In this episode of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, Jeff Madden reflects on his legendary career in strength and conditioning, beginning as a 21-year-old coach and evolving into a national championship-winning leader. He shares the critical role quality equipment plays in athlete development, the collaborative innovations he experienced with Samson Equipment, and the realities of navigating university procurement processes. Jeff dives into the relationships that define the profession — from administrators and donors to athletes whose lives are shaped in the weight room. Through championship victories and difficult losses, he emphasizes that strength coaching is ultimately about preparation, trust, and building a lasting legacy.
Key Takeaways
- Jeff Madden began his strength coaching career at just 21 years old.
- Strong relationships with equipment manufacturers lead to meaningful innovation.
- Quality equipment directly impacts athlete performance and training culture.
- University procurement processes can be one of the biggest challenges for strength coaches.
- Championship programs are built through preparation, consistency, and trust.
- Strength coaches play a central role in the success of athletic departments.
- Personal connections with athletes often outlast wins and losses.
- Samson Equipment has played a significant role in the evolution of modern weight rooms.
Quote
“You can’t coach his heart.” — Jeff Madden
Samson:
How did you get the nickname mad dog?
Jett Madden:
my dad was a Marine, you know, and I woke up doing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips every single day, folding the corners of the bed and all that kind of stuff. And he told me through this life, you’ve got to be like steel.
wrapped in cotton. So you have to have that hardcore interior and the soft exterior as you’re talking to people and helping people through this life. And I always took that to heart.
Samson:
What’s going on Sampson strength coach collective listeners. Today’s episode is another special edition of our Sampson legacy series where we’re celebrating 50 years of Sampson equipment and celebrating Dave and Linda for their great success. Today’s episode, we have a good friend of Dave and Linda’s and a legend within the field. I’m sure you are all very, very familiar with his name. This is Jeff Mad Dog Madden. Thank you so much for coming on.
Jett Madden:
Thanks for having me. Excited about doing it.
Samson:
Well, I’m stoked about it, seriously. And personally, this is exciting for me too, because your name was probably the second name I ever heard in the field when I first got into strength and conditioning. So it’s a pleasure to meet you and I’m excited to get to know you more. Can you kind of just give us a background of your career, some stops you’ve been and then what you’re currently up to as well.
Jett Madden:
Well, I I’ve had a very interesting life and it happened quick. I mean, I got my first job when I was 21 years old and I was at the University of Cincinnati after I graduated. I went on and played for the Memphis Shellboats of the United States Football League. Went from there to Rice University. We were there for five and a half years. Went from Rice to Colorado where we won back to back to back championships and national titles. I had great players.
You know, just just had fun. I went from there to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, you know, where we had great players, you know, and I was always in charge of all sports, either an assistant or associate athletic director, as well as a strength and conditioning coach. Therefore, I got to touch all the different athletes and, you know, all their coaches and everything else. I went from there to the University of Texas and, you know, Longhorns for 17 and a half years.
So there’s been a lot of years in there, but it’s been a whole lot of fun. We’ve got to meet great people like ⁓ Dave and Linda, especially in the early years when we first started getting this thing done.
Samson:
Well, that’s exciting and I love to hear it. You know, are you retired now?
Jett Madden:
Well, they say I am, but I still go around to different universities trying to help them with team building, ⁓ helping the strength coaches and that kind of stuff. So that’s kind of like a consultant type business. ⁓ I still have my explosive power business, my own gym stuff. ⁓ The hurricane came in and killed my building, but I’m still going around helping people. Beyond that,
Samson:
Yeah
Jett Madden:
There is no such thing as just retirement ⁓ for strength coaches. We’re coaching everything. I I went from ⁓ coaching my teams to coaching my granddaughter to coaching my wife, anybody that’s around you, you’re coaching, so.
Samson:
That’s correct. I had to learn very early on when I was with my wife that I can not coach her as much as I do the athletes around here. That was a tough lesson for me to learn. Yes. There we go. Great. Yes. That’s exactly correct. A hundred percent. Well, obviously we’re celebrating Dave and Linda and their great success. When did you first encounter Samson Equipment?
