Ever wonder what the best guys are doing to get better? Or try to fathom what Dan Gable’s training was like?

Well, we asked all the questions for you and did some digging into what the best teams, coaches and wrestler (both past and present) are doing to get to the next level and perform at their best.

Today we take a look at what is means to live the “Tiger Style” life with Mizzou head coach Brian Smith. Smith led Missouri to a National Duals title this past season along crowning another NCAA Champ and a couple All-Americans.



But how does he foster the talent of his wrestlers and do it with smart training to ensure success? Well, there’s part of your answer. The training has to be done smartly. It’s not always about how hard you work, it’s also about how smartly you do it.

“You’ve got to look at it a lot of different ways,” Smith said about structuring a practice for his team. “You have so many different individuals with 10 starters, and then of course your younger guys trying to improve. We have all our different coaches who are assigned to a lot of different wrestlers. So we have individual practices for that specific individual. But I think the whole thing is getting the guys on your team to believe, whether it’s 35 or 40 guys, to trust in the coaches.”

Training isn’t an exact science, but it’s pretty complicated nonetheless. Every coach and competitor has a different way of going about with peaking (at the right time) being the ultimate goal.

“If they have that trust in the way you’re training them, they’re going to come in with the right attitude,” continued Smith. “Plus kids today want to know the stuff that’s going on. They have social media and they can see everything that’s going on in the world, so when they step in the wrestling room they want to know why we are doing things. So I explain to them the reasons behind the things we are doing; it’s not always, but I let them know that we are going to work hard on ‘this’ or that ‘this is the game plan for the day or for the week.’”

So it’s pretty easy to see that Smith likes to develop his wrestler’s minds as well as getting their body’s ready for battle. A strong mindset goes hand-in-hand with great talent and as he explains it’s one of the cornerstones of his training philosophy.

“I feel like if they have the understanding of what we are doing, then they feel a part of it and when they feel a part of something they’re going to have success,” he said. “But it’s also knowing each individual on your team. Some guys I know that when I get them in the room, I never have to tell them they have to go harder. Like Drake Houdashelt, I never had to tell him ‘you have to go harder, man.’ So with him you have to know when to say ‘you need a day off.’ Some guys aren’t like that and need to be pushed and motivated.”



So as much of a grind as it is on the wrestlers, it’s just as much on the coaches. A smart game plan goes a long way.

Now if you speak to anyone who has ever wrestled, they will tell you that wrestling is a way of life. The regular season may be riddled with dual meets and tournament and competitions, but training never truly comes to a halt. And for Smith and his team all that is summed up in their “Tiger Style” way of life.

While in the practice room they go hard. And when they aren’t in the room, they are living right. But it’s what all that entails that defines “Tiger Style.”

“We go hard. Last year I don’t think that we had a practice that was over an hour and 20 minutes,” Smith said. “We may have had two practices in that day. And we focused in on what we needed to do to get better.”

So the foundation has been laid and now it’s time to grind. And like I mentioned before, it’s not an exact science, but the hard work will certainly be put in.



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“When we get going for the season we will lift twice a week,” Smith said. “And we have three different types of lifting programs and we are fortunate enough to have a full-time strength coach so the guys that need to gain some weight are going three or four times a week. But there are some long runs and stadiums runs and drills too.”

“We do a lot of drills and situations that we want them to get into and the upper classmen do a great job of getting the younger guys acclimated to things,” he added. “But as the season progresses we do individual drills. So it’s all very structured and each guy has meetings with me to watch film and figure out what they need to be working on.”

When it comes to structuring things the right way for his guys, he will put them together to reflect what they have coming up on their schedule so that they are prepared as possible for what’s to come. But he also holds them accountable for doing plenty on their own. And that doesn’t just mean getting in some extra workouts, it also means eating right as well.



“There’s a class here that will take the athletes and show them how to eat right and cook all the meals,” Smith said. “I got a text the other day from J’Den Cox and Joey LaVallee, and they were at the super market and they sent me a picture of their cart filled with all this nutritional food and the text said ‘living Tiger Style coach.’ So my guys really buy into what we have going on and it attributes to the success they have.”

And not only is the training and the nutritional aspects a huge part of what they do, but their sleep patterns are as well.

“We will take a sleeper bus places just so we don’t mess up the rest times of our guys and they love it,” he said. “Keeping that same schedule is very important and it’s one of the reasons I feel our guys were successful last year.

As you can see, Coach Smith and the Tiger don’t just put in the time in the room and on the mat, they literally eat, sleep and breathe the lifestyle.