“If you ask people who their favorite coach at Cornell is, a lot of people tend to say ‘Coach Howley’,” remarked senior football co-captain Colin Nash.
“He’s a huge factor in our success.”
After sharing a few minutes with Tom Howley, the strength and conditioning coach at Cornell since July 1995, it is apparent why so many varsity athletes cannot say enough positive things about this gregarious and cordial man.
Do not mistake Howley’s kind demeanor for softness when it comes to athletic training, though.
“He definitely knows his stuff,” said junior field hockey player Stephanie Brownstein. “He keeps it fun, but you do what he says. It’s a hard workout.”
Prior to his arrival at Cornell, Howley served as the assistant director of strength and conditioning at East Carolina University and Auburn University.
At Auburn, he also coached football as an assistant coach with the special teams. Howley explains how he underwent a gradual process en route to becoming the strength and conditioning coach.
“This was really something that evolved,” Howley said. “It wasn’t something that I had my mind set on from the get go. I started off when I was coaching football. I really enjoyed the interaction with the athletes. I found that the part I really liked was the hands on practice and game day. That was the fun part for me. I saw strength and conditioning as a natural progression towards the more hands on type of coaching and that’s what really led me into this field.”
Do not let his football pedigree fool you, however. Howley and his assistants, Jay Andress, Leslie DeSalvo and Tom Dilliplane, have devised a comprehensive workout program tailored to the specific demands of each of the 36 varsity sports programs and 1,100 student-athletes at Cornell.
“It’s fun getting to learn the culture of different sports,” Howley said. “It’s been fun getting to learn the conditioning intensities, strength training demands, what do we need to address in terms of injury prevention. Our program is based on two foundation principles: one is performance enhancement. We want them to become as good as they possibly can be. And number two is injury prevention. We want to make sure that they are safe, so that they don’t sustain an injury during the course of competition.”
“You start noticing a lot of gains,” said Nash. “We always prided ourselves on being in better condition than the other teams. We try not be tired by the end of the game.”
As a former offensive lineman at Tulane University, Howley is sensitive to the rigors of balancing a tough workout regimen with the need to successfully fulfill academic obligations.
“In season, most of our teams get two workouts per week and typically because they play on Friday and Saturday, they’ll train on Monday and Wednesday,” Howley said. “That workout will last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.” Athletes are also given four different time periods during the day from which to choose, so they have flexibility with their schedule.
Howley also emphasized the importance of the facilities at the 8,000-square-foot Friedman Strength and Conditioning Center and the support he received from the supervising administration.
“Another critical component to our program is the support we have from the administration, including Andy Noelle and Steve Erber, who is our program supervisor,” Howley said. “Their support has led to the building of the program.”
Without this program and Howley’s support and guidance, Cornell athletics would be at a severe disadvantage. So next time you see a Cornell wide receiver outrace the defense down the field or a Cornell basketball forward dunk over an opposing player, remember the man who is continually pushing our athletes beyond what they believe they are physically capable of.