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
Well, you can’t culture his heart. They don’t listen to you. can’t culture his heart. You can tell him some things. Go ahead. ⁓
Well, I’m thinking back, we were probably 1984, 83, 84. I was at Rice University and I got the pleasure to meet them both. They flew me out to New Mexico. Dave and Linda did an excellent job. basically…
He took me out in the yard and showed me all the different types of steel and let me know where he got the steel from and that kind of stuff. We exchanged ideas back and forth. I I was always trying to be ahead of the game, and that’s one of the ways I wanted to go with Samson equipment. So I got to get in there and see those dumbbells being forged by 10,000 pounds of pressure with the rubber bushings and buffers on there. the things…
you know, that they had that unilateral bilateral leg press. That was the first one I had ever seen, you know, and got on it and really loved it and made a big difference in our wins and losses. You know, it makes a big difference in your program. The standing, the standing leg curl, you know, had a great isolation to it, you know. So, and one thing about Dave and Linda is they wanted to listen to whatever you had to say.
you know how it worked for you and how it worked for your athletes or is there was anything they could do to change different things but they were right on top of everything. You know we got to be pretty daggone good friends. mean I was helping I wrote programs for Scott and those guys when they were running track and field back in the day. It’s their sons you know so it was just a good relationship you know they came to several football games ⁓ over the years from the different places I’ve been at you know but.
Everywhere I’ve gone, I consistently stay with the Samson dumbbell. know, one thing, the main reason is they’ve been so good that if anything ever happens to any of their equipment, they honor it, you know, and they come out or you send it back to them or they send you something brand new. mean, I’m look like I’m thinking I’m in year seven or year eight ⁓ and had two dumbbells break and they never.
broke before but our guys were being kind of ruthless with them. mean, they were taking the hundreds and once they get them, they get excited and then they throw them, you know, instead of just placing them back like they’re supposed to. And I told Dave that and he had no problem. just next thing I know, few days later, I had two new dumbbells. So you can’t beat that.
Samson:
Yeah, especially being able to fly out and actually see how everything is made. That’s a pretty rare experience to me. And I’ve heard a lot of different coaches describe that. What was it like actually seeing the process of how all the equipment was made?
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
Well, it was good because, you know, I like stuff like that, you know, so to actually see it and him talk me through it, you know, go through the warehouse, you know, see the guys and their work and guys and girls and their work and then what they were trying to get accomplished. You know, I’m sure that the whole thing has expanded so much more since the early 80s, you know, but they were on top of things, you know, and they had a great price for his steel. And he let me understand the thickness of the steels and what would make the difference because
You know, was looking at buying these big, huge ones, you know, just to look massive. But then when he showed me how much stronger the ones he was using, whereas compared to that, I was right on time.
Samson:
And so you mentioned with the unilateral leg press and these kind of different pieces of equipment and staying ahead of the curve, how does that translate to wins for you? How does that help your team win?
Jett Madden:
Well, that all translates to wins. I mean, the bottom line is you’re always trying to find an edge. You’re always trying to find something to make it better. I mean, of course we squat, we front squat, we do step ups, we do all lunges. We do everything else that other people do. But when you had that ⁓ unilateral bilateral, you can do it together sometimes and you can do them apart sometimes. So it’s amazing how that worked, you know, and I would sit up there and fool with it and try to push it with my hands, you know, getting ⁓
front squat position and push up, you know, ⁓ just to make it seem that, you know, there’s something else that our linemen and stuff could do. So, you know, that’s one thing about you. If you’re a good coach, you’re always trying to find different ways to do things to try to make your team better.
Samson:
And can you talk to me a little bit about that collaborative process? Because we’ve had ⁓ different coaches on, like I remember Bill Ferran came on and talked about how they needed equipment for seven feet tall players, right? They needed things that could really help their weight room. Scott Warman talked about a lot of different designs that he made. First of all, what did it mean to you to have somebody who would listen to you and really want to see what you wanted out of your weight room? And then were there any things that you kind of collaborated on that you were really proud of in your partnership?
Jett Madden:
Right.
Well, everybody listens to you, so don’t get it wrong. They’re gonna listen because they want your money, okay? Because you have the budget to pay for whatever’s going on and whatever you need. When I say listen, I mean, he took the time to actually listen and go through it with you and try different things to see how it would work, you know, whether we, I don’t know if it was like the…
What was that thing called? was, it’s a, it’s a small rack, but I wanted it wider and I wanted it taller. Just like you said, what, ran, since friends got those guys, I want everything where I can have a seven footer in there. You know, I wanted to, why? Cause my linemen were big dudes. I mean, they need a big 300 pound guys, you know, six, seven, three 67. I mean, these were some giants, you know, ⁓ back then even, you know, it was some big boys, you know, so we had to make sure.
It’s big enough, it’s strong enough, it’s sturdy enough. ⁓ And that’s one thing he always did. So when I talked about making situations to where we have six inches more, and inside, that throws off your jigs, it throws off all your stuff you have already. But if you can do it, you’d be amazed what you can get. And that little six inches made a big difference.
