Last in a series

CEDAR FALLS - Make no mistake: Jed Smith goes the extra mile to discover the newest innovations in strength and conditioning.

In recent years, for instance, Smith has traveled to the state of Pennsylvania - heck, he even ventured into a state of hypnosis - all in the name of seeking new advantages for his University of Northern Iowa football squad.

But the most beneficial business trip for Smith, UNI's fourth-year head strength and conditioning coach, came last summer when he visited the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

"In weightlifting, the Chinese rule the world right now," Smith said, noting that the host country raked in eight gold medals in weightlifting last summer.

"So two years ago now, we hired one of their top coaches, Jianping Ma. Jianping is kind of a national celebrity in China," Smith added, explaining that Ma was part of the first-ever People's Republic of China delegation at the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles.

The Panthers' weightlifting regimen now features a steady stream of explosive Olympic lifts like the hang clean, plucked straight from the pages of Ma's teachings.

Ma, a spry, 48-year-old bundle of muscles, has also helped Smith study at training centers in locales like Beijing - institutions so serious that armed guards gave him the evil eye upon entrance.

"Weightlifting is the biggest sport in China," Ma explained. "They're doing a lot of research. They're working very serious, and they're working very hard."

"Strength and conditioning is evolving every second," Smith said. "The best approach is to be open-minded … research the best systems and apply it."

Smith's extensive research is a prerequisite for success at UNI, head football coach Mark Farley said.

"You have to have a great strength program at UNI," Farley noted. "We (get) players that are 6-foot-6, 240 pounds instead of 6-6, 280. So player development is more important than it would be at a Big Ten or Big 12 school."

Smith and Ma, a former head coach at the U.S.A. Olympic Education Center, now work together at the two-year-old United Sport and Athlete gym in Waterloo, where they train prospective UNI Panthers, underprivileged youths, and, with a little luck, future Olympians. The two hope to eventually start a masters program at UNI, to "put us on the map as one of the premier strength and conditioning universities in the country," Smith explained.

Between his work with United Sport and Athlete, Panther student-athletes and as an instructor in UNI's School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services, Smith's hours are stretched thin.

He doesn't just serve as strength coach for UNI's football squad, either. Smith, who arrived in Cedar Falls in 2005 after stints with the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota Wild, also spearheads the training regimen for a handful of other varsity sports.

Smith's average workday in, say, November, looks something like this:

5:45 a.m. - Oversee group weightlifting for UNI wrestling

9 a.m. - Teach classes

1 p.m. - Guide weight-training for redshirt freshman football players

2:30 p.m. - Lead a men's basketball weightlifting session

5 p.m. - Lead two sessions of training for Panther track athletes

By 7 p.m., if he's lucky, Smith gets to return home and rest up before another day of ceaseless work.

It isn't like that for strength coaches at Iowa State and Iowa.

"Having been a I-AA coach myself, (I know) those guys work a ton … because of time conflicts and things like that," acknowledged Yancy McKnight, the head strength coach for football at Iowa State.

"That's a tough situation. But also, (they) have a little bit more job security," McKnight said, smiling.

Said Farley: "Jed's time has to be budgeted. And he's so good at what he does that we (UNI coaches) all want more of his time."

Smith admits his job can tax the limits of time management. But the former Minnesota-Morris basketball player also insists that he gets re-energized every time a lineman like current senior Bob Swift over achieves and thrives.

"It's fun. These are motivated kids," said Smith, who also credited graduate students who aid his efforts.

Every weekday morning, the Panthers' head conditioning coach dispenses what he calls "mind candy," motivational phrases meant to toughen an athlete's resolve. And the purple and gold eat it up. It can't be a complete coincidence that UNI's football and men's basketball teams have a combined winning percentage of .674 since Smith's arrival on campus, right?

Chad Rinehart is a firm believer in Smith's teachings. So much so that the former Panther and current Washington Redskins lineman came back to train in Cedar Falls this offseason - even though he had an NFL workout facility at his disposal.

Smith customized a workout for Rhinehart, a 6-foot-5, 311-pound, 24-year-old, concentrating on core lifts such as squats and cleans over an eight-week period ending in mid-March. Now, the Boone native stands a legitimate chance of starting at guard next season in the vaunted NFC East.

"In eight weeks I got to being as strong as I've ever been," noted Rhinehart, who said he gained 10 pounds of lean muscle and squatted nearly 500 pounds toward the end of his work with Smith.

"I wanted him to look good, move good and feel good," Smith shrugged, "so he can slide right in and get an edge on his teammates in mini-camp."

Even in the offseason, Smith's search for the hottest training techniques never cease. He has recently added hypnosis to his training regimen, for example, in an effort to hone athletes' focus.

Smith hopes all his cutting-edge techniques take him, and the athletes he oversees, to unprecedented places.

But where he's at in the present is pretty good, too.

"Jed fits the University of Northern Iowa," Farley declared. "I think Jed could make a guy strong in my garage."