Oklahoma State University Athletics
Up Close: OSU Speed, Strength & Conditioning
May 04, 2010 | Cowboy Football
May 4, 2010
By Stefan Nolet
Strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass left a championship-caliber program at the University of Florida in 2005 to head the strength and conditioning efforts at his alma mater, Oklahoma State.
Glass served with coach Steve Spurrier in Gainesville from 1995-2005 and helped the Gators to a national championship in 1996. During his time there, Florida won four SEC championships.
When Mike Gundy took over as head coach at OSU in 2005, Glass was one of the first people he contacted.
Glass was on the strength and conditioning staff at OSU from 1986-88 as a graduate assistant and from 1989-95 as head strength and conditioning coach. He was on the staff while Gundy was the starting quarterback at OSU.
"Coach Gundy, I actually coached while he was a player, so we had a previous relationship," Glass said. "I knew his commitment and what his desires were going to be for the program, so it wasn't like you were going somewhere you didn't know what you were getting into."
Coaching with the Gators gave Glass some foundations to institute at OSU, including a dedication to winning.
"There are a lot of things to bring from Florida, but on the forefront is the commitment to being successful," Glass said. "They communicated to me that they were willing to do that here. So essentially we brought the program we used at Florida and established it here."
When the new west end zone section of Boone Pickens Stadium was built, so were many new facilities, including the weight room. Glass said he has the equipment and the staff necessary to get the full potential out of each player.
He said the best part of the new weight room is not so much the new equipment, but rather the convenience for the players with its close proximity to the football locker room.
"The facilities have been good, it's been an adjustment," Glass said. "For the athletes, it's very convenient for them with the locker room right next door."
Glass doesn't have a set of one or two motivational sayings he uses to get the players ready to improve themselves in the weight room. Instead, he said each year he comes up with a new form of motivation to fit that year's team makeup.
"Each team is unique each year," Glass said. "There are new challenges and new hurdles to overcome with each team each year because, first of all, you have to evaluate your team and take a look at where they're at mentally and physically. That kind of defines our approach for that year.
Not only are the motivational techniques tailored to meet the requirements of the team each year, but Glass's strength and conditioning program is designed specifically to help each player excel at their specific position on the football field, followed by a specific plan for each individual player.
"When the athletes first come to us, they go through a series of evaluations so we know everything about them physically," Glass said. "Then from there we write the programs and there are three levels with the program and they're all football-specific in nature.
"Then the second level is position-specific, so the wide receiver workouts are different from the offensive line or the defensive backs are different from the defensive line. To be successful in the game of football, each position has its unique requirements, so we don't train them the same way.
"Then the third level is individualization at the workout depending on the athlete's strengths and weaknesses and also anything from previous injuries to imbalances wherever they may be and that's where we're really able to tailor-make the work out."