Samson:
Absolutely, well, it totally revolutionizes how you can train. And like you said, that’s, I mean, those are massive proportions for players, especially back in the eighties, like you’re mentioning, let alone today. Obviously there’s going to be specialized equipment that’s necessary. You you go out to Sampson, you’re able to experience ⁓ the actual building and the actual company. What was your first kind of impression when you met with them? What was the impression that you had of Sampson, let’s say even before going out to the company and then afterwards getting to meet everybody?
Jett Madden:
Well, just so you understand me, I deal with people and that’s the most important thing, you know, and they’re good people and they got great hearts. And when you have folks like that, you know, that are Christian folks that, you know, really care about what’s going on with you and what’s going on with their program and trying to find a solution to try to help you get better. That’s what makes the difference. You know, I read through people pretty well. You know, I’ve been blessed with that foresight to see some things and.
I’m just blessed to know that I had those folks in my life and they were there for me and they also helped me have a great, successful career.
Samson:
Well, that’s amazing. So I was actually on the phone with Scott. He told me kind of an interesting story and I wanted to see if we could go back to this one. ⁓ He told me when you were working over at Colorado, that I believe the University of priced out and I cannot remember the name of the department right now for some reason. It’s not purchasing procurement, right? ⁓ And ⁓ they priced out a wait room for you and then procurement said you have to end up having to go with a different company.
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
You have no choice. kind of got to go with them. And I believe Scott was saying that Dave said, ultimately that company is not going to be able to give you the same equipment that we are. The specs aren’t going to be correct. And you ended up sending back almost every single piece. Can you tell me about that story a little bit?
Jett Madden:
Yeah, he’s telling company secrets there. And tell Scott also, ⁓ I helped him. He wanted that design with that ⁓ dumbbell where you can ⁓ switch weights on the dumbbell. He owes me one of those. So anyway, I got a weight room out there. I need that. Anyway, but ⁓ when you talk about the Colorado project and what happened there, yeah, I had a guy come in from Ohio and I’m from Ohio.
Samson:
I’ll communicate it for sure.
Jett Madden:
but he was a nice guy and he had great ideas on different things. He undercut all the pricing pretty much almost by 50%. So when your university, you know, the only thing you can purchase at a university when I was doing it was up to $10,000 and it had to be under.
You know, the only way you can do it with a signature only is if that was just one unique piece that nobody else had. You know, so when you’re talking about racks and you’re talking about, you know, bench presses and inclines and all that kind of stuff, everybody makes them. Okay. So, I mean, all the equipment companies make them. So you had to have a justification of why you were going to upwards of a hundred plus thousand dollars.
on equipment. So this guy came in, he 50 %ed everything at the most because they’re all closed bids. And you as a strength coach don’t know who’s going to get the bid until the bid has been granted by the university. You know, and I’m not ever going to do anything illegal, but I know who had the great ability to do it and who was an upstart company. So the upstart company came, they won the bid.
You know, was like, okay. And they won the bid. He brought a bench press, an incline, a multi-purpose bench, and one squat rack. And I had a brand new 15,000 square foot weight room. And that’s all he brought. You know, and that was late. I mean, that was way late. So I got a brand new building.
Samson:
Insane.
Jett Madden:
And I got all my old equipment, you know, from the seventies in there, you know, so I put it all in the middle of the room, you know, and I remember our administration coming up, well, why don’t you move it all out? Why don’t you put it like, no, no, no. I’ll put it right here so everybody can work out right in the central area. You know, I was doing that on purpose because I was trying to let them know you need to unleash the purchase. You need to unleash the, the books so I can go ahead and get the people in here that can do the job the right way.
Samson:
And so how long did this process take? Cause I mean, you’ve got guys you’re trying to train, right? And you’ve got one squat rack, one bench. mean, that’s going be a long process there, I’m sure.
Jett Madden:
Well, you got to understand now we’re coming off the national championship. So we won a lot, you know, and so it’s not like we didn’t have money, you know, but we, we doubt the Dow ward centers is what we built. built a huge hundred thousand square foot facility where I can’t remember what we might be under a hundred. I know Texas does everything real big, you know, but back then, you know, in late eighties and early nineties, it was a premier place, but.
It was a premier place where they did not qualify the money for the equipment inside. You know, you got the formation of the gym, you got the beautiful windows, look out on Folsom Field, look at the mountains and all that kind of stuff. You got a nice 20 foot patio out there. You can go have lunch or something, but having lunch is not winning championships. know, so inside the room, there was all the
from the old school, nautilus stuff to, I mean, just stuff. ⁓ Yes, we won a national championship with that stuff, but our players sucked it up and they knew they were gonna get a new building and they knew they were gonna get new equipment, but they didn’t get it for months. And that bid had been in for months and then we took more months to get it. anyway. Vote, vote.
