Tulane Football Blog

If you’re a real college football fan, you’re a fan of strength and conditioning coaches. A small fraternity of leaders that bring forth the best in their athletes across the country. If you’ve never seen a strength coach holding someone back on the sidelines, you simply haven’t watched enough football.

We had one of the best in the business, Kurt Hester, with us the last few years. The Tulane alum was instrumental in bringing this team to heights previously thought impossible, and I’m lucky to call him a friend.

Upon Kurt’s departure to Houston, many members of the Tulane Green Wave family were distraught. A Louisiana sized hole was created inside the “tiny” office in the Wilson center. Who could replace him? In my book, only one man fit the bill. Former Green Beret and Troy strength and conditioning coach Rusty Whitt.

I had read a lot about coach Whitt prior to him joining the fold in New Orleans, but it wasn’t until I watched Welcome to Uptown that I knew I had to have him on the blog. If you’re not quite as familiar, give this a read. I promise you’ll be a huge fan pretty quickly.

Rusty Whitt

Rusty was chock full of good quotes on the ESPN+ special, but my favorite was his father’s, “Be useful”. If nothing else, the goal for this blog was to fill a void in the Tulane football universe giving folks a place to interact and learn more about the team. To whoever is reading this, I hope you find it useful.

Enough of me waxing poetic, let’s hear what Rusty had to say.

What is the one word you would use to describe a Rusty Whitt conditioned football team? Why that one?

RW: A “Rusty Whitt” conditioned team will be GRITTY.

Grittiness is achieved by:

1) “Doing simple things better”.

We will be fundamentally sound in the Olympic lifts- we will back squat well and have great mobility to play low- The game is won at the line of scrimmage, and we must have the ability to play with excellent strength and leverage. We will accelerate well and be explosive at the snap of the ball.

We will know fatigue and will not panic when it sets in. Fatigue is inevitable and we will know how to push through it.

We will be conditioned to win games late in the 4th quarter. We will have confidence and belief that we will find a way to win. Our team will have all bled the same amount and look to the man to the right and left of him for strength during tough times.

Lots of teams are “tough”. Gritty is a different level of toughness. Gritty teams beat tough teams.

I’ve noticed a lot of pitch black backdrops to workouts on social media and Welcome to Uptown. How do you get the kids motivated to show and up work hard before sunrise day after day?

RW: One of my favorite quotes is from General George S. Patton. “I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight”. Our player’s class schedules dictate that they must workout in the early morning. So be it. We will get up and be in stretch lines at 5:50 sharp and be locked in to improve. Most champions at any sport or level are used to working before sunrise.

To that end do you find the transfer portal has changed how hard you can push kids?

RW: The transfer portal only has accelerated the need to develop athletes faster. That means attention to detail and focus is paramount. It’s more of a professional environment- so we lean on the guys to be more professional, attentive, focused, and move with more intent. My staff and I will always push our players- That isn’t negotiable, because I detest losing. Deep down I believe most players want to be pushed- that’s the only way to improve. Coach Sumrall also believes that everything is earned and not given, so that mindset helps us greatly.

Coach Craddock said in our interview that you’re going to help most with our toughness. What does toughness mean to you?

RW: Toughness comes in many forms. Toughness means resiliency. Our bodies may be bruised and sore, but we will be resilient and ready to play week by week. We don’t accept excuses. We push through tough times and anticipate adversity. That’s life. Coach Sumrall’s rules say the following:

Be on time-

Protect the Team

No energy vampires.

If one is late, we are all late. We are going to be smart in public and not make dumb decisions. Energy vampires complain and we aren’t doing that. Our players get a chance at Tulane to live in a historic, vibrant, colorful and activity-filled city like New Orleans. They have the chance to get a world class education here. We aren’t wasting that opportunity.

So, toughness means a lot of things, but the important ones are, we are going to appreciate the blessings in life and FIGHT for them. We will outwork everyone. We will push through discomfort and communicate positively with our teammates. We will encourage during dark times. We will hold on just a little longer, when everyone else is panicking and showing defeat.

Being a history buff I have read a lot about Winston Churchill- one of his quotes has always stuck with me- “I like a man who grins when he fights.”

He’s grinning because he knows that battles are won before they are fought- he’s grinning because he knows he’s winning no matter what. Even if the fight isn’t over yet.

Everyone loved your story on Welcome to Uptown. Wanted to say thank you for your service and ask your best memory of serving in the US Military?

RW: My best memory of serving in the Army, was the return trip from my first deployment to Iraq. We walked into a hanger and all the wives and support staff had a huge spread of local Colorado Springs food on these banquet tables for us. It smelled and tasted incredible. The sense of comradery and accomplishment was unparalleled for me at the time. Our team had returned all healthy and unharmed. We celebrated.

Is there a player that you’d classify as your Weight room / conditioning MVP.

RW: Pretty early to crown an MVP but Vincent Murphy and Shadre Hurst are killing it right now- Dickson Agu and Makai Williams are having a nice Spring. Several guys are standing out and we are excited about further improvement in the summer.

What are you feeding mahki Hughes?? He looks like he’s going to compete in a strong man competition?

RW: M. Hughes is genetically gifted and works hard-but he also drinks a lot of Boost and Core Power Protein drinks.

I saw a lot of lineman agility work in the gauntlet. Can we expect to see them pulling more and blocking in the second level?

I’m not sure about last years offensive line scheme. I know that coach Craddock wants to run the ball and our O-line must be mobile, fast and strong. They’re being coached by Dan Roushar, and he emphasizes exploding off the ball and getting to the next level, so we should see that.

When will we get to see an arm wrestling competition between you and Kurt Hester?

If we face Kurt Hester in a bowl game, he and I agreed to a Mano a Mano death match like in the end of the movie Gladiator. That should garner at least some fan interest for pre-game. As far as who would win in an arm-wrestling match? I watched “Over the Top” with Sly Stallone last week. I think I can take him.

What tips can you give to an out of shape late twenty’s blogger with an office job?

You must devote an hour a day to health. Walk a mile..begin a resistance-based training program. Start very basic and just be patient.

If you’re not ready to run through a wall for this man, I don’t know how else to motivate you. A consummate pro and a leader of men that I’d want on my side in any kind of battle, mental or physical. We may not win every game this season, but we will not be outworked.