Speed keeps Steelers' Taylor in the game

By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, July 25, 2009
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_635267.html

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Right before the start of the Steelers' final two days of voluntary practices in June, cornerback Ike Taylor was electronically timed in the 40-yard dash by speed coach Tom Shaw at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

Taylor was clocked in 4.26 seconds.

"We had a speed sign out here — it's a police radar gun they put on city streets,'' Shaw said. "We were running the 40-yard dash, and Ike ran 26 mph. The speed limit was 25, so Ike could have gotten a ticket for running.''

But seriously, folks.

"We had other guys running,'' Shaw said. "But 26 was a freak time. And he was just cruising.''

Taylor, 29, is a freakish athlete built more along the lines of a safety (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) than a corner. He also has a 42-inch vertical leap.

He ran 4.18 in the 40 (hand-held) at Louisiana-Lafayette's Pro Day in 2003 (he wasn't invited to the combine), prompting the Steelers to draft him in the fourth round that year despite the fact he played cornerback for only one season in college.

Taylor's speed and one-on-one cover skills influenced former Steelers coach Bill Cowher to start him ahead of veteran Chad Scott in Taylor's third pro season.

Taylor's world-class speed compensates for any lack of technique resulting from making the switch from running back to corner as a college senior.

Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys executive who now works for NFL.com and Sirius radio, rates Taylor among the top five cornerbacks in the league along with Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha, Denver's Champ Bailey, Philadelphia's Asante Samuel and Dallas' Terence Newman.

"All I know is he's pretty good,'' Brandt said of Taylor.

In 2008, Taylor enjoyed one of his finest seasons. He recorded a team-high 15 passes defensed while yielding only two touchdown receptions for the NFL's top-ranked defense.

Taylor's play has prompted comparisons to former NFL cornerback Deion Sanders.

"The thing with Deion was that when the ball was in the air, he just out-sprinted the receiver to the ball,'' said track coach Brooks Johnson, who is based at Disney's Wide World of Sports and has coached a runner at every Olympics since 1968. "He didn't necessarily have the best technique, and he didn't have the best initial coverage. But once the ball was in the air, he got to it (first).''

Johnson said Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes, who trains with Taylor in Florida, has "world-class" sprint mechanics.

"If you took the best guys in the Olympics and showed their technique and showed (Holmes') technique, you couldn't tell if he was a football player or a track star,'' Johnson said.

But as fast as Holmes is, Taylor is faster — even with lesser technique.

"Form and technique, you can tell it's not the most important thing because Ike doesn't run like an Olympic sprinter," Shaw said. "The key to Ike's success is his speed. Ike runs like a football player who is fast. Now he's really learning the game of football. He's learning more and more how to play corner.''

Shaw coached Sanders at Florida State in track and later as a star cornerback in the NFL. He gives Taylor the nod over Sanders in the speed department.

"Ike is the fastest kid I've ever trained,'' Shaw said.

Shaw said that would include Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, who ran the fastest time ever at the combine (4.24), and Sanders, who ran a 4.27 for No. 2 on the combine list.

Taylor, who is entering his seventh NFL season, said he has the potential to run faster as he gets older.

Johnson, the track coach, is familiar with Taylor's running style and offered a comparison to Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis, who Johnson said ran faster at 31 than he did at 21.

Taylor said he can do the same thing — thanks to a technique adjustment.

"Tall guys have long strides," Taylor said. "I was kind of like a tall guy with a short stride. Now I'm running like a tall guy. I'm gaining more ground in my steps. I'm gaining weight, running faster and getting stronger. I can wake up, no stretch, no nothing, and run a 4.3. All day.''

Coach Tom Shaw sets up athletes for success

By Preston Kreisler
Sentinel Institute
10:49 PM EDT, July 18, 2009
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/football/orl-sportsikreisler19071909jul19,0,769440.story

Before Ike Taylor emerged as a pro football prospect at Louisiana-Lafayette, before he was taken in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft, before the defensive back earned two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, there was Tom Shaw.