Samson:
Yeah, it’s a long process
and you want to train your guys.
Jett Madden:
Those are things you try to forget ⁓ that happen to you in this business. But I mean, that’s part of it. know, so strength coaches, those are listening. They understand there’s processes you have to go through. Every university is different, you know, and once we went through that process, they had a better understanding as yes, the strength and conditioning coach knows what they need, you know, and that was the point that I got across. And being an associate athletic director, I was able to talk a little bit more crap to them.
Samson:
Hahaha
Which is always good. How do you communicate that to administration? Because obviously as strength coaches, we know that it’s very valuable to have this high quality equipment. The players, like you mentioned, even know that they know that it’s a big piece of their training and they need to have access to this equipment. How do you communicate that to administration to really explain the need besides a bottom line number of, okay, they can go cheaper, so we should go with that.
Jett Madden:
than other folks, right.
Well, what happened with me that I was truly blessed, I mean, to have so many wins. mean, it’s just like, you know, just like Boyd Epley at Nebraska at the time, he can get what he wanted, you know. So once you get to that point and you get a donor involved in it, you know, like some of these folks are now with this NIF. I put my name on a piece of equipment, I think I would have made a little bit of money, you know. So, you know, but I’m watching these kids now.
you know, signing for four million, signing for five million. I mean, that that could get you a whole brand new weight room and everything else you need and pay guy salary for a year. You know, so it’s a little different now than it was back then. You know, but you have to have an understanding person, you know, whether it be your your president or whether it be your administrative budget person or the
the athletic director and a lot of these athletic directors are becoming vice presidents of universities now, if you noticed. You know, they have their thumb on them and the pulse, but you have to have a good enough relationship with them to let them understand that you know what you’re talking about.
Samson:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got to have that good relationship like you said. Ultimately, what was that first lift like when you had the full weight room together, everybody, the full facilities done, the players finally get unleashed into this brand new weight room. What was that like?
Jett Madden:
Well, it’s pretty much like you see on YouTube and all the other stuff now with all these folks. Back then we didn’t have all that cameras and you know, when we had a camera, it was like a big TV camera or something like that you had put on your shoulder. And you know, we didn’t have everything like that in the weight room back then. So those guys were excited. were, they were happy that they had the good stuff as they call it, you know? And what happens after that, you know, after those early 90 years, weight rooms became show palaces.
You know, I mean, I won weight room of the year three times at Texas, you know, because it was a show palace. I mean, it was a 25,000 square foot weight room. But, you know, I had a donor, you know, Dr. Nasser Al Rashid is a tremendous donor. He, whatever you want, whatever you need, he fly me anywhere around the world to go get it. You know, I was excited about that. So it was, it was in my brain and my staff’s brain to sit up there when we saw different pieces across the country that we wanted.
you know, or we saw something that might be a good interest or we, you know, put our heads together to find a way to change something to make it better. You know, he was right there with us to just write the check. So that’s a wonderful thing.
Samson:
Yeah, absolutely. I guess one thing I’m curious about too, because in my own personal experience, I’ve had donors come up to me and kind of start that conversation about, okay, what do need to do to help this weight room out? What do we need to do to make this the best in the sunbelt for basketball, right? ⁓ How did you develop those relationships? What were the things that you focused on? Did they kind of approach you first or did you actively go out and outreach to try to get the best equipment?
Jett Madden:
Right.
No, I didn’t have to do that. was, I was very fortunate at Texas when they recruited me and brought me in. met the governor who turned out to be the president Bush, you know, and had a great relationship with him. You know, I met several dignitaries as well as the Darrell Royal, who was the famous coach from, ⁓ who had won three national championships of Texas. He was there. I mean, all these people I talked to on my visit to get me to come Earl Campbell.
I mean, just, people that are phenomenal about the pride and winning tradition of the Texas Longhorns, you know? So I had an open situation like that. The guy that I told you about Dr. Nasser Al Rashi, he had built the weight room. So in his, he, he gave the first million dollars. And when Dana LaDuke was the strength and conditioning coach, he was a great friend of mine here and they, and that made Texas the standard.
that was up above a lot of people. ⁓ Then he was out of the program for a while. When I came back in, he told me, said, you and your family will never want for anything. And what, these are the things I expect you to do, and I did them. And like he said, you won the weight room of the year three times in the years that you were here, and you put it on a national scene and you’ve done everything to help these guys and girls.
win championships was one thing about athletic departments. When football is rolling, the majority of the sports start rolling. You know, so when you’re winning in football and then you’re winning in basketball and then baseball is playing for national championships and then we have swimming and diving, winning national championships every year. was a golf got started winning national championships. So what happened was that that ball rolls and flows and everybody wants to win.
