MISSOULA — The quarterback gets all the glory and the head coach takes all the heat, but the man who spends the most time with the full collection of Grizzlies is most times nowhere close to the headlines.
Yet Matt Nicholson, Montana football’s strength and conditioning coach, is as dedicated to his craft and as influential to the product on the field each Saturday as anyone involved with Griz football.
The former walk-on linebacker at Houston first gained an affinity for strength and conditioning during his time trying to prove himself with the Cougars. Before long, he’d transformed his body into a strapping 6-foot-3, 230-pound prototype to play FBS outside linebacker. He piled up 66 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in 2008, played just three games because of a knee injury in 2009, then returned for a huge final season in 2010. He served as a two-year team captain and won multiple off-season conditioning awards, laying the foundation for his future passion.
Montana strength and conditioning coach Matt Nicholson /by Brooks Nuanez
Since then, the soon-to-be 30-year-old — his birthday is Friday, September 29 — has been hooked on sculpting the human body. To hear him talk about molding the body of college athletes is to hear a man who has spent hours upon hours studying his craft. That dedication, at least in terms of the eye test, is paying huge dividends for Montana. The physiological and psychological improvements UM is counting on will be put to a true test Saturday night. The Griz open Big Sky Conference play against Eastern Washington in Missoula.
“Matt is fantastic and not only is he very good at what he does in the weight room — we get stronger, more powerful — but he’s the coach that spends the most time with these guys,” Montana head coach Bob Stitt said earlier this month. “He’s sending the same message as the coaches. Our players really, really enjoy being down there with him. He’s a big, big part of our football staff.”
Because of NCAA rules, Montana’s coaching staff is not allowed to coach and mentor players aside from designated times outside the season. The strength coach however has no limit. Because of his personal experience as a Division I linebacker combine with his dedication to influencing the Griz in a positive way, Nicholson guides Montana more often than any member of Stitt’s staff.
“Every minute you spend together working out is time that is spent toward building relationships and bringing everyone closer,” UM senior H receiver Makena Simis said in mid-August. “With a team sport like football, it’s not like many other team sports. Everyone has a different specific individual job and you have to be able to trust everyone on the field. Being together in those times pushing each other in the weight room and in the off-season, it’s huge. You can’t overstate it.
“And that all starts with the weight room and that starts with (Nicholson) because he’s just relatable. He is himself around us. He doesn’t try to be anyone else. He brings energy every day. It’s a cliché but sometimes you have to fake it. He preaches that, bringing energy because that brings the whole group around and everyone starts working. It all starts with him.”
The knowledge, expertise and hard work Nicholson put in to mold the Griz during the last nine months has been on full display early on this football season. During UM’s fall camp in August, seemingly each Griz that exited the tunnel onto the Washington-Grizzly Stadium turf for each summer practice showed noticeable physical improvements in terms of muscle tone, size and formidability compared to last fall.
Montana senior H receiver Makena Simis /by Brooks Nuanez
The strength and mass gains across Montana’s roster served as a defining observation for anyone who took in the Griz live during preseason preparation. A total of 18 players gained 10 pounds or more, paced by junior defensive tackle Kyle Davis gaining 24 pounds between the 2016 finale and the opening of 2017 fall camp. The Griz 95-man active roster averaged gains of 5.11 pounds.
Davis’ gains came in muscle and mass while players like Simis, sophomore defensive tackle Jesse Sims and junior outside linebacker Josh Buss made impressive progress in terms of pure lean muscle mass. Simis a converted quarterback now playing slot wide receiver, gained 20 pounds to tip the scale at 235. His physique is hardly recognizable compared to the frame he played with his first four years at UM.
“I worked with (Nicholson) pretty closely with dieting stuff,” Simis said in mid-August. “That’s just as big as all the work you put in on the field and in the weight room. He builds different programs for each person and their needs. He gives us guides if we want to do extra stuff. If you are willing to do it, he will help you along the way.
“Nicholson puts as much time on his own as anyone when he’s not with us, studying, doing research, figuring out what’s going to help us improve. He puts a lot of time into the individual players just working on what each individual’s needs. I think that’s what sets him apart. He takes us to another level.”
Sims, a sophomore defensive tackle who put on 16 pounds of lean mass in the off-season to get up to a chiseled and intimidating 274 pounds, has carved out a reputation as a weight room warrior. Nicholson said it only took a few workouts to notice “this guy is different.”