The speed and agility coach has trained athletes for more than 15 years and has known Taylor since he was a ninth-grader in New Orleans.

The bond is so strong that Shaw attended Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa in February — as Taylor's guest.

"He was in New Orleans at first, then he came to Orlando after [ Hurricane] Katrina, and he told me he was here so I moved here," Taylor said. "You can't get any better.

"He'll call me sometimes, and I call him sometimes just to get some insight on what he's seeing and how I'm looking. Other than that, he just lets me do my thing. He takes care of me during the offseason as far as conditioning and training.

"In fact, I got him some tickets to the Super Bowl," Taylor said. "He's my dog, and it was right around the corner from Orlando so I had to show him some love."

While not all of Shaw's clients are as close to him as Taylor, it is an impressive list. Shaw trains more than 45 football players from the NFL and NCAA, among them Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes.

Shaw, 48, has earned their confidence. He was a track standout at New Port Richey Gulf High before playing football at Central Michigan. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's in exercise physiology, he coached for several high school, college and pro teams. He has worked for Florida State, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots.

"Being at Florida State, we had a lot of really good first-round draft choices, so I had the opportunity to work with a lot of really good football players while I was there," Shaw said. "Then, when I moved to New Orleans in '94, I ended up working on my own while I was training athletes for the [NFL] combine."

Now at Disney's Wide World of Sports, Shaw works with potential draft picks training for the combine and veteran NFL players looking to stay in shape.

The cost: About $950 per week.

"I come here to stay in shape and get a good workout," Taylor said. "We pretty much know what we're going to do. We know our strengths and our weaknesses, and Coach Shaw is there to tell us if we're doing too much or too little. It's also mainly the elements because it's so hot in Florida. You can't beat working in the heat, and going back to Pittsburgh is a smooth transition."

Taylor is one of nine Steelers involved in Shaw's training system. Under Shaw, athletes train to improve their speed by running the 40-yard dash while a resistance band is attached to them or by doing vertical jumps while being pulled down by bungee cords. Other drills and exercises emphasize the SPARQ philosophy: Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness.

"Coach Shaw puts us through some great drills to improve our quickness and speed, and in the weight room, we improve our strength and flexibility," former FSU safety Myron Rolle said. "It's very intense. The competition is very fierce, and you're always working hard and competing every day."

Taylor can attest to that. Two days after the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl, he and Shaw were back together — working out.

"That's the key: You have guys that work hard," Shaw said.

"Everybody that's here is dedicated, and it makes it fun knowing that they're here for one reason: to get better and to be able to play for an entire season without getting injured."

Going through the drills at Tom Shaw's Performance Camp

By Lauren Storch
Sentinel Institute
10:49 PM EDT, July 18, 2009
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/football/orl-sportsistorch19071909jul19,0,2577984.story

When Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive back Ike Taylor told me he was "just a product of the system," I had no idea what he meant. Little did I know, I was about to find out first-hand.

Painfully.

It happened Monday morning at Disney's Wide World of Sports, where two of my fellow Institute reporters and I trained at Tom Shaw's prestigious camp for NFL athletes.

Shaw's philosophy is unique and some athletes claim he is the best in the business. He wants his players to see what stepping up their game is all about.

"Once you're in shape, you got to work on stuff that's going to make you faster," Shaw said.

After watching NFL players like Taylor, Greg Jones and James Farrior work out in the sweltering heat, it was my turn to try out the "system."

Shaw didn't want to scare us too much, so we started with some simple passing drills. Shaw threw the football and we attempted to catch it.

The key word is attempted.

We only ran one set of these metabolic routes and later learned that the NFL players are trained to run five sets. An onlooker commented, "You guys sound tired." I quickly replied, "No, I always have a shortness of breath."

Following the routes, Shaw took us to the front of the complex to run downhill. As if I wasn't skeptical enough about sprinting on a steep downhill course, the following dialogue didn't help:

"I'm not sure about having them run downhill because it's not too safe," Shaw said.

"We have waivers," one of the assistants replied.

