the ever-expanding virtual clinic world has made this available to you now.
So let’s get into it…
We are either here or we’ve been here...believers in the GRIND. It’s a concept that is in the psyche of football coaches and in many ways our country as a whole. You gotta GRIND! Holler identifies it as the “religion of football.”
2019 NFL 1st-team All Pro Christian McCaffery doesn’t think so as Holler explains in this video:
VIDEO: MCAFFERY’S TAKE ON THE GRIND
Holler explains how subscribing to the grind is like a 14-point turnaround. For everyday that you go out and do a bunch of senseless conditioning, you are missing out on an opportunity to train speed and power. It is like being on the 1 yard line and throwing an interception that goes 99 yards for a touchdown the other way. Prioritizing speed and power is a must. Watch:
VIDEO: THE 14-POINT TURNAROUND
The other mistake I see is equating speed training as something only applying to skill players. IT IS FOR EVERY ATHLETE ON YOUR TEAM! SPEED AMPLIFIES POWER. Holler illustrates this concept with video of JaDaveon Clowney in this video:
VIDEO: JADAVEON CLOWNEY-SPEED AMPLIFIES POWER
Clowney ran 4.53 at 266 at the NFL combine. Your players need to get off the ball and be explosive! They may not carry that explosion down the field for 40 yards like Clowney, but I promise, a big man with the explosiveness off the line will be winning his match-up often.
OK, maybe you are seeing the value now, but how do we get “in-shape?”
Holler explains how stacking anaerobic work will get your team aerobically fit. He talks about that and Brian Kula’s work with McCaffery in this video:
VIDEO: STACKING ANAEROBIC WORK
What does this look like for your team? Holler explains the “Performance Day” in this video.
VIDEO: PERFORMANCE DAY
There are so many things in football that are preference and style designed to fit your team, but the concepts of developing speed are universal. I can’t recommend what Holler has put together enough!
Coach Holler put all of this into a bundle to help you upgrade your team speed now. Check it all out here: Feed the Cats - Football Bundle
Last thing before we go.
This week, the same trainers who work with top NFL, and D1 athletes are sharing how they help athletes gain the edge to win at the highest level.
https://summit.footballspeed.com/
Spend the offseason getting your guys fast.
Always be growing!
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