Advertisement
It was in San Diego that Isaac Fruechte got a better handle on a new training system being used by the Caledonia High School football team.
“Part of it was with a group, but the last couple days was just the two of us,” the junior said. “It’s helped me a lot.”
It’s actually helped out all of his teammates, too.
Baskett, a nationally renowned football speed specialist based in San Diego, spent two days in Caledonia last April. He explained his techniques in sessions that were open to all Caledonia students.
Football coach Carl Fruechte, a regular communicator with coaches on all levels, arranged the visit out of his own interest in speed training.
He said Baskett, who has worked with a number of NFL All-Pros, assumed he was being contacted by a coach whose team had just endured a rough season.
When informed that Caledonia had just won a state title, Baskett was immediately interested.
After working with Baskett, Carl scrapped his previous system and adopted Baskett’s in full.
“He challenged me on a lot of the things we were doing by asking why we did them,” the coach said. “I would say because Tennessee does them or because LSU does them.
“I really didn’t have a specific reason.”
Baskett even developed a workout that the ninth-ranked Warriors (12-1) used last week to get ready for today’s MSHSL Class AA title game against third-ranked Luverne (12-1).
Its results are seen in players’ stances when they are on the field and in the stamina they show at the end of the game.
“It’s about body alignment, stride, arm angle and shoulders,” Carl said. “He’s all about mechanics.
“He said our lower (body) mechanics were good, but our upper (body) mechanics struggled.”
Isaac, who played outside linebacker last season, has used Baskett’s concepts to excel at safety this year.
He’s intercepted six passes, and he returned one of them 46 yards for a
touchdown in a 44-13 state semifinal victory over Moose Lake/Willow River.
“The fact that he’s such a student of the game made him a great linebacker,” Caledonia defensive coordinator Brent Schroeder said. “With his speed, I felt he could play safety and make sure we never get beat deep.”
Isaac’s work has proven Schroeder to be right on his assessment.
