Jim Ward, a 1992 graduate of North Penn, has returned to his alma mater as the strength and conditioning coach of the football team.
By Mary Jane Souder
Jim Ward might not be a recognizable face to fans of North Penn football, but perhaps he should be.
According to Dick Beck, the first-year strength and conditioning coach has played a major role in the team’s improved play as the season progressed.
“We lifted very hard in the offseason, and when the season started, we never stopped,” the Knights’ coach said. “Not for one day.
“Every week we have put in our time in the weight room, and he’s the one that directs that. I feel like we’re stronger now at the end of the season than we were in the beginning of the season, which most teams aren’t.”
The Knights have certainly proven they can outlast teams.
It would be easy to simply credit defensive adjustments for the Knights’ dominant second half performance in last Friday’s district semifinal game against Perkiomen Valley that saw the Vikings accumulate close to 300 yards of total offense in the first half and just 55 in the second half as the Knights rallied from a 19-13 halftime deficit to earn a 40-19 win.
But perhaps it’s more than that.
While the Vikings appeared worn down in the second half, the Knights – who dominated both sides of the football - were not.
“With most teams in the past I’ve played with, towards the end of the season, everyone is getting burned out, everyone is getting tired, and they’re becoming weak again and they aren’t hitting the weights as hard,” junior Frank Tranzilli said.
Tranzilli is one of many players who has been transformed under Ward’s tutelage in the weight room.
“He is probably 10-15 pounds lighter than he was last year, but he’s probably 70-80 percent stronger,” Beck said.
The junior lineman acknowledged that he’s a different player this season.
“I was 260 last year and I was up to 285 in the offseason,” Tranzilli said. “I gained a lot of weight through not working out after the season.
“I lost most of it, and now I’m mostly muscle. He transformed me into a better player. I feel bigger, faster, stronger than I did last year. Time passes and you get bigger, but I feel so much stronger and faster and everything than I was last year. I’m a better player.”
Add senior fullback Luke Berry’s name to the list of players who have benefitted from Ward’s program.
“Luke probably put on 10-15 pounds of muscle and is pound for pound our strongest kid,” Beck said.
“From last year to this year, I feel like I’ve gained a lot of muscle mass,” Berry said. “My numbers have gone up greatly, my speed has gone up greatly. I think I can thank him too for being healthy most of this year.
“”It’s just a fantastic program. The fact that coach Ward has helped us stay away from injuries in general – I think that program has helped us, and it’s a key factor why we’re still playing.”
Ward, himself a 1992 graduate of North Penn, joined the staff when former strength and conditioning coach Michael Kapusta accepted the head coaching position at Hatboro-Horsham. The owner of a sports performance business called Iron Athlete, Ward brings a wealth of experience to the position. He spent last fall doing an internship in the strength and conditioning department at the University of Notre Dame.
His philosophy is simple.
“We just try to do the basic things well,” Ward said. “I don’t push too much fancy stuff.
“We do the things that I’ve been doing my whole life – the squats, the dead lifts and the basic stuff. I just try to get them to do it right and do it well.
“We talk about recovery, we talk about food, we talk about taking care of business outside of the weight room too, and I just think they buy into it because I know from growing up – just having a coach that cared made me want to work hard for that coach. I just feel like I care for these kids, and they care enough to put in the time and give the effort.”
According to Tranzilli, there’s a different feel to the team’s workouts.
“We’re constantly going, going and hitting the weights real hard,” he said. “We’re pushing ourselves to the max.
“We’re doing workouts I’ve never heard of, and we’re pushing our bodies to the limit.”
“He did a fantastic job in the offseason preparing us for this season,” Berry added. “The fact that we’re in the playoffs for the most part healthy is just great, and definitely I think that comes with coach Ward’s training.
“If we can be in better shape than the other team, that’s the one thing we have on them. Coach Ward has taught us to keep working hard. Now we’re here and still going at it.”
Ward, who was a teammate of assistant coach Ryan Major, believes a “little bit of work goes a long way.”
“They come in, they do what they’re supposed to, they work hard, they follow the program, and they’ll see results,” he said. “I don’t ever feel like the strength and conditioning coach is ever the reason for winning or ever the reason for losing. We’re just part of the program.
“We lift three days a week, and we use two of those days to get stronger. There’s no reason to not get stronger during the football season. If kids come in and they’re banged up, obviously, we modify for them, but we maintain at minimal and try to get the kids as strong as we can.
“They’re constantly beating themselves up between practices and games. They come into the weight room, and strength is important. I don’t ever tell the kids this, but when they feel strong, their confidence is through the roof. I think it pays dividends. When they feel confident, there’s less hesitation. There’s more willingness to do.”
Lost in the shuffle of a Knights’ season that began with three straight losses but now includes 10 straight wins is the behind-the-scenes work of the players – under Ward’s guidance - in the weight room.
“He really does an amazing job, there’s no doubt,” Beck said. “Besides his attention to detail, it’s the energy he brings every single day. Not only does he do the strength training, the speed training - he does all of our conditioning training. He does all of our nutrition, gets kids talking about what they should be eating during the week. The kids have really grown to love them.”
For Ward, it’s been an enjoyable ride.
“I’m just lucky,” he said. “There’s just a bunch of good kids up there. It’s more about them than anything I’m doing, that’s for sure.
“I love it. I love it that they work hard, I love being part of the team, I love winning, and also, I’m a North Penn alumni, and that makes it even more special.”
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