Cards’ Kingdom: Speed can and will be taught
Apr 7, 2014, 9:59 PM | Updated: 10:06 pm
They say you can’t teach speed.
If that was the case, Arizona Cardinals assistant strength and conditioning/speed coach Roger Kingdom might be out of a job according to his own policy.
“If you couldn’t teach speed, then so many people would be out of business.” Kingdom told the Dan Bickley Show with Vince Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
“The bottom line is even with the guys with talent, their speed is still taught. Somebody has to refine it and bring it out.”
Kingdom is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in 110-meter hurdles and is a member of the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh where he ran track and played football alongside NFL Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Chris Doleman.
The Cardinals hired Kingdom last month and he will join Pete Alosi and Buddy Morris on the strength and conditioning staff.
Kingdom spent the past 10 years as the director of the track and field and cross-country programs at California University of Pennsylvania.
“My major focus here with the Cardinals is to teach them the proper speed application, while at the same time helping them to transfer the strength that they develop in the weight room onto the field without losing a step,” Kingdom said.
“We’re very anxious about getting started with them on the 21st, and just by having conversations with a lot of these guys, they are anxious too. They are thinking about it and some of them at this point want to try it on their own. That’s okay too, but when they get here, I’ll be able to now use that keen eye to look at if they are doing it properly.”
Kingdom expects his training workouts to complement head coach Bruce Arians’ style of play and practice, and to increase the overall speed and agility of the team.
“I think if you combine the stuff that we do in the weight room along with explosive things like that on the field, then you’re going to see a lot of these guys improving in their quickness and also their top speed,” Kingdom said.
“I was always taught that if you want to be up there, you have to train like one. It starts every day at practice making sure that everything you do is going to mimic your play on the field.”