Talk about reassurance. If you're unfamiliar with Disney waivers, a parent signs a form that states if you (the participant) gets injured or dies, it's not Disney's fault.

So on the way to the downhill run, I became nostalgic about all my most fond memories.

As you can tell, I didn't die. None of us fell, either, which was an accomplishment in itself.

Shaw then led us to an outdoor workout area and showed us several types of resistance exercises.

He proceeded to describe a machine designed to exercise the groin. It was so serious that it didn't have a name.

That's when things got interesting.

"Any takers?" Shaw asked.

"Sure," I replied, jumping at the opportunity and thinking to myself, "It can't be that bad."

Boy, was I wrong.

Yeah, I play soccer and I've worked out before. But never in my life had I experienced the pain delivered by this machine, which should be called the "Rack of Death."

This contraption required me to put my feet in restraining bands on opposite sides of each other. Then, the exercise was to straighten my legs in front of me and lift them up. It was a struggle to extend my legs, let alone lift them.

Shaw's groin exercise seemed more like a full-body "use at your own risk" ordeal. I literally feared my body was going to coil up into a tight ball and never unravel.

When asked if I enjoyed it, without hesitation I replied, "No."

There was no point in trying to fool anybody. They could tell by the fear in my face that I wasn't looking to hop back on any time soon.

Note to self: Don't be the first to volunteer on a sketchy-looking groin exercise.

Aside from that trauma, my experience at the Tom Shaw workout was one that I will never forget. It was not only a blessing that I survived, but I also trained with the elite.

I had to learn the hard way, but now like Taylor, I'm just another "product of the system."

Lauren Storch, who will be a senior at Lake Mary High School, is a participant in the Orlando Sentinel High School Sports Reporting Institute. Her mentor is Assistant Sports Editor Matt Humphrey.

Harris: Complacent? Not these Steelers

By John Harris, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 5, 2009
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_610280.html

The Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII four days ago. Plenty of time for some well-deserved celebrating and merriment at the conclusion of a long season. Good times for all.

Time's up, fellows.

Now get back to work.

This weekend, Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes and some of his teammates are expected to attend the Walt Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, training under the direction of speed and conditioning coach Tom Shaw. They'll assist with the development of potential NFL draft picks while also beginning their offseason workouts.

Cornerbacks Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden, an unrestricted free agent, will join Holmes, with defensive captain James Farrior traveling to Florida after playing in Sunday's Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

So much for Super Bowl complacency setting in among the Steelers.

"A lot of guys," Shaw said, "start feeling sorry for themselves: 'It's been a long season. My shoulders hurt.' You can't do that. You've got to get right back into it."

Holmes -- who trained with Shaw last offseason and, like Taylor, has a home in the Orlando, Fla., area to be closer to the Disney complex -- caught the winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLIII in the game's final minute.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Holmes' superior conditioning made him a better player. Holmes had nine receptions for 131 yards against Arizona in the Steelers' 27-23 win and scored three touchdowns in the postseason.

"I think it started with (last) offseason," Tomlin said. "He came in great physical condition, much better than he was in '07. This is a guy who has a desire to be great. He's willing to do what it takes to make it happen."

Holmes, Taylor and Farrior all enjoyed their best seasons with the Steelers.

Taylor was named a Pro Bowl alternate and provided tough one-on-one coverage against Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, holding him to one reception through the first three quarters of Super Bowl XLIII.

Farrior, 34, led the team in tackles for the fifth time in six seasons and was named to his second Pro Bowl.

"A lot of guys not only look to (Farrior) in terms of how they prepare to play football games, but how to prepare over a 12-month calendar," Tomlin said. "This is a guy who is in great condition 12 months a year, takes a couple of weeks off, and then gets back about the business of preparing himself for the next one. Guys followed that model."

Several players had dinner with Shaw in Tampa the week prior to Super Bowl XLIII. NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, starting inside linebacker Larry Foote, cornerbacks Deshea Townsend and Anthony Madison, and safety Tyrone Carter all made plans to train with Shaw this offseason.

"Quite a few guys said they were coming down," Shaw said. "That's the big thing. You start getting more and more guys because they see the results."

