Every year, I help athletes prepare for the NFL Combine and Pro Day leading into the NFL draft. It’s one of the most exciting and challenging training phases because everything is measured, and the margin for error is small. The goal is to train specifically for the tests, keep athletes strong and healthy through close collaboration between training and physical therapy, and put them in position to perform.
Training and Physical Therapy, Every Day
At the Spooner Sports Institute, prep is guided by two priorities.
1. Training to improve test performance.
2. Keeping athletes healthy so training volume stays high.
Every athlete starts with a full movement and mobility assessment. From there, our physical therapists are involved every day, before and after training, providing pre-hab, soft-tissue work, and manual therapy. This keeps athletes loose, mobile, and able to handle the training volume throughout prep.
A Typical Week of Training Looks Like…
Athletes train four to five days per week, with speed work at the center of the program. We prioritize the 40, the 5–10–5, and the 3-cone, then build strength and power around the remaining combine and pro day tests, including jumps and the bench. Training is adjusted by position and where each athlete needs the most return based on testing and known performance standards.
How We Know Its Working
We measure it. Early in the process, improvement usually shows up fast. In the first phase, we often see clear changes in 40 times, 5–10–5s, 3-cone times, jumps, and bench numbers. A lot of that comes from cleaning things up and putting athletes into a structured environment. As prep continues, progress becomes less about big jumps and more about consistency and being able to keep hitting numbers as training continues.
Position-Specific Training
Every athlete is coached individually, and position plays a major role in how training is built. Teams are looking for different things from a safety than they are from a lineman, and those expectations show up in speed, jumps, strength, and movement. We train toward those standards, not a generic combine template.
That means two athletes can be working on the same test but training it differently based on position, movement profile, and where they need the most return. The goal is not just to improve numbers, but to make sure those numbers make sense for the position the athlete plays and what teams are actually looking for.
Athletes Aren’t a Number With Me, But Priority
Combine and pro day prep has always been one of my favorite groups to work with because these athletes aren’t just numbers to me. I’m checking in with them every day, seeing how their body feels, where their head is at, and how they’re handling the pressure that comes with this process. You spend eight to sixteen weeks preparing for one day, and that can wear on you physically and mentally. Being part of that day-to-day, helping them stay locked in, and then helping bridge that transition from college to the professional level is what makes this work meaningful to me.
Want to learn more about how Spooner trains elite athletes? Visit Spooner’s NFL Combine Training at the Spooner Sports Institute.