And when you got a coach, you know, that myself, you know, that has those guys, I went to watch the women’s basketball. I took my guys over to watch, ⁓ to watch, when I was in North Carolina, to watch the girls play ⁓ field hockey, you know, and went to practice and the coaches like, well, you guys don’t have the field yet. And I’m like, no, Karen, I know that I brought them here to watch champions win.
I brought them here so they can see what it takes to win. know, we are, you know, I came to North Carolina, they were starting to win, you know, but they had not won big, you know. So when the field hockey team had won a national championship the year before and they were practicing and I wanted our guys to sit there for 15, 20 minutes in an orderly fashion and watch the girls work. And when they did it, they’re like, wow, they get after it. And I’m like, yeah, they do.
Now let’s go on the other side of the field and let’s get after it.
Samson:
Yeah, that’s a great program with a lot of success, obviously. So it’s great to see other people win. ⁓ And I love the actual application of it, right? And one of my favorite things that I always have this conversation every year with our new players that come in, because I work with basketball. ⁓ And they always sometimes get a little bit jealous, think, especially at App State, great football program. And so basketball is not nearly as big here. And they always kind of.
Jett Madden:
Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
look at football a little bit and they’re like, well, we don’t really want them to win. want, you know, basketball to win so people come to our games more. And I said, you’ve got it a thousand percent wrong. Not even a hundred percent is a thousand percent wrong. We want football to be as successful as possible. We want football to get a lock in for the playoffs, everything that we can possibly have. Because like you said, football really trickles down and helps everybody in those situations. No.
Jett Madden:
Yes. Yes.
Mm-hmm. No question.
And that’s what, what I was, like I said, I was fortunate enough back then to, had every sport. So if you got all sports, you can do a whole lot more, you know? And ⁓ then when I went to ⁓ North Carolina, I started building a staff to where, you know, I had different staff members go with ⁓ the different teams. And as I told our, our boss, the Lost Dodgers here at Texas, that there will be a day when every major sport.
has their own strength coach, you know, and he like, no, that’ll never happen. I don’t think that it happened really quick. And he started understanding because those strength coaches got into those programs. And it’s really like having a whole nother coach on your staff because they don’t just do strength. You you got all the flexibility, you got the speed training, you got the distance training, you got everything. When you’re doing basketball, you got, you know, even if you were doing swimming, you know, you’d have wet training and you have dry land training. So
I mean, there are so many different things that we do that I’m so excited now that athletic directors are starting to understand that how valuable the strength coach is, you know, and I can remember standing in front of athletic directors at a meeting and just telling them there’s going to be a time when the strength coach is going to make a million dollars, you know, and well deserve it because, you know, basically the head football coach says, this is my team, you got them.
you know, three, four months later, they come back, you know, so I mean, you know, then you turn it back over to them. So when you do that, you know, you’re as, as important as office coordinator and the defensive coordinator. So that was.
Samson:
Absolutely.
I mean, you spend the most time with them pretty much at all times. And I think about now, obviously traveling with basketball, mean, most of my time is I think about we’ve got what, two hours to lift in season. And the rest of my time is stretching guys, mobility, setting up nutrition stuff, making sure that everybody’s warmed up. That’s what most of my time is spent on in season. So like you said, it’s like having another coach around who can really be there to help and assist the program. And it makes a huge difference. I remember when I first came here,
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
It was my birthday and our coach was upset that I was at practice. He was like, why are you at practice? It’s a late practice, go home. And I was like, because the previous coach never, strength coach never went to practice, right? And I said, coach, I understand that, but like I’m a coach with the team, I’m here at practice. This is the reason why I’m here. So I can be a part of the team. I can see how you guys coach with the languages and then we can eventually integrate it into what we’re trying to do with the weight room too. And he was cracking me up because he was really trying to get me to go home. And I was like, no, it’s my job. I’m going to be here.
Jett Madden:
You
Really?
Samson:
And so now they don’t even second guess it when I’m there at practice or film, whatever it may be, because ultimately you have to be around for all those things to be a part of the team and to be another coach.
Jett Madden:
Well, I tell you that that’s a great story, you know, and one of mine is when my birthday came up and ⁓ they bought Bevo is our big longhorn. That whole group of the Cowboys came over. They had a whole celebration, brought the cake and bought Spurs and in the Southwest Conference and then now the
the big 12, big eight, then big 12, and now the SEC, when a new head coach comes into ⁓ the conference and you come to a home game at Texas, they present you with a beautiful cowboy hat. I mean, a very expensive one, like a $500 hat. Then they give you a pair of spurs, know, silver spurs group. And ⁓ they don’t usually bring Bevo, but they sure did. You know, so I was really excited about
the fact, because it was a total surprise. I was just finishing a workout and that group came through the door, you know, and asked me to come outside and then they presented everything. So I thought that was a great birthday, you know, because I had no idea people knew when my birthday was.
