We’re used to players coming to training camp “in the best shape of their lives.”
What’s less common is coaches doing so, and embracing their decisions to get healthy in a profession that isn’t always conducive to doing so.
According to Brian Costello of the New York Post, Jets coach Todd Bowles has lost between 50 and 60 pounds this offseason, after years of not feeling well in recent offseasons and needing a partial knee replacement.
“You know when you’ve had enough,” Bowles said. “I’ve had enough. I want to be better for myself and for my family. I want to be around a long time. It’s become a lifestyle. . . .
“It was just too much weight on my leg. I was never this heavy before. I just decided to start working out and get myself back in shape. That’s really the basis of it. So, I started eating better and working out more and taking longer walks and chipping away little by little. Before you know it, I got into a groove of working out. I started feeling better and my leg started hurting less. Standing on the field now, I feel great.”
Bowles has taken several seemingly small, but important steps toward his goal. He’s cut back on bread and stopped sitting down to eat in the team cafeteria, eliminating the seconds and thirds (and cookies) in an environment with unlimited food. He lines eight 16-ounce bottles of water on his desk each day (four each before and after lunch), which is good for him if not the environment. He’s also had a treadmill installed in his office so he can walk while he watches film or if the weather is bad.
That may seem normal for normal people, but coaching is not a normal business. The hours are long and the stress is high. And seeing his close friend Tony Sparano die of heart disease at 56 years old also had an impact on him, and led him to make changes for his entire staff.
“You hate to see what happened to Sparano,” Bowles said. “I tell my coaches it’s mandatory to work out three times a week. If they don’t, they’re going to have a problem. We have to make time.”
Bowles has done just that, and the results are showing. With a little luck, it becomes a trend in his business.
