Central Michigan football to hold NFL combine-style workout
Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain enters the tunnel toward the field before the second half of the MAC Championship game Dec. 7 at Ford Field in Detroit, MI.
After a long offseason away from the spotlight, Central Michigan's football program is set to hold a training session modeled after the NFL Scouting Combine to showcase the players and their abilities.
The program is hosting the event on Saturday inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
"This will be fun for (the players)," coach Jim McElwain said on "The Coach Mac Show," which aired Thursday. "Being able to come out on a Saturday morning here and execute the NFL Combine."
Typically, the NFL Combine puts players through a series of drills that test the player's athletic ability. There are two sets of drills typically executed, one set being done by all participants within the combine and another set that is position-specific.
Most years see all players run the 40-yard dash, the 3-cone drill and participate in the bench press, broad jump and vertical jump. There are plenty of other position-specific drills that test the player's ability to execute various movements and abilities. McElwain mentioned on his show that Saturday's workout will be structured similarly.
"It's something that I think has been pretty good," McElwain said, "because you can work on some twitch and some things like body movement and those type of things with these drills."
McElwain also mentioned that the event will be recorded. There is potential for NFL scouts to attend the event as well. It will also allow the Chippewas to take the game field, something they don't do often as they practice on a trio of practice fields surrounding Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The competitive nature that comes with an event like this is one that McElwain and company are longing for with the current cancellation of the fall season.
"It's hard on all of us to see other people playing and we're not," McElwain said. "I think the important thing is that we've got to come out of this better when and if we get that word that we're gonna play we're ready to go."
The event is closed to the media and the public.