Samson:
Absolutely. Happy birthday. And I’m sure you still hold on to those. Those are treasure possessions now, for sure.
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
yeah,
no question, no question. Like I said, that’s what they present to the visiting head coach on this first trip into Austin, Texas.
Samson:
Absolutely.
Wow. And now it’s coming on your birthday. Happy birthday. Big birthday there. Incredible. Well, you mentioned meeting Dave and Linda in the eighties, ⁓ but ultimately, obviously these companies all kind of have a brand and a reputation and they’re known throughout the strain and conditioning world. What was the impression of Sampson at the time in the eighties and what do you believe the impression of Sampson is now?
Jett Madden:
Well, I’ll adjust that question. Once again, I told you I’m in the people, you know, and I like them. So I know they’re giving you everything they possibly have to give you the best product. So I’ll listen to them over some other people, know, ⁓ know, Scott and them, they got to come on. They got to, they got to do their thing.
⁓ I’m teasing him. No, I’m teasing him. No, he’s doing a good job. His brother’s doing a great job. Those guys are great guys. They were raised right, you know, and they show respect at all times. ⁓ You know, it’s only because I’ve been in the business for 42 years. You know, it’s, you know, I remember them when they were kids. So, you know, they’re doing a great job. They’re doing an excellent job. I’ve looked, I looked through the book that you guys sent with all the new products. I mean,
It’s first class work. ⁓ It’s, what do you call it? It’s beautiful work. mean, they’re putting the logos, the names, they’re putting everybody’s information on there. I mean, it’s just first class work. And Linda and Dave would have nothing less than that. So I would just speculate that it’s gonna continue to grow and it’s gonna continue to be great.
Samson:
Absolutely. ⁓ But I can agree Brian and Scott got to come on a little bit, right? ⁓ Yeah, absolutely. They’ve been nothing but amazing to me. ⁓ we touched on this just a little bit, right? We’re talking about kind of the unilateral leg press and just different variety and equipment. But from your perspective, how has Samson influenced the field of strength and conditioning?
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm. They’re young guys. They’re young guys.
Yeah, I’m sure.
Well, I think they’ve been a great influence. mean, you got to think now, this was, they started at 76 maybe around then, and I didn’t get to meet them until 83, 84, you ⁓ know, but antiquated equipment is what was in the seventies. I mean, if you didn’t, you had your Nautilus. I mean, that was good. Then you had a universal machine, you know, so they came in and changed a whole lot of things.
you know, and even from having stations and that kind of stuff. mean, they did a tremendous job. So when you think about the innovation of it, mean, Dave was on the cutting edge. was always, I don’t know, it we was with his engineer or he just had an engineering degree himself, but he just had all the thoughts in his brain on how things should be. And he was a lifter. So, I mean, when you got somebody that does
handle the weights and that kind of stuff. It makes a difference. And Linda had tremendous personality. She was always, whenever you call, she’d always put you right to the front of the line, you know, and get you in there. And if you had any kind of questions about anything, she’d handle it. You know, so it was a very professional organization just run by a few people.
Samson:
Absolutely. And that’s something that I’ve heard universally from a lot of different guests and people who’ve worked with Sampson is just the ingenuity and the personability of the company is really what kind of drives it and what allows it to be successful. ⁓ Did you work on any other projects? Obviously, you mentioned the big project of setting up the Colorado weight room. Did you work on any other projects that were memorable for you as Sampson?
Jett Madden:
Well, you know, the main thing with them is I’m going to wherever I go, I’m going to get dumbbells, you know? So, I mean, where else can you get? Well, I mean, now you can do it, but back then two and a half pound increments. So I had dumbbells from five pounds up to 150 pounds and two and a half pound increments. And then after 150 to 200 was all five pound increments.
So I had a lot of dag on dumbbells. I mean, that was a whole wall, you know, and it made such a big difference because when you’re lifting and say, can do, you can do, get up to a hundred pounds and you’re excited, but you really can’t do 105. So now you can go 102.5, train at that. And the next thing you know, you jump up to 105. And on that way,
I as the coach don’t sit up there and have to pull you through everything and make sure you got it. You got it. No, go ahead and do it.
