Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Coaches attend strength and conditioning seminar at UA
FAYETTEVILLE — High school coaches from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas got some strength and conditioning advice Saturday morning from the coach who runs the program for the University of Arkansas football team.
Ben Sowders, director of strength and conditioning for the Razorbacks, held a free two-hour seminar at the Fred W. Smith Center prior to the Razorbacks’ scrimmage.
“It’s like everything else, you have to have a starting point,” Sowders said. “This is completely free. We’re trying to help our community, help our state, help the surrounding states and develop the relationships with high school coaches. The best advertisement is word of mouth. Things will get out and people will see. As long as we’re here, we want to grow it and help each other. Iron sharpens iron.”
Sowders was hired by Razorback Coach Sam Pittman right after the regular season ended in 2022. Pittman and Sowders were on the staff together at Georgia for the 2018 and 2019 season.
“Since I’ve been here with Coach Pittman this is an open door, whoever wants to come can come,” Sowders said. “We’re trying to get back in tight in the state and with our high school coaches. It’s important. High school coaches are very, very important. It all starts with them. The better product we get out of high school the better we’re going to be.”
Pittman opened the seminar by welcoming the coaches and introducing Sowders.
Strength and Conditioning staff assistants Aurmom Satchell, Tre Thomas, Ryan Gearheart, and Tommy McChesney also all spoke on specific areas.
Bentonville’s Dustin Coon was a strength and conditioning coach in attendance on Saturday.
“I love being on the quest for knowledge, trying to find ways to add value to our program and influence the athletes that I get to coach every day,” Coon said. “Coach Sowders and his staff invited. He has an open door consistently. Anytime I’ve wanted to come and learn, it’s been wide open.”
There’s a correlation between Bentonville competing in the state’s largest classification and the Razorbacks competing in the Southeastern Conference.
“It does,” Coon said. “I’m just finding new nuggets to influence our athletes. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. The key is doing it together as a staff so that we teach what you know, reduce you are. The speed of the pack is determined by the speed of the leader. If I can bring one or two new nuggets to create a different training stimulus or to enhance us getting closer to our goal, which is consistently put a good product on the football field and working toward a state championship, that’s what I want to do.”
Huntsville assistant coach Sean Cash also enjoyed the seminar.
“I’m here to learn, and it’s always good to connect with the other coaches that are here,” Cash said. “It’s good to communicate with them and know them. It’s good for the coaches at the University to donate their time to help us. I can build on my knowledge and utilize that for the younger people.”
Sowders is a member of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and certified by USA Weightlifting. He gave an insider’s look at the Strength and Conditioning Department and how his staff go beyond the weight room in many areas and how David Abernathy was an influence as his first strength and conditioning coach at Western Kentucky University, where Sowders played.
“The most influential people in my life, other than my parents, have always been my coaches,” Sowders said. “I played football, basketball, baseball ever since I was 5-years-old. The most impactful people other than my family have been my coaches. This really drove home when I went to college to play football. I’ll never forget meeting our strength coach and the impact he had instantly. He was a Christian man, and what he was able to build and the connections he made helped make everyone around him better. That’s what inspired me to be a strength and conditioning coach.”