Unhindered by academic requirements and largely unrestricted by NCAA rules, players can focus much of their attention on football. By NCAA rule, summer workouts must be voluntary. But by today's standards, they have become mandatory for success. Of the top 10 teams in last year's final Associated Press poll, all had at least half of their players involved in summer workouts, and seven of them, including national champion Oklahoma, had 90 percent or more. These could be the most important days of a college football team's growth.
Teams can get ahead during the summer.
Or they can fall behind. If you have a great summer, you put yourself in a position to have continued success. The birthplace of summer workouts is debatable. Nebraska can stake a strong claim. Boyd Epley, the school's director of athletic performance, is known as the father of modern strength and conditioning.