Not only did the Baker football team add to the coaching staff last spring, but the men’s and women’s athletic programs are expected to benefit from the arrival of offensive line coach Miguel Regalado.
After spending five years at Urbana University in Urbana, Ohio, Regalado made the move to Kansas to become an assistant football coach and the first ever Baker strength and conditioning coach.
Regalado said he began his strength and conditioning career at the University of South Dakota, where he served as a graduate assistant.
“We were thrown into the strength and conditioning position,” Regalado said. “They turned it all over to (the graduate assistants), and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
While the original plan was for Regalado to teach while coaching, athletic director Dan Harris saw his background in strength and conditioning and decided to drop the teaching to allow Regalado to run the weight room for any sport that wanted help.
Sophomore softball player Amanda Phelps said Regalado has molded a plan fit for women’s athletics.
“He looked at everything softball players need and created something that we, as softball players, can benefit from,” Phelps said.
Regalado started at Baker last March and said he had an opportunity to observe players in the weight room before implementing any changes.
“I had a chance to observe, and a lot of time was being wasted,” Regalado said. “There were times they would leave and not even be sweating.”
Along with the tempo, Regalado plans to motivate the intensity of workouts and make sure every athlete is lifting perfectly.
Junior Brad Fawcett said the atmosphere of the weight room is different than in years past.
“When we’re in the weight room the intensity is 500 times more than it was last year,” Fawcett said. “He’s made it to where it’s not even an option. There’s no complaining – you just do it.”
The next move for the new coach: revamping the entire weight room.
After a large lump of money was donated this summer by Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, Regalado said a few pieces of equipment already have been purchased, but plans on buying more are in place in the upcoming years.
“You should update equipment every five years, and the equipment now has been there since it opened,” Regalado said. “A weight room is a big recruitment tool because good equipment helps athletic teams get better.”
Along with training the football team, he has begun focusing on the needs of women’s sports such as basketball and softball.
"For women, the weights may be different, but the concepts are the same," he said.<br/>Phelps said the lifts that have been added to the teams' training program will help when the women hit the field.Phelps said the lifts that have been added to the teams' training program will help when the women hit the field.
Phelps said the lifts that have been added to the teams’ training program will help when the women hit the field.
“We’re all going to get stronger and have more power, which we can use to our advantage when it comes to hitting,” Phelps said.
Although Regalado is the head strength and conditioning coach, he said his No. 1 priority is still the football team.
“My position isn’t quite the same as somewhere like (the University of Kansas),” he said. “I still have my football team and recruiting I have to do.”