Putting young players through the workout of a Navy SEAL

Over the holiday, while at home in San Diego, had a chance to take my boys to the Poinsettia Bowl, where TCU beat Boise State, 17-16, in what was a great game.

The Monday before the game, BSU coach Chris Petersen "took his redshirt players to a Navy training base Monday morning for a taste of life as a SEAL. About 25 Broncos went through a 45-minute training session at Naval Base Coronado on Coronado Island, not far from the team hotel."

According to this article, "the workout started with the SEALs sending the players into the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean [which is about 55 degrees this time of year], then rolling them in sand. After that, the group did pushups, situps and other exercises on the blacktop."

“It was a piece of what those guys do for six months all day long,” said Petersen. “I think it puts things in perspective when we think we work really hard. That’s a whole different level. It’s equivalent to kind of our 5:45 training, but you know it’s six months, it’s more intense, it’s longer, it just really tells you how many special people there are in this country to have the mental toughness to go through that — the love of this country, to fight for us.”

As a side note, TCU coach Gary Patterson "visited Boise State a few years ago after the Broncos beat TCU in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl. College coaches often visit each other’s programs to see what they can learn."

"You’ve got to drop your egos and say, ‘How do these guys get it done?’" Patterson said. "It was not those guys just coming out to figure out what we’re doing. It was a two-way street and there was information passed back and forth."