Lesson 3

Jalen Holston| jalenh4@vt.edu| 9/30/2021

Proposal

PROPOSAL

Introduction

Virginia Tech football emphasizes having every player prepared to produce when
they’re on the field. To develop future players, they have implemented a program
specifically for redshirting players. This evaluation plan will be used to evaluate
Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training program for redshirt players on
campus. The goal of this evaluation is to find the effectiveness of the program,
what areas of the program could be improved, and if the players are benefitting
from the program. Virginia Tech’s fall weight training program is employed
throughout the entire fall semester from August to December 2021. Once the
evaluation is concluded, the results will be used to show the findings that seek to
help improve the Virginia Tech fall weight training program.

Background

Virginia Tech football’s strength and conditioning program is a department within

the team that strives to get the athletes they work with stronger, recover from
injury faster, to find new ways to help their athletes perform at their best. Virginia
Tech’s fall redshirt weight training program is held for an entire semester and
workouts are held on campus in Virginia Tech’s Merryman Center. Virginia
Tech’s fall weight training program is held three days out of the week (Sunday,
Thursday, and Friday) and continue every week up until the end of the regular
season. The strength staff within the team has great importance as their work
directly impacts the production output and overall success on the field of the
athletes. Some incoming players take a redshirt year in order to preserve their
playing eligibility during their career. The new rule in college sports lets redshirt
players participate in up to four games without counting towards their eligibility,
so it is very likely they have to still be prepared to play during the season. This
opportunity gives them more time to prepare and get extra work with strength
coaches to transform their bodies to be ready to perform at its peak. The purpose
of Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training is for the athlete to work towards
improving their size, strength, stamina, physical maturity, and the other physical
demands that each position on the field requires. The attendees of these
workouts will learn how to complete various different weight training exercises,
speed and agility drills, stretching exercises, and recovery workouts during their
time within the program. The athletes will also gain knowledge on how to work
different areas of the body when performing, active recovery and stamina tips,

Program & Product Evaluation

Week 3 – Evaluation Project Proposal
and injury management. The strength staff will provide multi-joint, ground-
passed, and open-chained exercises, Olympic style weight lifting exercises,
plyometric exercises, vertimax training, use of Tendo units, and more in the
program for redshirting players. The college level football has evolved into
something similar to a professional sport so it is critical that every player on the
team is fit to face the demand it takes to play the sport. Assistant football
coaches identify the players they see would benefit from the program and refer
them to the strength coaches. The redshirting athletes depend on the new
strength, agility, speed, and explosion gained from the program when they get
their chance to perform on the field. The strength and conditioning program will
help redshirting players achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Purpose

Goals of the Evaluation

1. To find how effective are Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training
program used to increase speed and strength
2. To find what could be improved within Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight
training program
3. To find what is aspects within Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training
program are working well and what isn’t

The evaluation will be a formative evaluation because it is meant to determine if

there are ways to improve the strength and conditioning program for redshirt
players, to find how effective the program is, and to see what is working and not
working within it. This evaluation of the program will help to find if the redshirt
players participating are being benefitting, what could be improved, and to find
what isn’t working well and what is working well within Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt
weight training program.

The evaluation I will do will target two levels of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model.
The levels of Kirkpatrick evaluation that I will focus on will be levels 1 and 3. For
level 1 of the evaluation I will be looking to get information that will help improve
Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training program. As the program grows they
want to strive to put out the best training methods for players so they can perform
at their best ability. With level 3 of the evaluation I will be finding what works in
the program and what needs to be fixed within it. Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt
weight training program could be doing great things, but it could there is always
room for improvement.

Program & Product Evaluation

Week 3 – Evaluation Project Proposal
Key Stakeholder

Virginia Tech Football’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Ben Hilgart will
be the primary user of the data and results from the evaluation. His
responsibilities consist of managerial and administrative duties, manage budget
and equipment purchases, and to collaborate with assistant coaches to create
strength programs for players on Virginia Tech’s football team. The head strength
and conditioning coach will determine if the redshirt players are seeing enough
improvement to continue the weight training program or does the program need
to be changed and adjusted.

Virginia Tech’s Head Football Coach, Justin Fuente is also a key stakeholder of
this evaluation. He is the head coach of the football team and manages every
department within Virginia Tech Football. The head coaches’ job is to hire a head
strength and conditioning coach that will improve the physical performance of the
players. He works directly with the strength and conditioning staff as they go over
strength and speed statistic reports, inform each other on injured players, and
more. The head coaches’ input is very important and he works close with the
whole strength staff.

Feasibility of Completing the Evaluation Project

This evaluation project will be easy to complete during the semester as

workout/training session are held three days a week throughout the rest of the
2021 fall semester. With openings in my class and daily schedule there is a lot
time to supervise or observe Virginia Tech’s fall redshirt weight training program
altogether I will be able to complete this evaluation of the program before the end
of the semester.

Program & Product Evaluation

Week 3 – Evaluation Project Proposal