Samson:
Absolutely. I’ve always said the most underrated piece of equipment in the weight room is a two and a half pound plate because ultimately it makes you have a huge difference, right? And you can really train and get better in smaller increments in the progressive overload piece. ⁓ I’ve heard some funny stories. know, some people have some funny stories with Dave and Linda are working with Samson. Do you have any funny stories that you can recall or recollect?
Jett Madden:
Yes.
Victor.
Mm-hmm.
Well, when you say funny stories, I don’t. We were more business like. They’re very friendly, made sure that ⁓ I was excited to see them come to the different football games and that kind of stuff and get to hug them after we went games. mean, so that was more of a friendly type thing. But I don’t have anything funny, I because they did their job.
Samson:
Absolutely, and it’s all business, which is good.
Jett Madden:
I guess I’m boring like that. I mean, it
was friendly business though. So don’t get me wrong. I mean, it was friendly business. ⁓ They said we’re going to do this on this day and it got done. They said we’re going to be here at this time and they were there. So I mean, to me, that’s 100 % greatness right there because a lot of people say they’re going to do things and they don’t do it. I mean, just like today, you said we’re going to do this podcast. I’m like,
Okay, my computer broke. How can I get the podcast done? Found a way. And now we’re doing it. So I mean, you you got to do what you say. And that’s one thing about them. If they say they’re going to do something, they’re going to get it done.
Samson:
Absolutely impeccable with their word and they’re gonna make sure they’re there for it. So, okay. This is a personal I’ve got two personal questions for you and things that I’ve always been curious about the first one I have not heard this story. How did you get the nickname mad dog?
Jett Madden:
Yes.
Wow, we got to go back. It’s probably older than you are. ⁓ yes, my kids are almost 40. ⁓ No, ⁓ yeah. No, you know, it’s just like my dad was a Marine, you know, and I woke up doing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips every single day, folding the corners of the bed and all that kind of stuff. And he told me through this life, you’ve got to be like steel.
Samson:
Yeah, I’m 29, so possibly. Yeah. Okay, there we go.
Jett Madden:
wrapped in cotton. So you have to have that hardcore interior and the soft exterior as you’re talking to people and helping people through this life. And I always took that to heart. When I hit somebody on the football field when I was in high school, ⁓ my coaches used it as an example to say, you got to be like him. You got to be like a mad dog out here playing. I’m like, hmm.
because what you don’t understand and you don’t know, many people don’t know, my first nickname was Samson. So up until that point, they called me Samson. Why did they call me Samson? Because I looked like that daggone emblem of Samson, you know, and I had a big afro back then, you know, and I had all those muscles, you know, popping out of my face and everywhere, you know, but ⁓ Samson and Delilah, you remember Samson got his haircut, you know, and that was a strength.
But that’s why they called me Sampson, because I had the big boom hair. Long story short, when my coaches started calling me mad dog, it went on. And then I had to defend it for the rest of my life.
Samson:
I’m sure you did, but I’m glad you carried
it with you through rest of your life too. Because I was talking with another strength coach before and I said, I got a podcast coming up and he said, who’s on? And I said, Jeff Madd is coming on. He said, you mean Mad Dog? And so people are very familiar with your name, which is fantastic. My next question for you, and this one I’m just very curious about was, what was your experience like winning the national championship? Because I’ve been fortunate enough to win conference championships, but
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
Winning a full level national championship is something that’s kind of next level. What was that like for you?
Jett Madden:
Which time?
Samson:
⁓ The best response possible. I loved it. Any of the times.
Jett Madden:
Well, I
tell you this, you know, and it’s all about your athletes, you know, and how they perform. I’ve been blessed and fortunate to coach over 35,000 athletes, you know, and out of those groups, I’m still in contact with probably 30, 40 % of them, you know, come Father’s Day, Christmases, New Year’s and that kind of stuff. I’m always getting texts or people calling or stopping by. So you coach people, you coach them for the rest of their life, really.
You know, as I told my guys and girls, when you come to the school, it’s a 40 year experience, you know, because you’re going to be dealing with people 40 years from now. ⁓ So just enjoy it every step of the way. You know, I’ve been blessed to coach over 300 plus ⁓ professional football players, you know, probably about a hundred NBA ⁓ track and field Olympians track, you know, I mean, gold medalists, several of them. I mean, not just one or two, a whole bunch.
