When NC State football strength and conditioning coach Dantonio “Thunder” Burnette saw the university's messages before spring break asking for details on everyone’s plans, he suspected something was brewing.

Before then, Burnette was excited by what he was seeing. After a difficult, adversity-filled 4-8 campaign in 2019, the Wolfpack players were embracing the offseason as the first step towards redemption.

“It seemed like when we got into the winter conditioning program, guys came in very eager to get to work — push each other, challenge each other,” Burnette said.

“I saw guys take big steps forward such as [fifth-year senior offensive lineman] Joe Sculthorpe, [redshirt junior linebacker] Isaiah Moore, [redshirt junior center] Grant Gibson and [senior receiver] Emeka Emezie,” Burnette added. “[I'm] seeing those guys step forward and being more willing to use their voice.

"It was a blessing to see, and we were very excited for spring ball.”

But when he saw those messages pertaining to spring break whereabouts, he thought to himself, “Something must be brewing and something must be a whole lot bigger than what we know.”

Thus Burnette did not wait. He went ahead and started working on a weight-lifting program for players to use away from school.

“Once we got the call and said that they were going to be shutting things down, I was like, ‘I have to be very proactive and go ahead and put together a very extensive body weight program,’” Burnette remembered. “I already had my other program put together. There was just a few things I had to tweak with that.”

The end result is Burnette and his strength staff are sending three different regimens for the players each week: a weight room program designed for those with access to the equipment, a body weight program for those confined to homes without weights and a conditioning workout for everyone that includes speed, change of direction and cardio.

Throw in a culture built around a strong belief in developing relationships, and Burnette is as hopeful as a strength coach can be under the circumstances.

“One of the main things for us is understanding that relationship is the most important piece to this whole thing,” Burnette said. “That is why that is always at the forefront of what we’re trying to do here at NC State: having a great relationship with the kids so that they understand this is a partnership.

“It’s not a situation where we are going to have to be always standing over them telling them what to do. They understand it’s a partnership. They are going to do everything they can to take ownership of the process.”

Burnette noted that they have established accountability partners on the team, and the players have been constantly calling each other.

“This COVID-19 thing has been a big challenge for all the strength coaches in college football,” Burnette said. “I tell the players that everybody is going through the same thing, but the guys that have really bought into our program, will come out better in the other side of it.”

The biggest challenge, Burnette acknowledged, is that the strength staff are, by nature, always hands-on.

“As a strength coach, we can’t be a guy sitting at a desk, coaching from a desk, or be a guy in front of a video or coaching from a video,” Burnette said. “You want to be hands-on and be able to see guys in person and critique them.”

Burnette also appreciates the lessons that are available for players in such times. He recalled a recent conversation with former NC State and NFL safety Brandan Bishop, where the two talked about that in many ways this is how the NFL players are asked to keep themselves in shape during the offseason.

“You can see the guys that when you give them a program, you know that they are going to have their routine," Burnette said. "They are going to stick to their routine. They are going to put the work in and push themselves, understanding everything you do and don’t do is a representation of who they are.

"It is a big challenge, but we’ve been able to manage.”

There are also the life lessons players can take away.

Burnette likes to say, “With great challenge comes great opportunity.” He constantly reminds his players that if they don’t use the conditioning program, they’ll lose the benefits.

“The work that you put in now is going to carry you over way past college football,” he said.

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