At Disney World, training guru Tom Shaw gets players ready for NFL

By Richard Rosenblatt
ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 21, 2006

D'Brickashaw Ferguson is one confident 300-pound lineman heading to this week's NFL combine – thanks to training guru Tom Shaw.

“I'm happy with my progress. I'm faster, stronger and more explosive,” the 6-foot-5 offensive tackle says. “I'm ready to show what I've got. The camp has been very productive for me.”

NFL personnel are eager for a close-up look at Ferguson, an All-American from Virginia expected to be among the first six players chosen in the April draft.

What they'll see at the NFL's testing ground in Indianapolis are Ferguson and about 40 other finely tuned players fresh from Shaw's intensive training program – Tom Shaw Performance Enhancement.

This year, Shaw is based at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in a deal reached late last year after Hurricane Katrina damaged his spartan facility in Kenner, La., near the airport in New Orleans.

“We were ready to go again 17 days, but the facility was needed to house people in our apartments, and the fields turned into a tent city,” Shaw says. “We were lucky to find a new home.”

Shaw, a 45-year-old former strength and conditioning assistant for the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints, is one of the most respected training coaches around.

He was among the first to open his doors to players hoping to improve their NFL stock. He was a track coach at Florida State, too, and when he began his camp, his top pupil was Deion Sanders, an All-American with the Seminoles who played on Super Bowl winners in Dallas and San Francisco.

Today, there are about 20 different camps around the country offering a variety of programs and run by former coaches, trainers and even sports agents.

“Shaw was a forerunner of these workout programs,” NFL draft adviser Gil Brandt says. “He's highly recommended by a lot of people. His program gets an athlete to do the best he can possibly do and to be prepared for the combine.”

His training philosophy is simple: SPARQ, as in speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness.

“Speed is emphasized,” Shaw's business manager Dave Lowman says. “He's looking to increase speed, plus lower times in the 40 and the shuttle – two big things the combine examines. We also work on stamina and study. Yes, there's class work, too. The players leave with a sense of what to expect, and are usually in the best shape of their lives.”

Over the past six years, 54 players who ended up as first-round picks went through Shaw's program, including Michael Vick and Peyton Manning. But his greatest satisfaction is taking a projected mid-rounder and turning him into a high-round choice. Or a late-rounder into a mid-rounder.

Cornerback Ike Taylor, who had a key interception in the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl victory over Seattle, is among Shaw's most prized pupils. Shaw has known him for about 10 years – since Taylor spent summers at Shaw's camp while growing up in New Orleans.

“His uncle would send him around in the summers, and he'd be around Deion and Terrell Buckley,” Shaw says. “He's fast, and explosive. He went from walk-on at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he played just two years, moved from running back to cornerback, and went from a later-rounder to a fourth-round pick by the Steelers. Now, after three years, he's become one of the best at his position.”

While Shaw's camp boasts a who's who of NFL stars – Tom Brady, Jevon Kearse and John Abraham also went through the program – it was nearly wiped out by Katrina. Shaw and his partners looked to relocate, and made a call to Disney.

Enter Reggie Williams, vice president of Disney sports and recreation who played 14 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Tom Shaw has such a great reputation and we really wanted to work with him to ensure that he could keep doing everything he needed to do, and in a world-class operation,” Williams says. “We host a lot of events, but we still keep our open door.”

Disney's sports complex is the training site for baseball's Atlanta Braves and football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It also has facilities for track and field, cross country, tennis, softball, youth league baseball and the 5,000-seat Milk House for basketball, volleyball, wrestling, martial arts and inline hockey.

“We went from a $1.5 million facility to over a $100 million facility – it's turned out to be a Godsend,” Shaw says. “We had some fields with a track around it, and some corporate apartments. Here there are nine football fields, an Olympic track, a huge weight room and a resort with three swimming pools.”

Just two days after the Steelers won the Super Bowl, Taylor showed up at the camp.

“Got to get back in the program,” he says. “The guys are bigger and stronger every year and you've got to keep up. Plus, this is a great place.”

