Getting players bigger, stronger and faster is an important part of the offseason, but it is only one of many areas coaches concentrate on in a player's overall development. It is critical in college football to develop all 85 members of your football team. A team is only as good as its total roster and all players should be held accountable to develop to their maximum potential. This is essential not only to a team's performance, but also to its chemistry, confidence and trust in each other

The first step in moving forward and improving an individual is to accurately assess where he is and what he needs to improve. Below are the steps that many universities take:

Player evaluation based on the season
In this age of digitized video and with the availability of computers, the possibilities are virtually endless with what you can do to evaluate players and create individual teaching tools. Instead of coaches going over entire game tapes, they can now evaluate only the specific plays in which the individual player was involved.

Using tapes compiled by graduate assistants and video personnel as the season progresses, they are available for the coaches to critique immediately upon the end of the season. Coaches use laptap computers so that the work can be done on airplanes and in hotels during recruiting. The process starts immediately and there are many different ways to grade the individual performance of a player

Every school in the Big Ten, for instance, uses a different grading process. Some have the actual position coach do the grading, while other schools have an independent evaluation done using another staff member so the grading is not biased. Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo also has his staff put together a tape of each player's 20 best plays and 20 worst plays so that they can determine the athlete's high -- and low -- end.

At the end of the individual grading, most staffs will rank their players from the highest performer to the lowest performer and attach a grade. You must remember this is not pro football; you cannot trade them or cut them after the evaluations are done. It is done to give you a starting point in specific ways for the athlete to improve.

Players' self-evaluation and goal setting
The next step in the evaluation done immediately at the end of season, is having the athlete self-evaluate himself so he can honestly assess his performance and set specific goals. At most schools the first phase is to have the athlete grade himself using his specific cutup tape that was made for him with every play he was involved. If the athlete did not play in games, schools use practice tape from the prior season in which he was involved.

At Iowa, the second phase is to have him evaluate himself in other areas, some which are intangible. Iowa has the athlete list his most positive qualities and accomplishments he is most proud of and then sets and prioritizes the areas that need the most improvement on and off the field. He also sets goals for the offseason as well as strength and speed gains he expects to make.

At Iowa, players are asked to answer the question "What's in your BAG?" BAG is an acronym for Blessings (positive qualities), Accomplishments and Goals. The sheets also contain a list of goals for everything from vertical jump to 40-yard dash to bench press to squats to flexibility to body weight.

I know from all my year's of coaching that when you have a player self-evaluate himself, you find out they are much more critical of their performance than you would have been as a coach.

Physical assessment
The third step is to give the athlete a physical assessment, including injuries, body imbalances, dietary analysis and performance assessment

Injuries: It's obvious that an injury to one critical player can change not only the outcome of a game, but a team's entire season. If a player has been injured it is key to define what can be done to eliminate the problem. Coaches realize that contact injuries are sometimes unavoidable and part of the game. But what are really frustrating are muscle pulls that can be eliminated. Injuries must be addressed and if you have to change your offseason routine to eliminate specific player's chronic problems, it must be done prior to the start of the offseason

Check body imbalances: Doyle once again says it best when he makes the point many freshmen are vulnerable to injuries because they suffer from the "Mirror Mentality." What the Iowa strength coach means is throughout high school, these players overtrain the front of their bodies, concentrating on bench press, curls and crunches while ignoring the backs of their bodies. Before starting the offseason program, it is critical to determine an athlete's problem areas. Tests are given to determine overall flexibility -- particularly lower back strength and hamstring strength.

Dietary analysis: Many times coaches are shocked when a dietary analysis is done on their players. There is no question the same problems our society faces in dealing with junk food and poor eating habits can also affect our athletes. You must evaluate what an athlete eats and create a plan for each of them in the offseason. Each athlete has different goals and each must be provided a specific program.

Performance assessment: Next, the athlete will be tested for speed explosiveness and strength. Speed is tested specifically in two areas: linear speed, or straight ahead speed using 10 and 40-yard dash, and lateral speed and change of direction using shuttle runs.

Most schools use the vertical jump to test explosion. Strength is obviously tested by athletes performing repetitions at different weights computing his max lift.

Getting Stronger Every Day
This chart illustrates the maximum weight a player could bench press based on repititions on lower weights. For example, five reps of 205 pounds equals a 236-pound maximum lift.
Wt./reps	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
205	205	217	223	230	236	242	248	254	260	267	273	279	285	291	297
215	215	228	234	241	247	254	260	267	273	280	286	292	299	305	312
225	225	239	245	252	259	268	272	279	286	293	299	308	313	320	328
235	235	249	256	263	270	277	284	291	298	306	313	320	327	334	341
245	245	260	267	274	282	289	296	304	311	319	326	333	341	348	355
255	255	270	278	286	293	301	309	316	324	332	339	347	354	362	370
265	265	281	289	297	305	313	321	329	337	345	352	360	368	376	384
275	275	292	300	308	316	325	333	341	349	358	366	374	382	391	399
285	285	302	311	319	328	336	345	353	362	371	379	388	396	405	413
295	295	313	322	330	339	348	357	366	375	384	392	401	410	419	428

The reason projected one rep maxes are done is to eliminate the risk of injury. You don't want athletes risking injury by doing the actual lift. Obviously, all the testing and evaluation must be done immediately prior to or upon the athlete retuning from Christmas break. A meeting is held with the position coach, strength coach, trainer and head coach. This is obviously in the middle of the most critical time of recruiting, but the process must not be delayed.

