Mendenhall painstakingly researched all the best practices on human performance and human development, and all the most powerful predictors for growth and progress to create value systems within his program to promote adequate growth.
Mendenhall despises the college football gear culture, one that showers players with as much swag as possible on Day 1. To him, any gear is earned, not expected, so he created a color-coordinated player rating system based on the color of workout shirts players would be given during seven-week cycles, depending on how they performed in various lifts, agility, jumping and conditioning drills. Mendenhall based the system on the martial arts belt scale and every player would begin with a plain white shirt, with the goal of jumping to gray, orange, blue, and finally different levels of black.
White: Below average
Gray: Average
Orange: Decent
Blue: Might be stud
Black: You're a badass
To graduate from colors, players have to meet certain numbers during their workouts, but even after that, they're sent on a "rite of passage" that features different weight packs to be worn through stadium steps and "mountains to climb" before they can grab their new color.
"It's amazing what a T-shirt means once they've done all that," Mendenhall said. "It's a big deal."
The color scheme is a transparent way of showing players exactly where they -- and the team -- stand and coaches design their schemes and strategies to leverage the colors.
"If our entire team is in gray, which is average, that doesn't indicate a healthy or dominant program," Mendenhall said.
"They know every day when they put on their gear what color they are, whether they're an average performer -- which would be a Group of 5 level."
