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02/24/04 - While transcribing an interview I did with new MSU head strength coach Jim Nowell, I noticed a pattern forming as to his philosophy about coaching and, more specifically, weight training. Here's what he said in the interview that forms, what I call, the 10 points of Jim Nowell's philosophy.

1) "I want to do more than help them become better players; I want to help them become better people."

2) "This world is results-oriented: It is about getting it done and that is what we have to do."

3) "Be consistent. You have to have a good program, but it's more than having a good program. After you have installed it, you have to be consistent. People have to know what to expect from you everyday. If I'm not consistent, my kids will never know what to expect."

4) "You are not going to win with some people working hard. You have to have everybody pulling on the same end of the rope, striving for the same goal. We are a team, which means we all have to work together."

5) "Coaching is teaching. Teaching is the ability to inspire learning. You can have all the knowledge in the world but if you can't get your points across to the kids, motivate and inspire them and hold them accountable, then it's not going to work."

6) "You have to be in the eye of the storm when you are coaching kids. That means you have to be out on the floor coaching and teaching. I tell my kids wherever I go that I am going to coach them just as hard in that weight room as they are coached on the practice field."

7) "A key (to success) is you find leaders and you win those leaders over after you come into a place. If you change those leaders, then they are helping you coach other people and are helping you push other people."

8) "I believe in explosive training. Strong body parts don't equal a strong body. You have to train the body, not just the body parts. When you play football, you don't play one play with your hamstrings, one play with your triceps and the next play with your chest. So, I don't try to train it that way. I train the body as a single unit. We will do a lot of total body training, explosive training, olympic training. That is the meat and potatoes; that is what you are going to win with. Core, balance and functional training are also very important."

9) "(Proper) technique is so important because you don't want to get players injured in the weight room. You have to teach technique every day."

10) "If you take care of the people who work for you, they are going to do a much better job and are more loyal to the program."

02/19/04 - Junior-to-be running back/kicker returner Nick Turner has been dismissed from the Mississippi State football squad, according to Coach Croom.

In a prepared statement, Coach Croom said, "I have dismissed Nick Turner from the Mississippi State University football team, effective immediately. It is my intention for Nick to remain on scholarship through the end of this spring semester to remain in good standing with the university. But Nick has not met the expectation level we have for a Mississippi State football-playing student-athlete. I wish him the best in the future, and I will assist him in any way I can."

A former Parade All-American, Nick led the Bulldogs in rushing with 696 yards and in all-purpose yards with 1,664 his sophomore year.