"Night of Champions" Wednesday at 7 PM

HEAD STRENGTH COACH SCOTT GADEKEN: "I don't know what a lot of schools around the WAC are doing, I can only control what happens here at the University of Idaho. But being at Kansas State for 3 years and LSU for 5 years, I would say we're on the right track. We're doing a good job of recruiting, and getting kids here that want to work and be coached. We are making positive steps every day."

For the casual fan, the success of a program is measured almost exclusively by wins and losses during the season. However, the true sign of a program’s strength and direction is the progress made by its athletes during offseason training. More specifically, improvements in strength and conditioning are the first step to yielding improvements in competition during the season.

Former Vandal MARK SCHLERETH, a 12-year NFL veteran, twice earned All-Pro honors, won three Super Bowls, and is a current ESPN Analyst.

When former head football coach Nick Holt arrived at Idaho in 2004, he was welcomed back to Moscow with the unveiling of the Iverson Strength and Speed Center. For two decades (throughout the 80s and 90s) strength training was a major aspect of the Vandal football program, and the Vandals won consistently on the field while sending numerous athletes to the NFL. However, during the Sun Belt years that emphasis was momentarily lost as Idaho searched for a new Conference home while simultaneously building a new state-of-the-art training facility that would allow our athletes to train like never before.

The Iverson Strength and Speed Center (see images below) is one of the premier strength and speed training facilities of any Division 1-A program in the west (and certainly among the top of the Western Athletic Conference), and Holt made emphasizing this aspect of Idaho football a personal crusade.

Current Vandal football coach Robb Akey and his staff have carried on the tradition, empasizing this aspect of player development as a cornerstone of their program.

Head Strength Coach Scott Gadeken is in the fourth year at the helm of the Vandal strength program. He came to Idaho from long-time Division 1-A powerhouse LSU, where he was an assistant for the nationally prominent football program and head strength coach for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Gadeken did not just "take over" the strength program at Idaho; he and his staff are aggressively continuing the rebuilding effort started by his predecessor Aaron Ausmus (Aaron came to Idaho from USC with Holt, then took over the strength program at Ole Miss in 2005). The effort has involved an overhaul of the attitude of Idaho's athletes regarding strength training, which has resulted in an amazing improvement in the physical condition of the team across the board.

Wednesday night at 7 PM come to the Iverson Strength and Speed Center to take in the annual "Night of Champions" competition featuring the Idaho football team. See how the team fares as they look to top previous marks set by Vandals such as Alex Toailoa (460-pound bench, 625-pound squat), how many athletes join redshirt freshmen Jonah Sataraka and Jonathan Faraimo in the 400-pound bench club, how many power clean over 360-pounds, and eclipse the 500-pound squat.


FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Join the University of Idaho football team for its annual Night of Champions Wednesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at the Iverson Strength and Speed Center at the Kibbie Dome.

The evening is a benefit for the Latah County Food Bank, so please bring a canned food item to donate for admission.

Iverson Strength and Speed Center

Iverson Strength and Speed Center