Looking for an Edge

Many NFL prospects turn to training programs such as the one run by Tom Shaw to improve their position in the draft.

February 23, 2006
By Cammy Clark
Miami Herald

LAKE BUENA VISTA - On a breezy day more than a month ago at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, fleet-footed defensive back Devin Hester of the University of Miami was at one corner of the field doing agility drills.

In another corner, 340-pound offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles of Georgia had a resistance band around his stomach, working on power coming off the line.

''I feel muscles I never knew I had,'' said Jean-Gilles, a North Miami Beach graduate whose perspiration-soaked gray T-shirt read: ``Finish the Drill.''

Hester, who will forgo his senior season, and Jean-Gilles were among 30 college athletes at Disney working toward the same goal: to impress at this week's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

CAMP COUNSELOR

Although teams have hours of game tapes and scouting reports as thick as War and Peace on the prospects, the combine results also are key to the decision-making process for April's NFL Draft.

Running the private training program was 46-year-old Tom Shaw, who got the nickname the ''Speed Guru'' during his days working with Florida State athletes, including Deion Sanders.

Shaw first worked with Sanders while he was with the track team, but the program translated to his football skills, too.

Word got around, and soon a couple of agents in 1994 wanted Shaw to help their clients prepare for the invitation-only combine, which is a whirlwind four-day program of athletic, medical and psychological tests conducted in front of every NFL team's staff.

''Ten or 12 years ago, guys didn't train to get ready for this type of event,'' said agent Roosevelt Barnes of Indiana-based Maximum Sports.

"What we found was our athletes had improvement in the shuttles [a sprinting drill], the 40-yard dash and other drills that enhanced their draft status. After we started sending guys to Tom, then others followed the trend."

Although Tom Shaw Performance Enhancement offered the first combine-specific training program, now there are many around the country. Of the 330 prospects at this year's combine, most have gone through one of them.

''It's like taking classes to get ready for the SATs or any college boards,'' Barnes said. ``It's a critical part of their preparation to move to the next level.''

Shaw's facility was based in Kenner, La., near New Orleans. But Hurricane Katrina forced at least a temporary move to Disney.

His camp includes past and present NFL players who prepare the players for every facet of the combine through teaching and repetition.

READY TO GO

''It's like Groundhog Day every day,'' Shaw said. 'So when they go to the combine, they know, `Oh, that's what I've been doing the last 2 1⁄2 months.' ''

If Barnes didn't believe there was major benefit, his agency wouldn't be spending the thousands of dollars per client to foot the bill.

Shaw, who has three Super Bowl rings from his days working with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, said his intensive program is ''expensive.'' It costs around $1,000 per week per player, plus room and board. The players stayed at nearby resort condos.

But Barnes and the players know that even moving up just one spot in the draft can often mean thousands of dollars more in their first contract.

''I run a legit 4.3 [seconds] in the 40,'' said Hester, who also was receiving treatment for an injured hamstring. ``I'm now trying to get down to the 4.2 range. It's a big difference.''

Jean-Gilles is trying to shed some weight and get stronger, with Shaw providing a nutritionist.

Shaw has a proven track record, with his client list looking like a ''Who's Who'' of the NFL. It includes Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe, Donovan McNabb, Derrick Brooks, Rod Woodson and even the Dolphins' Ricky Williams.

This year Shaw's client list includes Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler and Penn State defensive back Arwar Phillips.

Even baseball stars Johnny Damon and A.J. Pierzynski showed up for a few workouts.

But Shaw cares just as much about helping the projected third-round draft pick move up to the second round as he does about helping a sure first-rounder move up a position or two.

Shaw also knows firsthand how the combine is run. For the past 12 years he has been doing the Cybex testing, which evaluates quadriceps and hamstring strength to ``see how the knee fires.''

Jean-Gilles said he was in the program: ``To get the edge. I hope I move up. That's why I'm here. But even though I know I'll have butterflies in my stomach [at the combine], I also am confident because I will know what to expect.''