We like to think of Brian as kind of our poster child around here. Obviously, he is a guy who epitomizes what we want to achieve here at CES. Brian and his brother, Casey who also trained with us and lived at my house with me are more than just clients... they are like surrogate sons to me. Brian may not tell you the same story, but he was one of those guys that was going to be great, no matter where he trained.
Every so often, you get a chance to work with a guy who just has it. And it is really the whole package. The natural physical skills, the work ethic, the desire and discipline to take everything you have to offer as a coach and maximize it to his full advantage. That’s what makes him the best to ever play his position.
Sure, the physical tools are all there, but it’s what is inside of him that makes him great. Nobody, and I mean nobody would outwork him in any drill. He’d kill himself every rep from the second he set foot in the facility to the second he crawled out. He is just a warrior. And honestly, CES had nothing to do with that. We just gave him the tools and he made the absolute most of it.
You ask me what he has meant to my career? Well, ask an actor what winning an Oscar means. Ask a musician what winning a Grammy means. It means that you had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work together with people who are just special... and what you were able to accomplish together is especially defining. There are a lot of guys I feel that way about. But there are not a lot of guys who have all the tools that Brian has... the ones you can measure and the ones you cannot. Every day I come to work, I see guys who have a lot of pieces they are trying to put together to get to that level that Brian has managed to be at for so long. But when you take guys like Brian, Champ, Albert…guys who truly have the ability to be the best who have ever played their position…they don’t come around very often. We are just lucky to be a small part of their success on the field, and honored to consider them a part of our training family at CES.
Until next time, keep training hard!
Coach Smith