You know, so I mean, it got to the point where I stopped counting, you know, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I don’t mean that in a cocky way. It’s just a blessing that’s been anointing on my life. And I’m able to pass that on to the kids, you know, but I played for four national championships in football. You know, I brought home two and I can tell you every reason why I didn’t win those others too, you know, and it’s great to be in the game.
but it’s a whole hell of a lot better to win the game, you know, and that stuff will stay with you for the rest of your life. I mean, I went back to Colorado, ⁓ Cordell Stewart was getting put into the Hall of Fame and he brought me out there to be with him ⁓ at the presentation. ⁓ I tell you now, every restaurant we went in, people know who you are. I mean, and we’re talking about 1990 championship. And this is…
This was 2024 or 23. And they still knew who I was. So that was a blessing. mean, the media came out, what we’re doing right now, we had to do podcasts and everything. So to win that stays with you. To lose that stays with you too. So you’re better being on the winning side. But the opportunity that it affords people is what’s tremendous.
Samson:
Absolutely. And like you said, those texts and those ⁓ athletes who reach out really mean the most to you because you know you made an impact on their life. I’m curious, you just mentioned, you know the reasons why you didn’t win those two championships. Do you mind sharing with us why?
Jett Madden:
Right.
yeah. Well, the, the, the first one was in 1989 against Notre Dame and they had a phenomenal team. ⁓ we unfortunately had lost Sal Inessi, who was our quarterback. died of, ⁓ inoperable stomach cancer, but we were undefeated going into the game. Number one, lost the game. I thought because we had a couple of guys, we got to the game and they were so excited about the game. They’re excited about partying, you know, as opposed to.
winning the game. What I mean by that is they that first group consumed too much alcohol, you know, first and foremost. And so every year we had different rules and regulations. Whereas before we would just treat them like men. We saw that we got some boys. We don’t have all men. You know, some of them are going to be boys. So we had to put the discipline in place. We had to send ⁓ three of our key players home that were involved in that.
big time offense and they got drafted still. But we had to send them home from the game because they did some things they weren’t supposed to do. So yeah, that hurt us bad. Our star running back breaks the leg during the game. Our quarterback gets hurt, our second team quarterback gets hurt. So there was things that happened that we found ways to defend. There was way too many people in the hotel because our kids couldn’t get to things on time.
because you had three, four elevators, but they get so packed that our kids couldn’t get down from, because we were in towers, we were way up there. We couldn’t get down fast enough for meetings, so you’d have a few really good players being late and they had never been late in their lives. So there’s little things. So we learned how to switch up and do different things. So when we went to the next one, when we played Notre Dame again in 1990, and…
we found a way to win, you know, and it was great.
Samson:
Absolutely. So it’s just quick, small adjustments that, I mean, like you said, immediately the next year you’re able to go back and win from there.
Jett Madden:
Mm-hmm.
It’s hard to win back to back, but we were fortunate enough to be in that situation to get back to the game. And now, I mean, you watch these guys playing now, I mean, it’s a great situation. But ⁓ you got a lot more games to play. So you got to make sure your teams are prepared for all those games. This is like you’re doing basketball. I mean, and you get out there and you want to get to the tournament.
When you get to the tournament, how many games will you have to play for the whole year?
Samson:
I mean, hopefully you would play one at a time.
Jett Madden:
Yes, key point. You play one at a time, but you still your volume of games are more. You know, the extension of how long you’re away from your university is more. You know, how far they are away from their academics and more. You know, so those are things you got to make sure that you have people to help them do different things as far as academics and everything else because it’s still very important to graduate. Very important.
Samson:
Absolutely. And especially with the realm now, a lot of guys have their academics are kind of messed up, you know, with the NIL piece. So try to get them to graduate. Yeah, not easy.
Jett Madden:
Hmm.
There’s no question.
No question.
Samson:
Well, mean, seriously, this has been very exciting for me to speak with you and it’s been very exciting to kind of reflect on Sampson. ⁓ Ultimately, what would you say directly to Dave and Linda as they celebrate 50 years of Sampson equipment?
Jett Madden:
Hmm
Congratulations on 50 years of Samson equipment. Congratulations for helping all strength and conditioning coaches make their programs better. You you guys were a joy to be around. I look forward to seeing you every time we went to the different conferences, just to hear what was new and what was going on. So congratulations on building a great career. Congratulations on building a great family and grandkids and that kind of stuff. We’re watching. We’re glad and we’re happy for you and we wish you the best.
Thank you.
Samson:
Excellent.
That’s a fantastic final message. You know, for our listeners, I know you mentioned at the beginning that you still have a business that you operate where you go around and help other coaches. ⁓ If they’re interested in working with you or if they want to hear more about the business, what would be the best way to do that?
Jett Madden:
you
I’ll give you my email contact stuff, so I’ll give that to you.
Samson:
Perfect.
Yep, and we’ll put it in the show notes and make sure they have it. So, well, Mad Dog, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. It’s been great to get to know you and it’s been a fantastic episode.
Jett Madden:
Okay.
My pleasure. Thank you very much. Have a great day.
Samson:
Absolutely.