Sims, Nicholson said, approaches every aspect of his training “like a professional.” While a great deal of FCS linemen pack on pounds by gaining muscle but also spiking body fat due to eating calories from any source they can get their hands on, Sims is dedicated to the timing, type and consistency of his diet and weight training. Nicholson often walks into his office to find Sims warming up his pre-prepared meals in his microwave ready to ask inquisitive questions about improving his total body conditioning.
Montana sophomore defensive tackle Jesse Sims/by Jason Bacaj
“The way he goes about his business, the way he takes care of his body, the way he eats, his maturity overall are very impressive,” Nicholson said. “He’s kind of like a great white shark: he keeps eating and growing every single day.”
Sims has executed an 8,000-calorie daily diet for more than a year. He’s also put in tremendous work in the weight room, solidifying up eye-popping max lifts and setting the tone in the weight room for the Griz. On the field, the prep product of Stevensville and Corvallis is in the midst of his second season as a starter on the interior defensive line.
During fall camp, Sims acknowledged that he can squat between 245 and 250 kilograms, which is roughly 540 to 551 pounds. His best power clean is 150 kilos, or about 332 pounds. While Sims is as self-motivated an athlete as you will find, at least in terms of strength training, he gives credit to Nicholson for driving him.
“He really knows what he’s doing as a coach, really energetic all the time,” Sims said. “He’s really good at working with different people, certain things they need to work on. He’s very smart with what he’s doing.”
Nicholson himself still looks the part of ripped weight lifter who carries an authoritative aura. As he walks in the middle of Wash-Griz each day during Montana’s pre-practice stretching routines, all eyes are on him as he confidently guides the Griz.
That demeanor comes from overcoming adversity of both lack of opportunity and injuries as a player. His voracious study habits to ensure he is sharp in his training methods also helps him project his expertise.
Following the end of his college career, Nicholson spent three years as a graduate assistant at Houston. During his tenure at his alma mater, Nicholson helped three Houston defenders to the NFL, including D.J. Hayden (Oakland Raider, 2013), Sammy Brown (St. Louis Rams, undrafted free agent, 2012) and Phillip Steward (St. Louis Rams, undrafted free agent, 2013).
Montana strength and conditioning coach Matt Nicholson /by Brooks Nuanez
He officially joined Stitt’s staff as the inside linebackers coach and strength coach in 2013. He spent two seasons with Stitt at Mines before making the move to Montana in 2015.
Since then, Nicholson has dedicated himself to trying to find all the best minds in the field to study, research, reach out to and learn from. He’s gone to numerous conferences and clinics, rubbing shoulders and learning from some of the top minds in the business.
“I want everything that we are doing to stay cutting edge and is proven to work and has sound science to back it,” Nicholson said. “I think that’s the most important thing: staying current and branching out to find THE best people in whatever aspect of training we are considering.”
Nicholson has put a high priority on the diversity and full picture of fine-tuning the Grizzlies’ bodies. Increasing a player’s squat, bench press or power clean is only one step in the process. He wants to make sure UM’s players understand “applied force on certain angles on the field” and that they “know how to get themselves into certain positions efficiently” through functional movement.
“It’s like a car,” Nicholson said. “In the off-season, you are putting the car in the shop and you are building that horse power. But at the same time, you have to have a good driver and if those guys can’t bend and move and do the things they can do on the field, it doesn’t matter how much horse power they have.”
Montana outside linebacker Josh Buss /by Brooks Nuanez
Like Simis acknowledged, Nicholson has put a high priority on nutrition. Nicholson constantly harps to his charges that they cannot come to campus or go to class or prepare for practice without knowing where their next meal is coming from. Fuel is essential if the car is to run efficiently with power.
Throughout the last three years, Nicholson has tried to create an environment in his office, in the weight room and in the stadium during training and practice that is welcoming. Nicholson has exit meetings twice a year, talking to the Griz “like men, giving them advice to help them in life now and down the road.” Physical progression, mental fortification and impressive strength are all tangible measures of Nicholson’s influence and success. The chance to observe personal growth is what keeps him motivated to continue pushing the envelope.
“It’s fun for me to watch so many of these guys, guys I’ve had for three years now, to watch them go out and have success on the field and then afterward, success in life,” Nicholson said. “That’s the most rewarding part. It’s really, truly enjoyable.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez, Jason Bacaj and Colter Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