The offseason programs
Once the evaluation is done, and specific goals are set, you are now ready for actual offseason programs to begin. Most schools follow a similar plan involving weight training, speed improvement and conditioning. The emphasis early is on strength. Weight lifting is normally done on a split routine, meaning athletes will train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, alternating days training upper body and lower body. Weight training is done in small groups throughout day and is totally dependent on the athletes' class schedule.

Most schools speed train two days a week in larger groups dividing players between lineman and skill position groups. This is usually done in early morning so all can be there at same time. Iowa has one group at 6:15 a.m. and another at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

The third area focuses on conditioning. This is done as a total team and all must be there at same time. Usually, it's done once or twice a week in early morning or late afternoon. When the coaches are done with recruiting, many time this is increased to three times a week and the coaches conduct various station drill work focusing on agility and condition.

A schedule might look like:

Speed development
Monday, Thursday:
6:15 a.m. -- OL, DL, TE, LB
7 a.m -- RB, WR, QB, DB, P, K

Lifting groups Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday:
7 a.m., 8 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:45 p.m.; 4:15 p.m. -- Athletes sign up based on academic class schedule

Conditioning Tuesday, Thursday:
6 a.m. -- The entire team

One note to remember is the NCAA sets an eight-hour limit to mandatory hours an athlete can be required to be involved in the offseason. Coaches cannot conduct specific football drills because of this and most staffs use the entire eight hours on strength, speed and conditioning work.

Film study
Some coaches will choose to use a small part of the eight-hour mandatory time for individual film study and meetings. Most staffs, however, take advantage of the digitized tapes and create teaching tapes using voice layovers with the coach's instruction that the athletes can use on his own. Coaches now can create tapes analyzing every single play and use these tapes to teach even if the coach isn't there. Because of the new technology, it is unlimited what you can do. Obviously, different universities have different resources, but it is a huge advantage if used properly. With the proper equipment, an entire playbook can be put on a tape.

Specific skill improvement
Even though coaches cannot actually be present and they cannot be mandatory, organized group team activities are coordinated by the players. Players will divide themselves into offense and defense and will have team drills actually running their offense and defense. This is a tremendous time for 7 on 7 passing drills with offense going against defense.

Other positions, such as OL and DL, will separate into individual groups and work on position specific drills. This is where leadership of a team is determined and even though coaches are not present, schemes and techniques can be developed.

Academics
With no games to focus on, this can be a great opportunity for football players to concentrate on academics. Coaches must, however, have a proactive plan and a set of guidelines for their teams. I was amazed to find out over the years that many times teams and individuals have higher GPAs during season than they do in the offseason. The reason for this is because athletes tend to relax when their normal routine and day-to-day supervision of inseason coaches meetings and practices are not there. This is why coaches must set boundaries and establish ways to monitor their players even while they are out on the road recruiting.

Class attendance, study halls, and academic counseling are critical. Meeting with academic counselors and coaches must be held immediately upon return from Christmas break and a plan must be established. It's important each coach consistently stays in contact with player. That is why during recruiting a coaches day never ends. He must stay in contact with player on campus.

Athletes and community involvement
The offseason is a great time to involve your team in community service and give them opportunities to do something for someone else. I found out over the years this is a valuable way to raise the team's self esteem. It makes them feel good about themselves while helping someone else. Volunteer work is done at homeless shelters, boys and girls club and different community activities. At Wisconsin, for example, coach Barry Alvarez requires each player does a minimum of three hours of community service in the Madison area. This is a great team building technique in which players work together to make a positive impact.

One final note
As you can see, there are many ways to start the plan of improving an athlete's individual performance. When you are in a home recruiting potential athletes in January and February, you make a promise to develop those young men to their fullest potential if they join your program. It's obviously important you fulfill that promise to your current football team that is back on campus.

The full development of a player takes a total commitment not only from the coach and players, but also by the entire athletic department and university. Facilities -- which may take considerable financial backing -- play a huge role in the overall development of the athlete.

You cannot wait until end of recruiting to start the process. It must start immediately after the season. A coach may be on an airplane or in a potential recruit's home far away from campus, but his attention can never be far from his own team.

Editor's note: As architect of top defenses at Texas A&M and Notre Dame, Bob Davie is recognized as a top X's and O's coach. His Football 101 broke down offensive and defensive schemes last year on ESPN.com. This spring, this will go inside spring football each week explaining how teams use the spring to prepare for the fall.